Dear Diary

There is no doubt that an injury hurts. The questions become, how much does it hurt, what did it keep you from doing, and how do I prove it hurt?

Juries are suspicious now a days. If you can show that you had a broken bone or required surgery following a collision a jury will believe that you felt pain. Everyone knows that a broken bone hurts. Everyone knows that if a surgeon cuts into you, you will feel pain following the surgery. Pictures and x-rays will confirm the damage and a jury will likly award you damages. But soft tissue injuries (strains and sprains) are very hard to show. A jury often has to just take your word that you felt pain. The problem is that so many people have abused the system and claimed pain when in fact they were fine, that now a truly injured person is no longer beleived. What do you do to turn the odds in your favor? The answer: keep a diary.

Use a diary to document how you felt each day; was the pain worse than the day before, did you wake up with a splitting headache, was the pain so bad that it kept you from a picnic or an evening at the movies with your kids? Document in the diary when you went to the doctor, how long the doctors appointment took, did you feel worse after a physical therapy session, were you depressed because of your injury? Having this information will make your case come alive when it is time for a deposition or trial. Having this information makes the difference between believability and skepticism. So take the time to record your thoughts each day while they are still fresh in your mind. You will be glad you did come time for trial.

Documenting the damage

Ok, the collision is over, now what? If you are like most people you will want to get the car repaired as soon as possible. All you can think of is to get a tow truck and get the car to a repair shop. Unfortunely by doing only this you will have denied an investigator the best chance of determining how the collision happened, how fast the cars were going, fault, direction of travel and liability. Police don't always document the scene well. Rarely do they take pictures. That falls on you. As soon as possible take pictures of the cars while still on the road. Take picture of the road way, where gouge marks were, the length of skid marks, the specific damage to the cars, the insides of the cars, condition of the occupants, and where the cars came to rest. Film in this digital age is cheap so take as many pictures from as many differnt angles as possible. You never know when one of the pictures will reveal something important to an investigator or accident reconstructionist. Its too late after the car has been handled by the tow truck operator or repaired at the shop. Investigators are not brought in until days or week later and by then the evidence will be gone.