Getting Video Surveillance Footage of Your Accident

When a nearby business, traffic cam, or private residence captures video of your traffic accident, it can greatly affect the strength of your case. However, obtaining video surveillance footage is not always easy. Our team must often request and recover this footage for clients because the video’s owners will not release it to a crash victim.

At Shulman & Hill, our attorneys know how to build a strong traffic accident claim and pursue fair compensation for victims. We provide free consultations so that you can learn more about your legal options. Call 212.221.1000 to learn more.

Requesting Video Surveillance of Your Traffic Accident

Video surveillance is an affordable way to prevent theft and other criminal acts and help catch those perpetrating them. This is why most businesses—and many private homes—use them. However, they may also capture accidents in nearby intersections, parking lots, or roads.

If your collision occurred near a business, you must find out if their cameras captured anything. The police officers investigating the crash may ask, but not always. You can also request to see video footage from the business on your own, but this is not usually effective. Instead, many businesses respond when an attorney requests the footage.

When our team investigates a client’s crash, we may check for any cameras that might be near the accident scene. If so, we can approach the businesses, individuals, or agencies that own them and request any relevant videos.

Our Attorneys Regularly Obtain Video Footage for Our Clients

Our lawyers understand how to approach a business and request video footage captured by its cameras. We also know the process for obtaining any footage from agencies or others operating traffic or surveillance cameras. We regularly handle this process for clients.

If we represent you in your traffic accident case, we may identify possible video footage of your crash and request access. This is not available in every case.

You must remember that surveillance footage does not last long in most circumstances. Depending on the system’s capacity, businesses may record over data every few days. This could mean the video is lost before we ever know about the crash and have time to request it. Preserving sensitive evidence like video surveillance footage is one reason why we recommend contacting us quickly after a crash occurs.

Video Surveillance Footage Could Provide Important Insights Into Your Crash

Proving a crash’s cause can be challenging. Even when there are several witnesses, strong physical evidence, and pictures of each vehicle at the scene, the responding officer must make a few educated guesses and offer an opinion about what happened.

When there is a video of a collision, it provides greater insight into what happened. It could demonstrate which driver ran a red light or failed to yield, confirming or disputing eyewitness reports. Sometimes, this may be essential for showing the insurance company that their policyholder was at fault or convincing the jury the other driver acted carelessly.

If we believe a video exists of our client’s crash, we may want to ensure we see it before moving forward with a case. It may be the smoking gun we need to get the insurer to offer an appropriate settlement or receive a winning verdict at trial.   

Shulman & Hill Protects the Rights of Car Accident Victims

Our traffic accident attorneys from Shulman & Hill handle cases regardless of difficulty or complexity. As New York’s premier personal injury law firm, our lawyers have secured more than $250 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients. We know how to navigate the legal process on behalf of our clients.

Every case we handle is personal to us. We believe our clients deserve justice and fair compensation, and our attorneys fight for it. We file insurance claims, negotiate just settlements, take cases to trial, and win verdicts. We may be able to help you win your case.

Discuss Your Injury Accident Case With Our Team for Free

Shulman & Hill offers complimentary consultations for those hurt in New York car accidents. We will review your case and explain our services.

You might have options for recovering compensation based on the circumstances of your crash and the evidence available. This evidence could include surveillance footage of your accident, which we might be able to get for you while working on your case. Call 212.221.1000 now for a free case assessment.