Plain and simple, all motor vehicle accident cases involving injury must be investigated. Sometimes these investigations can be successfully conducted by the injured party. More often, however, the investigation needs to be professionally done. In cases where the cause of the accident is in dispute or the injuries are going to be disputed, it is absolutely imperative that a complete and thorough investigation be conducted. What about other cases? In the case where one driver readily admits he is the one responsible for the accident, there still needs to be an investigation to support the injury and compensation part of the claim. Insurance companies can even pay for your car to be repaired and then later contest the cause of the accident if they don't agree with the value of the claim being asserted by the injured party. They can also contest whether you appeared to be in pain at the scene of the accident. By the time you learn that the accident facts are in dispute, all the cars have long been repaired and all of the witnesses have since forgotten the details of the accident they witnessed.

So how do you conduct an investigation? It depends on whether you hire an attorney or go about it yourself. At my firm, I employ an in-house investigator and we jointly conduct our investigations. Here are some of the things we do to ensure that our clients' cases are positioned for a successful result:

Document the damage to the vehicles: All vehicles involved in a car wreck need to be photographed. Depending on the impact, sometimes this requires photos taken from all angles, including the underside of the vehicle. If a car is at a body shop or auto pound, it is important to take photos before it is repaired or taken apart for scraps. If any blood is found in the car or if the airbags have been deployed, pictures of these features are also helpful.

Document the injury: Many of my clients have suffered broken bones, received stitches, undergone surgery, sustained bruising or have somehow suffered an injury which is clearly visible. It is extremely important to begin taking photographs of the injury immediately after the accident and every few days as the injury heals. You will always generally remember that you were in pain, but the memory of the details of what you went through will fade with time. The pictures will help you recall the recovery period. More importantly, the photos will help the insurance company and, ultimately, the jury to understand the situation that the at-fault driver put you in and the extent of your injuries.

Scene Investigation: Many times the accident scene provides many clues to solving the question of "Who was at fault?" All sorts of accident factors can be photographed or gathered at the scene if the investigation is done soon enough after the accident. We document factors such as skid marks, debris on the road, damaged items like signs or guardrails, speed limit signs, the pattern and timing of traffic control devices (stop lights), lighting, curves in the road, obstructions and anything else that might shed light on the cause of the accident.

Obtain and Analyze the Accident Report: In Texas, the investigating officer often fills out what is called a Texas Police Officer's Crash Report. These reports can provide all sorts of useful information and the report is something we obtain immediately after being hired by an accident victim. These reports provide names of witnesses, preliminary insurance information, the investigating officer's opinion as to fault, diagrams of the scene, property damage and injury observation. Click here for my Analysis of a Police Report, and for information on how to obtain a police report, click on Obtaining a Police Report.

Witness Interviews: This is probably the most import part of an investigation into an accident where liability, or responsibility, is in dispute. Witnesses can often provide objective and credible testimony as to not only who was at fault but also the speed of the vehicles, the severity of the crash and the observations of the drivers after the accident. Great care must be used when approaching a witness, as there are usually limited chances to interview the witnesses before they grow tired of being involved (or hassled).

All witnesses have unique perspectives and a seasoned investigator knows how to ask the right questions and when to accept that the witness can only do so much to help the claim. Even a "hostile" witness can usually offer some favorable testimony if he or she is handled correctly.

Verify Coverage: It is extremely important to verify that the person who caused the wreck has valid liability insurance in place. That is part of my job if you hire me as your injury lawyer. It is entirely possible that the other driver had expired insurance, but was able to present you or the investigating Police Officer an insurance card which appeared to show that the driver had valid insurance. How is this possible? While forged cards do exist, the most common way is for the person to buy a 6 month policy, but only make the first month's payment to the insurance company. Consequently, for five more months, the insurance card looks like the driver has insurance, but in reality the driver is just one of the many uninsured drivers on the road. Sometimes it takes insurance companies a few days to complete their investigation into whether there was insurance in place. During this time, many questions arise such as how to deal with medical treatment—see Obtaining Medical Treatment, or how to deal with rental cars and storage fees on the car—see Rental Car Issues.

If you feel like you would like to hire an experienced personal injury attorney to help you on your case, please give me a call. I will promptly begin the investigation to make sure the evidence is protected. Please call me at 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online.