Preserving the Vehicle for Defect Case
2009 March 19
In any automobile defect case, the involved vehicles may be critical pieces of evidence, and they must be carefully examined as soon as possible. This is always a delicate issue for attorneys and those affected by the accident. Early after an accident involving catastrophic injuries, those affected by the accident are sometimes not in a state of mind to carefully consider their legal rights. At the same time, an attorney who has recognized a potential claim wants to preserve and protect the potential new client’s interests while navigating the emotions and fragility of the situation. In a potential automotive products case, it is extremely important to move quickly to preserve and protect evidence.
The importance of obtaining and securing the vehicle cannot be overstated. From a practical and legal standpoint, the case is more difficult, and oftentimes impossible, without the vehicle(s). Obtaining the vehicle must be done as quickly as is possible. If the vehicle has been seriously damaged in a collision, it will likely have been hauled away by a wrecker company, and, if a total loss, dispatched by the insurance company to a salvage company for auctioning. Its usual destination is the wrecking yard where its days in its initial post-collision condition may be numbered.
The vehicles themselves will be particularly important in a crashworthiness case, where they will yield important evidence both as to the external forces at work during the collision as well as the consequences experienced within the passenger compartment. In such a case, the vehicle itself may serve as the foundation of your investigation and analysis, and it must be carefully examined by someone well-experienced in the kinematics of the collision.
