Taking Photo's after car accident

laughter189

I was stopped on the road today by a car accident ahead .

There was a lot of visible damage , but no injuries tg.

Both parties were in a state of shock of course , but I was going to ask them , if they wanted some photo's taken of the accident to help them in filling their accident claim forms .

My question is , would this be a good idea or should I mind my own business .?

Tactical

Good intentions offering help.

Photographing a scene like that is unfortunately not as simple as point and shoot, or even compose and shoot.

The insurance company assessor will (depending on the value of the claim) inspect the vehicles subsequent to a claim being made and will photograph the damage themselves, typically on a point and shoot digital camera (I've yet to see one take out a dSLR!) The insurance company will generally not apportion blame, they will look for the road traffic accident report form from the attending member of the Gardai (if they attended the scene).

If the Gardai attend the scene and it is more than a simple material damage scene they may decide to do a full work up including measurements and sketches, the usual witness statements and even photograph and survey the scene depending on the severity of the incident.

Now, having said all that, it never hurts to have a visual record of an incident scene, especially if no member of the Gardai is in attendance or if vehicles are to be moved before any attendance of Gardai.

Professional photographs of such a scene need to be factual and specific, generally starting at the extremeties or approaches to an incident scene and working inwards with no or minimal editing of the shots taken (maybe a little brighness or contrast adjustment but certainly no more) and the evidence chain or continuity of evidence would need to be preserved in a very specific way. This translates to not really possible amateur photographers or many professionals without specific knowledge of this area.

My advice would be to check the condition of all persons involved in such an incident, bearing in mind your own personal safety at all times, render first aid if necessary, call the relevant ermergency service personel and then and only then if it is safe to do so snap away and make known to any attending members of the Gardai (or persons involved in the incident if no gardai in attendance) that you have photographs of the scene.

An accident scene may be emotive for the parties involved and their feelings will need to be taken into consideration. They may not appreciate an offer considering that they may potentially be in a state of shock or shaken from the incident. Some people may be very welcoming of an offer, some may not. Keep in mind your own personal safety.

2 stroke

Before camera phones, I used work for a company that provided a 35mm camera to each truck driver, to record incidents like damaged mirrors/ traffic incidents/ damaged goods. One of the drivers took pics of a fenderbender that he was witness to. Insurance company paid him £50 for photo and he also got paid for court appearance.

ValueInIreland

In line with what Tatical advised, an Incurance accessor once advised me not to bother with shots of the damage to vehicles - there is plenty of time for Professionals to do this later.
The Important thing is to record the road layout, conditions, approaches and the relationship between the vehicles and various road markings etc.

listermint

ValueInIreland wrote: »

In line with what Tatical advised, an Incurance accessor once advised me not to bother with shots of the damage to vehicles - there is plenty of time for Professionals to do this later.
The Important thing is to record the road layout, conditions, approaches and the relationship between the vehicles and various road markings etc.

There is also plenty of time for 'professionals' to increase the damage when they have left the scene. I would say that advice is 10-15 years out of date. Alot of unscrupulous claims going in these days.

Sure there are guys that take lightly damaged cars and re-crash them to increase claims.

amber2

Having had a brother who received fatal injuries in a car accident we did revert alot to what ever photographs were taken on the day and later printed in newspapers to try and piece together what may have happened to him on that day.

Photographs were not something we thought of at the time but would have come in useful after. I am not condoning a lady Diana situation whereby anyone should take photographs of the deceased which would be insensitive to the family but just tyre markings and final resting place of the car may give the people involved more information. As in our case, we dont know and never will really know what happened on the day.

pixbyjohn

Tactical wrote: »

Professional photographs of such a scene need to be factual and specific, generally starting at the extremeties or approaches to an incident scene and working inwards with no or minimal editing of the shots taken (maybe a little brighness or contrast adjustment but certainly no more) and the evidence chain or continuity of evidence would need to be preserved in a very specific way. This translates to not really possible amateur photographers or many professionals without specific knowledge of this area.

Can you explain that to me please

Tallon

I always take photos of crashes I come across, when a guy clipped my wing mirror, he was outraged that I had a 'good' camera and took loads of photos of the crash and his details in the window etc.

I stopped once to take a photo of a car on fire and the gardai asked me to leave. Which I kindly declined. As long as your not in the way, there's no problem

To be honest, my advice here would be that if you're feeling a little photojournalistic, keep your distance and shoot away (though if it's a bad crash, expect other photojournalists to appear fairly swiftly, too).

I wouldn't get in any way involved with people involved in a car crash. If they talk to me, fine, but other than a nod or smile to show I know they exist, no contact at all.

There's nothing to gain from it. What do you plan to do? Slip them a business card? If you do that, then no matter how well intentioned you are, you're seen as a complete prick who preys on people at their worst times.

I can't see how this could generate business for you, or benefit you at all, in any way. Nobody who has just had their car smashed to bits while they were in it, is gonna throw you €20 and an email address to send the photos on to. Plus, there's also the chance that you may approach someone who is extremely angry about the crash and you may be on the receiving end of a bollocking.

