How A Retailer’s Surveillance Footage Can Impact Your Personal Injury Claim
If you are going to file a personal injury claim, you must prove that negligence on behalf of another party is what led to your injuries and damages. Video footage can be a very compelling form of evidence to include in your claim.
In today’s world, cameras are everywhere. They are in our phones, some people have dash cams in their cars, and surveillance cameras are omnipresent in many different businesses. If your injury accident happened near or inside a retail store, there is a good chance that the store’s surveillance system may have caught some critical details of what happened. However, there is much to consider when surveillance of your accident exists. Surveillance footage can have a significant impact on your claim, positively or negatively.
For questions and assistance filing a personal injury claim in New Jersey, please call our South Jersey personal injury attorney at Monaco Law PC.
Surveillance Footage and Personal Injury Claims
In some cases, what a store’s security cameras can show can be a major factor influencing your claim in your favor. In other cases, the footage could harm the strength of your claim and your ability to recover compensation.
Here is how surveillance footage recorded at retail stores can affect your claim.
- Objective, Visual Evidence – Video footage provides an objective and unbiased record of what happened when you were hurt at or near a store. For example, if you slipped and fell on a slick floor, security footage can document the accident scene, the hazards that were present, you losing your footing, and falling to the ground. It can also show how quickly store associates came to your aid or if they didn’t act promptly after you fell. Conversely, if you were behaving in a reckless manner before the accident happened, security footage could have filmed this behavior and could be used to reduce the store’s liability.
- Showing the Store’s Negligence – A store that failed to maintain an environment that was reasonably safe for customers can be found to be negligent and, as a result, responsible for accidents that happen on its premises. It can also show hazards that may have existed in the store and how long they were left unremedied.
- Protection from Fraudulent Claims – Should a person try to fake an injury accident in a store or exaggerate how badly they were hurt, surveillance footage can protect the store and provide a precise explanation for what happened, if anything, and can refute false claims.
- Access to Surveillance Footage – Just because a store may have footage of an incident happening, that doesn’t mean they will be eager to turn it over. This is true especially if they think it can hurt them. Obtaining footage may not be an easy task and could require multiple steps and time, such as issuing a subpoena. Or, depending on the store’s policies, no footage may exist if it was not preserved.
- Privacy Laws – Privacy laws exist related to how surveillance footage may be gathered, used, and shared. If these laws and regulations are violated, other legal challenges could arise.
Speak to a New Jersey and Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorney Today
For help filing a New Jersey or Philadelphia personal injury claim, please call our wrongful death and personal injury lawyer at Monaco Law PC at (609) 277-3166 for our New Jersey office and (215) 546-3166 for our Pennsylvania office to discuss your case today.
We are a New Jersey and Pennsylvania personal injury law firm serving Atlantic County, Bucks County, Burlington County, Cape May County, Camden County, Chester County, Cumberland County, Delaware County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Ocean County, Salem County, Susquehanna County and all of New Jersey.
Source:
nj.gov/dep/opra/exemptions.html
