Fact-Checked: Why Trust Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima In everyday speech, the word “accident” suggests something unexplainable and unavoidable – an event that simply happened, with no clear explanation. Defendants in personal injury cases would love juries to believe that a harmful event that causes someone’s injury or death was just that – an accident, where no one is to blame. However, this is typically not true; most injury incidents have clear causes and persons (or companies) responsible for causing them. You just need to know where to look to find the evidence. Today, some of the most decisive evidence in personal injury litigation comes not from eyewitnesses, but from data: vehicle systems, surveillance cameras, and digital footprints that capture what really occurred in the moments before and after a crash or incident.
For injured individuals and their families, this shift has real consequences. The outcome of a case may hinge on whether critical electronic evidence is identified, preserved, and analyzed early—before it disappears.
The impact of electronic evidence can be profound:
- It can corroborate an injured person’s account when liability is disputed
- It can contradict inaccurate or incomplete police reports
- It can reveal conduct—such as speeding, distraction, or equipment failure—that would otherwise remain hidden
- It can shift settlement dynamics, often leading to earlier and more favorable resolutions
In many cases, it removes ambiguity. What might have been characterized as an “unavoidable accident” becomes a clearly preventable event.
In our practice, one of the first questions we ask in any new case is not just “what happened,” but “what evidence exists—and how quickly might it disappear?” This makes early intervention critical. Waiting even a few days can mean losing the most objective evidence in the case.
The Expanding Universe of Digital Evidence
Modern litigation routinely involves multiple forms of electronic and video evidence, including:
- Event Data Recorders (EDRs): Most late-model vehicles contain EDRs—often referred to as “black boxes”—that record pre-crash data such as speed, braking, throttle position, and seatbelt usage. In commercial trucking cases, this data can be even more robust, sometimes supplemented by telematics systems that track driver behavior over time.
Courts across jurisdictions, including Ohio and Kentucky, have generally treated EDR data as discoverable when properly requested and preserved. However, accessing it often requires prompt action and, in some cases, cooperation from vehicle owners, insurers, or manufacturers.
- Commercial and Residential Surveillance Footage: The proliferation of cameras—at businesses, traffic intersections, and private residences—means that many incidents are captured on video, even if no one initially realizes it. A slip-and-fall at a retail store, for example, may be recorded from multiple angles. A crash at an intersection may be captured by nearby businesses or homes. Many times, even if there are no cameras at the precise location of the incident, there may be cameras on neighboring properties that capture everything.
The challenge is that this footage is often overwritten within days.
- Dash Cameras and Body Cameras: Dash cams are increasingly common in both commercial fleets and private vehicles. In tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles, there are often cameras facing out the front windshield, but there are sometimes cameras facing inward, capturing the driver’s actions and behavior. In addition, law enforcement body cameras can provide critical post-incident documentation, including statements, scene conditions, and witness interactions.
- Cell Phone and App Data: Metadata from cell phones and other mobile devices can shed light on driver distraction, location, and timing. While privacy considerations and legal thresholds apply, this type of evidence can be pivotal in cases involving allegations of distracted driving.
This evidence can cut both ways; if the plaintiff’s attorney has a defendant driver’s cell phone forensically examined for evidence of distractions, the other side will typically insist on a similar examination of the injured person’s phone, in hopes of finding evidence that he/she was distracted and at-fault for causing a crash.
The Importance of Preservation of Evidence
The value of electronic evidence is matched only by its fragility. Digital data can easily be overwritten, deleted, or lost in the ordinary course of business. Many entities—particularly businesses—operate on automatic data retention cycles:
- Surveillance systems may overwrite footage in as little as 24–72 hours
- Fleet vehicles may cycle out telematics data every few weeks or months
- Third-party vendors may purge stored information without a preservation request or subpoena
Both Ohio and Kentucky recognize the doctrine of spoliation—the destruction or alteration of evidence. In Ohio, the Supreme Court has recognized an independent cause of action for intentional spoliation. Kentucky law does not recognize spoliation as a tort but allows for sanctions when relevant evidence is not preserved and, in some cases, permits the jury to assume that spoliated evidence would have been harmful to the party that failed to preserve it.
But these remedies are imperfect. A jury instruction cannot fully replace a lost video that would have conclusively shown how an incident occurred. The practical reality is simple: if the evidence is not preserved early, it may be gone forever.
Our Approach: Strategic, Immediate, and Evidence-Driven
From the outset of a new case, the attorneys at Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima take a proactive and systematic approach to identifying and preserving electronic evidence.
- Early Case Assessment: We evaluate all potential sources of digital evidence—vehicles involved, nearby businesses, government entities, and third parties. This includes physically canvassing the scene when appropriate.
- Preservation Letters (Spoliation Notices): We promptly issue targeted preservation letters to all relevant parties, putting them on notice of their obligation to retain evidence. These letters are tailored to the facts of the case and specifically identify categories of data (e.g., surveillance footage, EDR downloads, maintenance logs, telematics records).
- Rapid Investigation: When necessary, we work with investigators to locate and secure video footage before it is overwritten. In some cases, this means contacting businesses or homeowners within days—or even hours—of being retained.
- Technical Expertise: We collaborate with qualified experts to download and interpret EDR data and other electronic records. Proper handling is essential to ensure admissibility and reliability.
- Litigation Readiness: If voluntary preservation is uncertain, we are prepared to file suite or seek court intervention, including expedited discovery, to prevent the loss of critical evidence.
What This Means for Injured Individuals
If you or a family member has been injured, the takeaway is straightforward: time matters. Waiting to consult counsel can have consequences beyond legal deadlines—it can mean losing the evidence needed to prove your case.
An effective legal strategy today is not just about courtroom advocacy. It begins at the earliest stages of a case, with a disciplined focus on evidence preservation and development. In our experience, the cases that are best positioned for success are those where the evidence is secured early, analyzed carefully, and presented clearly. That process does not happen by accident. It requires strategy, urgency, and a deep understanding of how modern evidence works—and how quickly it can be lost.