How Traffic Cameras in Atlanta Can Help (or Hurt) Your Personal Injury Claim

Traffic cameras can be found all throughout Atlanta and in some instances, they may play a pivotal role in determining what caused an accident. If you suffered injuries in a car crash caused by another driver, you may benefit from accessing that footage.

By going over how traffic cameras in Atlanta can help or hurt your personal injury claim, and speaking with one of our Atlanta car accident lawyers today, you can put yourself in a better position when it comes to pursuing compensation for your injuries.

How can traffic cameras in Atlanta help your personal injury claim?

The traffic cameras in Atlanta can help your personal injury claim in many ways, including the following:

• Helping you find the people responsible for your injury.
• Supporting your version of events.
• Demonstrating the negligence of another driver.
• Showing the severity of the incident, which may affect a jury’s perception, and as a result, your recovery.
• Encouraging the at-fault party to pursue settlement rather than litigation.

In practice, some scenarios in which traffic camera footage can be critical for your case include:

• If you are struck by a car and the driver flees, law enforcement could use traffic camera footage to find them and charge them with a crime. The footage may also provide evidence that can support your personal injury claim.
• If you claim that you were struck by a car while walking through the crosswalk, but the driver says you were outside of the designated crossing, traffic camera footage can be used to prove your claim.
• If you claim that a driver was speeding and that this led to your injury, traffic camera footage could show that they were traveling at an excessive speed.
• If you have traffic camera footage that shows you being injured in a graphic manner, this could be used to illustrate the severity of the collision and resulting injuries. In turn, this could influence how the severity of the injuries is presented to a jury or considered during settlement discussions.

Working with one of our car accident lawyers can help you use this traffic camera footage effectively to support your claim.

How can traffic cameras in Atlanta hurt your personal injury claim?

Even though traffic camera footage can help your personal injury claim, there is a chance it may end up doing the opposite. Some of the ways this can happen are as follows:

• If you are shown to be 50% or more at fault for the injury you sustained, your ability to obtain compensation might be reduced.
• If you make a claim about the accident that led to your injury, and the traffic camera footage contradicts this claim, your credibility could be reduced.
• If you committed an infraction during the event that led to your accident, and traffic camera footage demonstrates this, you may be offered less compensation than you are seeking.

There are also situations where the footage might harm your case. For instance, if you crossed a busy road when it was not safe to do so or you did not have the right-of-way, the footage could damage your claim. Traffic camera footage is not always a net positive for your personal injury case, but your car accident lawyer can help you find a way to present your evidence and build a strategic claim.

What are the primary limitations of traffic camera footage in personal injury claims?

The primary limitations of traffic camera footage, in Atlanta personal injury claims, tend to be those listed below:

• Traffic cameras do not store their footage indefinitely, which means that obtaining this footage after an accident or injury may not be possible if you don’t act fast.
• Some traffic cameras store their footage for no more than 24-72 hours, which can make it even more difficult to use this footage as evidence.
• The traffic cameras operated by the Georgia Department of Transportation do not store footage for evidentiary use.
• A lawyer may have ways of helping you obtain the footage you need.
• Public traffic cameras rely on specific data retention policies that can make obtaining their footage quite difficult, whereas many private cameras store their footage for a longer period of time.

Some of these limitations can be circumvented with the following measures:

• If you need to obtain traffic camera footage that is at risk of being deleted, your lawyer could draft a formal request to the agency that owns this footage.
• If you are worried that this traffic camera footage will be deleted, your lawyer could draft a spoliation letter requesting preservation of the footage.
• If you do not know which agency owns the footage you need, your lawyer can help you figure out which agency owns the camera, which can allow them to obtain the footage for your case.

A car accident lawyer can help you navigate these limitations. But, dealing with them can be tricky.

Contact an Atlanta car accident lawyer

If you sustained an injury and believe it was recorded by one of Atlanta’s traffic cameras, you can use this form to contact an Atlanta car accident lawyer today. We are ready to help you.