How to Get Traffic Camera Footage for a Car Accident in Palm Beach County, FL

In order to get footage of your car accident filmed by a traffic camera in Palm Beach County, you will have to act quickly. Otherwise, it might get deleted before you can access it.

Being able to get traffic camera footage of a motor vehicle accident in Palm Beach County is not very likely. If images are available, you must contact the corresponding agency, such as the local police department or the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) . When traffic camera footage is unavailable, victims might be able to get videos from eyewitnesses or surveillance cameras that show an at-fault driver acting negligently. Other common evidence, like eyewitness statements and medical records, can be used to meet the burden of proof as well in Palm Beach County.

To have our Palm Beach County, FL personal injury attorneys analyze your case for free, call The Law Offices of David I. Fuchs, Injury & Accident Lawyer, P.A. today at (954) 751-4258.

Can You Get Traffic Camera Footage of a Palm Beach County, FL Car Accident?

Rarely, if ever, is traffic camera footage of a car crash available in Palm Beach County. Whether or not you can get such footage will depend on where your accident took place and if a camera was nearby.

Although the Florida Department of Transportation has live traffic cameras, these devices are not designed to store footage. Instead, they are used to monitor the flow of traffic and other important information. The footage is then streamed to FDOT’s website. For a live camera to have filmed your accident, it would have had to occur in a specific location in Palm Beach County.

Other traffic cameras, like red-light cameras, are few and far between in Palm Beach County. In fact, Boynton Beach is the only city in the county that currently has cameras on stoplights, although they are legal throughout the state. These devices are not very useful to car accident victims, as they only take photos when triggered by a driver running a stoplight.

In July of 2023, Florida legalized the use of speed cameras in school zones. As these cameras become more prevalent in Florida and, more specifically, in Palm Beach County, they might photograph accidents in certain situations. It is important to note that many cities and towns in Florida have yet to implement the use of speed cameras since their legalization occurred so recently. Furthermore, they would only be helpful to victims in cases where car accidents occur near school zones.

Who Should You Contact to Get Traffic Camera Footage of a Palm Beach County, FL Car Accident?

If you want to learn whether or not there is traffic camera footage of your auto accident in Palm Beach County, you will have to contact certain agencies for that information.

The first agency victims can go to is the Florida Department of Transportation. Our Palm Beach County, FL car accident attorneys can contact FDOT to see if footage of your accident was filmed and stored. Government agencies can be difficult to get into contact with about such matters, so our attorneys can file a Freedom of Information Act request or subpoena FDOT to get the footage if it does exist.

Next, our lawyers can contact local police departments to inquire about possible photos from red-light or speed cameras. Depending on the location of your accident in Palm Beach County, one of several police departments might be in charge of maintaining the enforcement cameras in the area. Police departments might not keep photos from these cameras for long, especially if they do not provide clear identifying pictures of a driver acting negligently or breaking the law. Because of this, it is important to get in touch with the proper departments as soon as possible after your accident so that you can obtain any footage or photos before they are deleted in Palm Beach County.

Can Other Types of Video Evidence Help Your Palm Beach County, FL, Car Accident Claim?

Traffic camera footage is not the only video evidence that might help auto accident victims recover the compensatory damages they deserve in Palm Beach County. Other useful video evidence might come from nearby surveillance cameras or eyewitnesses.

The most reliable video evidence of car accidents tends to come from sources like security cameras and eyewitnesses. Surveillance footage might be stored longer than videos from traffic cameras. Film from surveillance cameras might also be clearer and more easily viewed. To get footage in such instances, our attorneys will get in contact with local homeowners or business owners who might have security cameras on their properties. Similar devices, such as doorbell and dashboard cameras, might also film motor vehicle accidents in Palm Beach County.

Eyewitnesses have been known to video motor vehicle accidents as well. Eyewitnesses might have just happened to be filming at the time your crash occurred, capturing the entire accident. In other instances, an eyewitness might start filming as soon as they notice another driver acting negligently. Eyewitnesses might also use their smartphones to take videos after the fact, accurately capturing the aftermath and a victim’s injuries.

If eyewitnesses might have photos or videos that can strengthen your claim, getting that evidence is important. Our West Palm Beach personal injury lawyers can reach out to eyewitnesses in the days following your car accident to collect useful images. In addition to providing helpful videos, eyewitnesses might also be able to give statements that act as additional proof of a defendant’s fault in Palm Beach County.

When video evidence is unavailable, other evidence, such as medical records, accident reports, and expert testimony, can be sufficient in proving that a defendant’s negligence caused a victim’s injuries.

Call Our Palm Beach County, FL Lawyers About Your Car Accident Today

Call The Law Offices of David I. Fuchs, Injury & Accident Lawyer, P.A. at (954) 751-4258 for a free case assessment from our West Palm Beach, FL car accident attorneys.