Have you ever seen old-school crime movies? Then, you must have witnessed how most investigators and attorneys rely on analyzing accident sites, solid evidence, and good old interviews with the witnesses and suspects.
Things are not the same as they used to be. The investigative methods have been revolutionized. Thanks to technology. Let’s explore how lawyers, attorneys, and investigators investigate in the age of technology. We will keep our prime emphasis on car accidents.
Know Auto Accident Case Statistics of the USA
According to the latest stats of car accidents in the USA, about 16,500 accidents occur daily, from which about 6% of accidents result in fatality, and nearly 2 million people sustain long-term or permanent injury.
California and Texas are the states where the most frequent auto accidents occur.
There are many layers to a car accident and police and attorneys have to consider all the layers before appealing in front of the court. Let’s explore some of these layers.
- Who’s at fault for the accident and why?
- Intent and state of the driver
- Date of the accident
- Did the cause of the accident run from the accident scene or not?
- Condition of the vehicles involved in the accident. And so on.
Those involved in solving the case need to learn all the facts and factors of the case and provide a comprehensive document containing all the pieces of evidence, witness interviews, site observations both technical and human, and many more.
The methods of making observations and investigations have been significantly changed. Let’s explore some of the technologies used by personal injury car accident lawyers to gather evidence and understand the case clearly at a deeper level.
Technological Aids for Gathering Evidence
In the era of machine learning and artificial intelligence, below are some of the most essential technologies utilized to collect information about the car crash.
1) Surveillance Technology
Unlike previously, where a person usually used to manage high-traffic highways. The state’s traffic police are relying more and more on technologies like CCTV surveillance cameras, laser and radar systems to accurately detect vehicle speed, and high-quality lights to accurately observe accidents during dark.
Surveillance technology can significantly help attorneys and investigators by providing clarity on what happened. It’s reduced the dependency from the witness that may provide inaccurate, tempered, or false information about the accident.
2) Data Analytics and Case Assessment
High-tech and high-budget law firms rely on the advanced and latest data analytics and case assessment software before accepting a car accident case.
Believe it or not, there is software that helps law firms predict the outcome of the case based on the vast historical data related to the case.
These advanced tools also help analyze the precise amount of settlements, verdicts, or injury claims to their clients, creating a win-win situation for both clients and law firms alike.
3) Online Activity
With the rise of social media and the internet. Almost every moment of yours is recorded by someone, somewhere. It can be anyone, your friend, partner, neighbor, a person walking beside you, or even the government. Sounds scary, but it is true.
Accident attorneys and investigators can use these recordings to strengthen the case for their clients. Moreover, accident attorneys in Arizona or any other state can examine the latest activities online to find something useful that would strengthen the case for their client.
4) Virtual Reality
CCTV and spider cameras are excellent resources to discover the truth of the accident but sometimes video gets blurry and low-pixelated video making it difficult for the concerned person to get clarity on a car wreck.
Virtual reality is used to create realistic road accident scenarios. It provides a realistic and immersive experience to all who are concerned. It almost feels like you experienced a car accident live!
5) Medical Records and Telemedicine
Personal injury attorneys can access the historical electronic medical records of the claimant to learn more about the medical history of the people concerned, and the underlying disease that could be responsible for motor vehicle accidents.
Additionally, telemedicine is a relatively new age technology that allows medical specialists to treat car accident victims from a distance without actually being present on the scene. Telemedicine becomes of extreme importance when there’s a serious injury to the victim or the accident.
Do New Technology Advances Aiding Accident Lawyers?
If you observe closely, the technologies we covered above were mainly useful for pre-accident or during the accident. Now Let’s focus on the advances helping with post-accident. Let’s start.
1) Vehicle’s Event Data Recorder
A vehicle’s event data recorder (EDR) is the system that provides valuable information related to the accident generally involving time, date, cause, etc. Since 2014, all cars sold in the USA have come with EDR pre-installed into the car.
The EDR report is essential before making any personal injury claim.
2) Liability Issues
Car accident attorney has to analyze the potential liability issues responsible for the accident. These could be cruise control, problems with seatbelts, braking systems, and airbags. These liability issues are thoroughly checked to find out the root cause of the issue.
3) Vehicle Inspection
Vehicle inspection doesn’t only involve inspecting the condition of the vehicle before the accident. It also includes analyzing the legal documents, and historical records of the vehicles involved in the documents.
4) Drone Technology
You must be aware of the drone. Drones with well-equipped cameras offer high-quality grid video to cover the better angle of the accident scene. This provides a better view and understanding of the cause, victim, culprit, and other influencing factors responsible for the accident.
Besides drones there is a new trend of utilizing UAVs, also referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. As the name suggests, it’s an aerial vehicle that needs no pilot. It can be controlled remotely by a controller in the control room. Unlike drones, UAVs are fast and can quickly reach accident sites and provide high-quality videos and pictures.
5) FARO Scanners
FARO stands for (Flare Activated Radiobiological Observation). It’s used to create high-quality and precise 3D recreations of the accident site. The 3D imaging eradicates human inaccuracies during investigations made by injury lawyers.
Challenges Due to New-Age Technology
High-level, accurate, and precise information is what courts and judges expect from both plaintiffs and defendants. These are only possible through high-tech and advanced technologies like drones, FARO scanning, and quality vehicle inspection.
The advanced technologies may help in providing precise outcomes in front of the court auto accident attorney. But there are also negative sides too. Let’s explore the challenges of new-age technologies.
- Data security and privacy issues.
- Increased online activity and disconnect from nature.
- Insomnia
- Disruption of sleep-wake cycle
- The technology that provides precise information can mislead the facts too. This is getting much more concerning with the rise of artificial intelligence.
Keeping these concerns in mind, many free cases are experienced by car accident attorneys and investigators.
Takeaway
All in all, technology has significantly impacted how accident lawyers and investigators inspect auto accident cases. But many investigators still give weight to old-school methods that involve on-site inspections and witness interviews along with the latest technologies.
Matthew is a seasoned researcher and writer with over five years of experience creating engaging SEO content. He is passionate about exploring new ideas and sharing his knowledge through writing. Matthew has a keen eye for detail and takes pride in producing content that is not only informative but also visually appealing. He constantly expands his skill set and stays up-to-date with the latest SEO trends to ensure that his content always performs well in search rankings. Matthew can be found reading, surfing, or experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen when he’s not writing.