Save your own evidence

By Jacob Alford

Which photos and documents should I keep?

Keep the originals of anything that may explain the collision, the damage or what followed. Useful categories include:

• The vehicles, road layout, signs, lighting, debris and visible damage, with wider views as well as close-ups.
• Witness names and contact information, exchanged driver details, the officer’s card and report number.
• Tow tickets, storage notices, repair estimates, rental agreements and receipts.
• Insurance letters, emails, claim numbers, payment explanations and documents you signed.
• Photographs of bruises or other visible marks, taken appropriately and without delaying care.
• Treatment paperwork, work restrictions and records of expenses or missed work.

Preserve the actual item when it may matter, such as a damaged child seat, helmet or failed vehicle part. Photograph its identifying label and ask about inspection before discarding it. See vehicle preservation for inspection and storage issues, and keep symptom and work records with your other documentation.

You do not need a perfect file to ask for help. A few original photographs and the right witness’s phone number can be more useful than a carefully designed binder.

How should I save texts and phone video without losing context?

Save the original files and the surrounding conversation, not just the sentence that supports your position. Keep names or numbers, dates, timestamps and attachments. Jacob Alford explains the distinction in this InjuredTexan.com guide: screenshots are useful working copies, but an export or original message history can retain information a cropped screenshot loses.

Back up relevant material somewhere you control and can access if the phone breaks. Open a few copied files to confirm the transfer worked. Keep an untouched original before making annotated, cropped or compressed copies. Label later edits as copies rather than replacing the original.

Preserve the device and cloud account if the underlying data may be disputed. Do not trade in, factory-reset or erase a phone containing important evidence until you have a preservation plan. Tell your lawyer about disappearing-message settings or automatic deletion so relevant material can be retained without unnecessarily collecting everyone’s private life. No app backup should be assumed complete merely because a green checkmark appears.

What if I did not take pictures at the scene?

You can still build an accurate record. Photograph the damage now, note when those photographs were taken and look for existing material from passengers, witnesses, police, the tow operator, repair shop or insurer. Keep pre-wreck photos and maintenance records that help show the vehicle’s earlier condition.

If you return to the area, do it safely and label the date and any changed conditions. A photograph taken next week may show the intersection, but it does not prove the weather, traffic or signal phase during the wreck. Do not recreate skid marks, vehicle positions or injuries and present them as original evidence.

Write a dated account of what you actually remember. Identify estimates and gaps rather than filling them with guesses. Find evidence held by someone else explains how to look for independent witnesses and recordings.

What should I avoid deleting or publicly posting?

Do not destroy or alter relevant messages, photos, recordings or posts, including material you think looks unfavorable. A preservation duty can arise before a lawsuit is filed when litigation is reasonably anticipated and the evidence is material. The consequences depend on the facts, so get advice before a cleanup that may remove relevant information. Brookshire Brothers v. Aldridge.

Avoid debating the wreck, your recovery or settlement online. Exercise, travel and a pleasant family photograph can be compared with what you later say about your limitations, even if the picture leaves out pain, assistance or recovery time. Enjoying an activity does not by itself disprove an injury. Accurate context matters.

A claim may also involve an investigator’s video of your activities. Describe your abilities truthfully, including good days, help, breaks and symptoms afterward. Follow your clinical restrictions; do not stage limitations, exaggerate them or hide evidence. Surveillance can matter when physical limitations are disputed, but a recording’s admissibility and significance require evaluation. Diamond Offshore Services v. Williams.

If an investigator contacts you, save the message and record who contacted you, when and for whom they said they worked. Avoid confrontation. Tell your lawyer about concerning contact or footage, and distinguish what you know from what you suspect. Review a request for a statement or health information with your lawyer before responding; the recorded-statement FAQ explains that particular request. An immediate safety threat calls for emergency help, not an argument about the claim.

If a post already exists, preserve it and discuss it privately with your lawyer. Do not delete, alter, hide or ask another person to remove relevant material to keep it from the other side.

Attorney reviewed by Jacob Alford · November 11, 2026