I don't know, maybe it's just my sheepish approach to this kinda thing, but I'd never do it unless I was feeling photojournalistic and kept my distance, or I was looking for those kinda photos (neither of which would see me interact with the people involved).


That's just my opinion, though. Do as you please, yourself

Hugh_C

laughter189 wrote: »

should I mind my own business .?

I think so.

laughter189

I actually agree with the last two posters ........But its been great to get a variety of views on boards .

I like taking photographs , but one needs to be sensitive in some situations .

I once met an accident involving some French tourists , and wanted to give them advice / photos , but I resisted and minded my own business .

But I did find from my own experience that taking photos at a scene of an accident is worthwhile and it certainly does help in completing accident claim forms .

Finally , below is a photo ,I took myself after an accident I was involved in some years ago .
It could have been fatal , but no serious injuries tg.

laughter189

ValueInIreland wrote: »

In line with what Tatical advised, an Incurance accessor once advised me not to bother with shots of the damage to vehicles - there is plenty of time for Professionals to do this later.
The Important thing is to record the road layout, conditions, approaches and the relationship between the vehicles and various road markings etc.

Wrong - That Insurance Assessor is only looking after his own interests .

Professionals are normally called out when liability is been disputed or there are other disputes .

Many insurance claims are settled without the services of a professional Road Engineer / Professional Photographer .

PCPhoto

laughter189 wrote: »

Wrong - That Insurance Assessor is only looking after his own interests .

Professionals are normally called out when liability is been disputed or there are other disputes .

Many insurance claims are settled without the services of a professional Road Engineer / Professional Photographer .

so so true

they only want to line their own pockets.

I had a similar situation when moving house a few years ago, management company were refusing to give back deposit - said that the house needed loads of work and we were to blame.

fortunately on day 1 of moving in - I took photos of every corner of the house and gave them a CD of images (which they either lost of dumped) - I told them I had images of the first day so they could compare and I had given them a CD two years previous and I had a copy of an email saying they received the CD.

long story short - they returned 95% of the deposit and the owner refused to deal with them again (I had to contact the owner and inform him the management company were refusing to return deposit and gave him a copy of images from 2years previous)

I had 2CD's of images and a folder on an external hard drive - moral of the story, having images can save/earn you money.

going back on topic - I see no issue with photographing an RTA (Road Traffic Accident) - I have had to take photo's a several fatal road traffic accidents (most gruesome was a cyclist and a truck on the quays in Dublin).

alexlyons

[QUOTE=Deleted User;73328121I can't see how this could generate business for you, or benefit you at all, in any way.[/QUOTE]

I think the idea is to help those involved in the incident?

PCPhoto

alexlyons wrote: »

I think the idea is to help those involved in the incident?

or to make a couple of quid from the solicitors who require images of damage (if there is a dispute about liability)

Tactical

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Can you explain that to me please

Chain of evidence = from when a shot has been taken to when it is used in any legal proceedings. Meaning that every action and person involved in the handling, analysis or storage of the image needs to be accounted and logged.

So date, time, photographer, equipment used, location of shot etc.. then when image was transferred from camera or memory card to other media. Then how and where the media has been stored and a log of when it has been viewed, copied or moved to a new storage location. If any processing was undertaken this needs to be recorded etc... i.e a readily identifiable and traceable chain or log that can accurately track the image, its movements and all persons involved in handling it or its storage media from the image being taken to the image ending up in a court proceeding.

So we have seizure = taking of photograph, analysis = any processing, downloading or viewing of photograph, control = how the usage of the image has been logged, custody = how the image or media has been stored.

The specifics will vary from authority to authority so requirements in the UK may be slightly different to Ireland and may be different to France etc...

Tactical

Tallon wrote: »

I stopped once to take a photo of a car on fire and the gardai asked me to leave. Which I kindly declined. As long as your not in the way, there's no problem

I agree.

I've several vehicle fires photographed but have never been asked to leave a scene.

Now, having said that, I've never put myself any closer than I've had to nor would I recommend it. Tyres blowing out tend to spit hot burning rubber a decent distance and having had burning plastic stick to my face may years ago I don't wish to repeat the experience. Also a spare tyre in a boot can create a hell of a bang which can scatter all kinds of debris around the scene too.

Always stay out of any smoke plume as they are fairly noxious and you really don't want to be breathing in what the fire is putting out. Plus you'll smell like crap when you get home

Oh yes, if its a commercial vehicle such as a van then stay a hell of a distance away. If there's a butane or propane cylinder on-board you do not want to be anywhere near the vehicle doors or windows when the cylinder vents itself from the heat... :eek:

hopelessOne

I was in a bad car accident 3.5yrs ago and luckily the attending Gardai used his cameraphone to take photos. They were the only photos taken and helped me to understand what had happened and come to terms with it. Although I remained concious, my memory is very hazy and I wouldn't have known the final resting place of the cars, damage done or even being cut out of the car if it wasn't for those photos.

My advice would be to attend to all injuries and matters of safety first. When that is all under control, stand back and use a normal focal length to record the placement of cars, state of the road, hedges, weather conditions, etc.