Your Province’s driver’s handbook

Your Province’s transportation laws govern both pedestrians and motorists. Many Provinces have them accessible online so it will be easy to find one. What you need to do first is check to see whether the driver broke any traffic laws or whether you did. If you find something print the section of law applicable to your case.

Police, fire and ambulance report

If you got serious injuries and police, fire and ambulance were called to the scene, the police will write a police report. You need to get a copy of it as soon as you have a chance to do that. Usually you can get it at your local police division (department) or municipal records building. Usually a police report is the main source which contains strong evidence. Police officers typically draw a scheme of an accident scene, and also include their own impressions of the causes and responsible parties. Witnesses’ names and contact information is also listed in a police report.

If police issued any tickets, they note that in a police report as well. A ticket is irresistible evidence against the person who it’s issued to. For example, if you received a ticket for intoxication, it will definitely affect your claim negatively. If a driver got a ticket, the effect will be in your benefit.

Witnesses

Witnesses’ statements are very important evidence, whether the witnesses are from a police report or from your investigations. Witnesses often hear and see something you could have missed after a car hits you.

Admissible facts, admitting fault, excited utterances

Sometimes after an accident, the responsible party may make a statement out of guilt or honor. Make sure you write down such statements as soon as you have a chance. This can be statements like I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you or I was switching music or I’ll pay for your treatment and rehabilitation are some of the res gestae (admissible facts), excited utterances (blurt outs) and admissions against interest (admitting fault). Courts have traditionally allowed these types of statements as strong evidence of liability.

Images

Any pictures taken at the scene of an accident are an excellent source of evidence. Such evidence will be useful to contradict another party’s assertions which may be used to fail your claim in a case where a pedestrian was hit by a car, e.g. it was too dark to see you, or any other incorrect statements. You should also take pictures of the impact point on the car – parts of your clothing may still there.

Clothing

Keep your clothing after the incident. Check if any of the car’s paint or other debris lodged in any of your clothing, shoes or accessories. Car paint can be very strong evidence in your case.

Weather reports

A police report will note the weather at the time of the accident, but it’s not redundant to have your own weather report provided by a 3rd-party service provider.

Medical records

Your medical records contain important evidence (emergency room admission chart is the most important one) which tie your injuries to the accident. Statements about the causes of the accident you made to the doctors and nurses at the hospital or ambulance are compelling.

Medical bills

Your medical bills fulfill two requirements:
They’re the source of documentary evidence of your injuries and treatment.
They will be added to your out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages (specials), and will be summed during calculating of your settlement demand.

Injury claim negotiation

Negotiations with a claims adjuster are always based on evidence you possess. The more evidence you have, the higher settlement you have chances for. Evidence will give a clear picture of all events happened moments before the accident, at the time of the accident and during treatment and recovery. Having perfectly prepared evidence gives you a chance of settling your claim successfully.

Here’re three examples illustrating different situations and how they affect final result