After a fatal accident, families often have more questions than answers. They may know that something went wrong but have no clear understanding of what caused the death or who should be held responsible.
A wrongful death investigation can help establish those facts.
Evidence can be particularly important when responsibility is disputed. The party being accused of causing the death may offer a different explanation of what happened, while an insurance company may challenge the family’s claim.
Building the case around reliable evidence can help establish what occurred.
Accident Scene Evidence
The accident scene may contain important evidence that disappears quickly.
Photographs can document:
- Vehicle positions
- Damage
- Skid marks
- Road conditions
- Traffic signs
- Debris
- Lighting conditions
- Visibility
- Property conditions
The location and severity of damage may also help investigators reconstruct how a collision occurred.
For a fatal accident involving a roadway, photographs of the surrounding intersection or road can be particularly useful.
Witness Statements
People who witnessed the incident may provide information that is not available from physical evidence alone.
A witness may have seen a driver speeding, a vehicle crossing a center line, a truck changing lanes, a dangerous property condition, or another event immediately before the fatal incident.
Witness information should be preserved promptly.
People’s memories can change over time, and witnesses may become difficult to locate.
Video Surveillance
Video footage can provide some of the clearest evidence of what happened.
Depending on the circumstances, recordings may come from:
- Traffic cameras
- Businesses
- Parking lots
- Security systems
- Doorbell cameras
- Dashcams
- Cellphones
- Commercial vehicles
Video may show the events immediately before a fatal collision or incident.
One problem is that surveillance systems often overwrite old recordings. Identifying potentially relevant cameras early can therefore be extremely important.
Medical and Death Records
Medical records can help document the injuries suffered before death and the treatment provided.
Other records may also become relevant, including death certificates, autopsy findings, emergency medical records, hospital records, and other documentation related to the fatal incident.
These records can help establish the connection between the incident and the person’s death.
Employment and Financial Records
Financial documentation may also become relevant depending on the circumstances of the claim.
Records concerning the deceased person’s employment, business activities, or other financial information may help establish facts surrounding the person’s life and circumstances.
However, Alabama’s wrongful death law differs from many other states regarding the types of damages that can be recovered.
Families should therefore avoid assuming that a wrongful death case works like an ordinary personal injury claim.
Insurance Information
Insurance coverage can become an important part of a wrongful death investigation.
Depending on how the death occurred, potentially relevant policies could involve:
- Automobile insurance
- Commercial vehicle insurance
- Property insurance
- Business insurance
- Product liability coverage
- Other applicable policies
Identifying all potentially applicable coverage can be important when multiple parties may have responsibility.
Evidence From the Responsible Party
Some evidence may be controlled by the person or company being investigated.
For example, a commercial truck accident may involve records maintained by a trucking company. A premises incident may involve business surveillance footage, maintenance records, inspection documents, or incident reports.
Obtaining and preserving this information can be critical when liability is disputed.
Why Families Should Begin the Investigation Quickly
There is no way to replace evidence once it has disappeared.
A security camera may record over the relevant footage. A vehicle may be repaired. A witness may forget what they saw. Documents may become harder to locate.
That does not mean every wrongful death case must be filed immediately, but it does mean that preserving evidence should not be unnecessarily delayed.
Talk to a Birmingham Wrongful Death Attorney
A wrongful death investigation requires more than reviewing a police report. The circumstances surrounding the death may involve physical evidence, video, witnesses, medical records, insurance coverage, and information controlled by other parties.
If a loved one died because of another person’s negligence or wrongful conduct in Birmingham or elsewhere in Alabama, Shaun Capps Injury Law can investigate the circumstances and explain the legal options available to the estate.