By this point, pretty much everybody knows about drones. Known formally by the military as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, drones have also entered civilian life in a big way. They are nowhere near as large as a military Predator drone, and they can’t carry Hellfire missiles, but civilian drones are popping up everywhere. YouTube is overrun with videos taken from drones that capture all sorts of images that the subjects probably never thought would be on video.
These drones carry video cameras, and they can carry items of up to five pounds to destinations 15 miles away – just ask Amazon, which has plans to use drones to deliver packages. Most commercially available drones are only a foot or two across and look a lot like flying saucers with helicopter rotors at the four corners, although most don’t actually have corners. But it is the ability to carry cameras that is leading to an unexpected new purpose for these drones: accident investigation.
An Eye in The Sky Can Dramatically Speed Up Traffic Accident Investigations
Small, off-the-shelf drones are easily available to pretty much anyone. That includes police departments. A growing number of police departments across the country are using drones to get more information on traffic accident scenes. Instead of putting down cones, flags, and chalk markings, and taking pictures from ground level, officers responding to a traffic accident are increasingly opening the trunk of their patrol car, taking out a drone, and launching it to take aerial video of the accident scene. The drone takes up less space than the spare tire, after all.
Such aerial video gives the police a bird’s-eye-view of the position of the vehicles in the accident, skid marks, and any other physical features officers had to map by hand in the past – if they even noticed those features. Drone video captures everything – video or still photos, and it all can then be run through software that puts together three-dimensional models of the scene, which helps the police determine what happened.
What works for the police works for traffic accident attorneys, as well. Having a clear idea of what happened in a traffic accident is vital for the attorney representing you to develop the best possible case to represent your interests. That information now is available if local police are using drones for traffic accident investigations – public record laws mean that your attorney can get video from the police that was taken very soon after the accident, as well as software-created model reconstructions.
Even if local police are not using drones – a number of Florida departments do, but none in South Florida – law firms representing traffic accident victims are starting to utilize the technology. For a one-time expense of just a few hundred dollars, a lot of investigative power suddenly can be at a firm’s fingertips. Firms will be taking advantage of this, and if you have been in a traffic accident, you should consult with a firm forward-thinking enough to do so.
If You Have Been Injured in a Crash, Contact Our Florida Car Accident Attorneys
If you have been injured in a traffic accident, you should consult with an attorney to see if you might be entitled to compensation for your damages. Contact the car accident attorneys of Demand the Limits. Learn about our team – we have the knowledge and experience to help you get the compensation you deserve.
