Checklist · Injury · Illinois

Evidence Preservation Kit: What to Save After a Crash

Cases are won on evidence that still exists when someone needs it. What to preserve, in the order it disappears.

By Lincoln Square Law · 8-minute read

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Most crash cases are not decided by the law. They are decided by the evidence that still exists when someone needs it. Skid marks wash away in the first rain. Surveillance systems overwrite themselves. Vehicles are repaired, salvaged, or crushed. Witnesses move, change phone numbers, and forget. Illinois law gives an injured person tools to preserve evidence, but those tools work only if they are used early. This checklist explains what to save, in the order it tends to disappear, and why each item matters.

At the scene, if you safely can

Your health comes first. If you are hurt, the most important thing you can do at the scene is get medical care. If you are able to act, these steps preserve evidence that no one can recreate later:

• Photograph every vehicle from all sides. Include close-ups of damage and wider shots showing where each vehicle came to rest.
• Photograph the scene itself. Traffic signals, stop signs, lane markings, skid marks, debris, road defects, lighting, and weather conditions.
• Photograph the other driver’s documents. License plate, driver’s license, and insurance card. Illinois law requires drivers involved in a crash to exchange this information (625 ILCS 5/11-403).
• Get witness names and numbers before they leave. A neutral witness can be the most persuasive evidence in a disputed case.
• Note cameras nearby. Businesses, doorbells, traffic cameras, buses, and rideshare dashcams. Write down the location of each.
• Ask for the police report number. You will need it to request the report later.

The first 72 hours

The first three days are when the most evidence is lost.

• Write down what happened. Record the time, the route, what you saw and heard, what the other driver said, and the names of everyone involved. Date the note. Memories change quickly, and a note written within a day is far more reliable than one written months later.
• Request surveillance footage in writing. Many private systems overwrite their recordings within days or weeks. A polite written request to a business or homeowner, asking that footage from a specific time be saved, can preserve it until your attorney can obtain a copy.
• Keep your damaged property. Do not throw away a broken phone, a torn jacket, a damaged bicycle helmet, or a child’s car seat. In some cases, those items are evidence of how the crash happened and how you were injured.
• Photograph your injuries. Take photographs of bruises, cuts, and swelling now and as they change over the following days and weeks.
• Get medical care and keep the records. Tell every provider how you were injured. Gaps between the crash and the first treatment are among the most common defense arguments.

Your vehicle

Your vehicle is often the most important physical evidence in the case, and it is also the evidence most likely to be lost through ordinary insurance handling.

• Do not authorize repairs or salvage until the vehicle is documented. Once a vehicle is repaired or sent to auction, damage patterns and mechanical evidence are gone.
• Tell your insurer in writing that the vehicle must be preserved. If the insurer takes possession for a total-loss settlement, ask that it be held until your attorney confirms it has been inspected.
• Ask about the event data recorder. Most modern passenger vehicles have an event data recorder that captures speed, braking, and seatbelt use in the seconds around a crash. Federal law sets standards for these devices (49 C.F.R. Part 563), and the Driver Privacy Act of 2015 provides that the data belongs to the vehicle’s owner or lessee. Downloading it properly requires specialized equipment, so the vehicle should be preserved until that is done.

The first two weeks

• Obtain the crash report. In Chicago, crash reports prepared by the Chicago Police Department can be requested from the Records Division. Illinois law separately requires a driver involved in a crash causing injury, death, or property damage above the statutory threshold to file a written report with the Illinois Department of Transportation within ten days (625 ILCS 5/11-406).
• Save your electronic records. Keep text messages, phone logs, ride-share receipts, navigation history, and fitness-tracker data from the day of the crash. Do not delete anything, even if it seems unhelpful.
• Be careful with social media. Do not post about the crash, your injuries, or your activities. Do not delete existing posts either. Deleting content after a claim is foreseeable can create a spoliation problem of its own.
• Keep a treatment and expense file. Collect medical bills, receipts, mileage, and records of missed work.

What your attorney can preserve that you cannot

Some evidence is in the hands of the other driver, a trucking company, a business, or a government agency. Your attorney can take steps to protect it that an individual usually cannot.

• Preservation letters. A written demand to the other side, its insurer, and relevant third parties identifies the evidence that must be preserved: vehicles, data recorders, dashcam footage, phone records, driver logs, maintenance records, and surveillance video.
• Public records requests. Footage and records held by public bodies can be requested under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140).
• Commercial vehicle records. In crashes involving commercial trucks, federal regulations require motor carriers to keep hours-of-service records and supporting documents for a limited period (49 C.F.R. §395.8). Those records should be requested promptly.
• Court orders. Where evidence is at risk, a court can order preservation, and once a lawsuit is filed, the discovery rules require production of documents and electronically stored information (Ill. S. Ct. Rules 201 and 214).
• Expert inspection. Accident reconstruction experts can inspect vehicles, download data, and document the scene before it changes.

Why preservation matters: Illinois spoliation law

Illinois does not recognize an independent tort of spoliation. Instead, a claim for negligent spoliation of evidence is analyzed under ordinary negligence principles (Boyd v. Travelers Insurance Co., 166 Ill. 2d 188 (1995)). As a general rule, there is no duty to preserve evidence. A duty arises only if a party has agreed to preserve it, a contract or statute requires it, or another special circumstance exists, and the evidence must be material to a potential civil action that the party should reasonably have foreseen (Martin v. Keeley & Sons, Inc., 2012 IL 113270).

That rule is why written preservation requests matter. A clear, specific request helps establish that the other side knew the evidence was relevant to a foreseeable claim. Once litigation is underway, courts have broad power to sanction a party that fails to preserve evidence, and the Illinois Supreme Court has recognized that sanctions under Supreme Court Rule 219(c) can apply to evidence destroyed even before suit was filed (Shimanovsky v. General Motors Corp., 181 Ill. 2d 112 (1998)).

The same rules apply to you. An injured person who repairs a vehicle, discards a damaged product, or deletes posts after a claim is foreseeable may face the same arguments. Preserving your own evidence protects your credibility as well as your case.

Deadlines that make preservation urgent

In Illinois, most personal injury claims must be filed within two years (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Claims against local public entities, including many claims involving city vehicles, city property, or public transit, are generally subject to a one-year limit (745 ILCS 10/8-101), and some agencies have additional notice requirements. Evidence gathered early makes it possible to evaluate the claim and identify every responsible party before those deadlines run.

Preserve evidence in the order it disappears

Evidence disappears in a predictable order: the scene first, then video and electronic data, then vehicles and physical items, then witnesses’ memories. Photograph what you can, write down what you remember, keep what you have, and put preservation requests in writing. The steps are simple, and taken early, they often decide whether a case can be proved at all.