How We Obtain Accident Footage
Traffic cameras, business surveillance, dashcams, police body cameras — video evidence changes cases. But it disappears fast. Here’s how our team moves to preserve it before it’s gone.
Accident footage is often the most powerful evidence in a personal injury case. A traffic camera, business surveillance system, or dashcam that captured a crash tells the story without relying on disputed witness accounts or the at-fault driver’s version of events. The problem is that this footage is almost always on a countdown — many systems overwrite within 24 to 72 hours, and without a formal preservation demand, no one is required to save it. At Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers, obtaining and preserving accident footage is one of the first things our team does when a new case comes in. This page explains the sources we pursue and how we get them.
Why Video Evidence Changes Cases
Insurance adjusters are trained to dispute fault. A driver who caused a crash may give a statement that contradicts what actually happened. Without video, a case often becomes one person’s word against another’s — and adjusters know how to leverage that uncertainty to reduce settlement offers.
Video evidence removes the ambiguity. It shows the exact position of vehicles at the moment of impact, whether a signal was run, how fast someone was traveling, and who was in their lane. In trucking cases, footage from the crash scene combined with the truck’s own onboard systems can establish a complete timeline of events. NHTSA’s fatality and crash data systems consistently show that disputed liability is one of the leading factors in cases where victims receive inadequate compensation. Video takes disputed liability off the table.
Sources of Accident Footage We Pursue
Traffic Signal & City Cameras
Louisville Metro and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet operate camera systems at many major intersections and along arterials. Louisville’s KYTC Traffic Operations Center and Metro Public Works both maintain camera infrastructure. Preservation requests must go to the correct agency and often require specific legal notice within days of the crash. We know the agencies and the process.
Business Surveillance Cameras
Gas stations, restaurants, retail stores, apartment complexes, warehouses, and other businesses along the crash route often have exterior cameras that captured the crash or its immediate aftermath. We canvass the area on foot and by satellite imagery to identify every camera within the likely field of view, then send preservation demands to each property owner before footage is overwritten.
Dashcams
Both the vehicles involved in the crash and third-party vehicles passing through the area may have recorded the collision. We request dashcam footage from all involved vehicles, pursue footage from identified third-party witnesses, and in trucking cases, seek footage from any fleet-managed forward-facing or inward-facing cameras on the truck.
Police & First Responder Body Cameras
Louisville Metro Police, Kentucky State Police, and first responder agencies use body cameras. The footage captured at the scene — including the positions of vehicles, witness statements made contemporaneously, and the at-fault driver’s behavior after the crash — can be critical. We submit open records requests under KRS 61.872 (Kentucky Open Records Act) within days of the crash.
Truck Onboard Cameras
Modern commercial trucks are equipped with forward-facing event cameras, lane departure systems, and in some cases inward-facing driver monitoring cameras. These are owned by the carrier and subject to rapid overwrite or intentional deletion. We send spoliation letters to trucking companies within 24–48 hours demanding preservation of all onboard camera footage as part of our standard truck crash investigation process.
Toll & Highway Cameras
Kentucky’s tolled highway systems — including the Ohio River bridges — use camera infrastructure at toll plazas and approach lanes. Crashes near these locations may be captured from multiple angles. We identify toll operator camera coverage and submit preservation requests as part of our initial investigation.
How Quickly Footage Disappears
This is the part that catches most crash victims off guard. They’re focused on medical treatment, dealing with insurance calls, and trying to get back to normal life. Meanwhile, the footage that would prove their case is being overwritten on a 24-hour loop.
Common overwrite timelines by source:
- City and KYTC traffic cameras: Some overwrite continuously with no archiving — footage may be gone within 24 hours unless a preservation hold is in place
- Business surveillance systems: Most systems overwrite between 24 hours and 30 days, with 3–7 days being the most common retention period for exterior cameras
- Dashcam footage: Loop recording on most consumer dashcams means overwriting begins immediately; some premium units retain the last 3–7 days
- Trucking company onboard cameras: Carriers often have a 30-day retention policy — but evidence also shows that footage is sometimes deleted by carriers before that period expires when litigation is anticipated
- Police body cameras: Louisville Metro Police body camera footage is typically retained for minimum 90 days for non-use-of-force incidents, but this varies and LMPD’s policy has specific provisions for incident-involved footage under Kentucky law
The Preservation Letter — What It Does and Why It Matters
A preservation or spoliation letter is a formal legal notice sent to anyone who may have footage or other evidence. It puts them on notice that the evidence may be relevant to litigation and that they are legally obligated to preserve it. Once a party receives a preservation letter, intentional destruction of that evidence can result in sanctions, adverse inference instructions, or independent liability — meaning their failure to preserve can be used against them in court. Sending these letters fast is critical. We typically send them within 24–48 hours of being retained on a case.
How We Obtain Footage: Our Step-by-Step Process
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Scene mapping within hours of retention
We immediately identify every potential footage source near the crash scene — using satellite imagery, prior case knowledge of the area, and contact with our investigation team. Every camera that could have captured the crash, its approach, or its aftermath is identified.
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Preservation letters sent within 24–48 hours
Formal preservation demands go out to every relevant party: city agencies, business owners, trucking companies, and any third party with potential footage. The letter details what must be preserved and the legal consequences of failure to do so.
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Open records requests filed immediately
For police body camera footage, traffic camera archives, and crash investigation records, we file open records requests under KRS 61.872 within days of the crash. Public agencies have a statutory obligation to respond.
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Business canvassing
Our investigation team physically canvasses the crash area to identify businesses and residences with exterior cameras that may not be visible from public maps. Door-to-door contact with property owners is often more effective than a mailed letter for time-sensitive footage preservation.
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Formal subpoena or discovery requests if needed
Once a lawsuit is filed, formal discovery allows us to subpoena footage that was preserved but not voluntarily produced. In trucking cases, we also use discovery to obtain fleet management system data, forward-facing camera footage, and the carrier’s internal incident reports. For more on trucking evidence, see our trucking evidence page.
Footage in Trucking Crash Investigations
Commercial trucking crashes produce more potential footage sources than most other crash types. In addition to the external sources listed above, a commercial truck itself may contain:
- Forward-facing event cameras — systems like DriveCam and Lytx record the road ahead and are triggered by hard braking, sharp turns, or impact
- Driver-facing cameras — inward-facing cameras monitor driver behavior and can capture distraction, fatigue, or inattention in the moments before a crash
- Electronic logging device (ELD) data — not footage, but timestamped records of speed, braking, and location that can corroborate or contradict what video shows
- Engine control module (ECM) / black box data — records the truck’s speed, throttle, and brake applications in the seconds before impact
All of this is perishable. The most important thing in a trucking crash is immediate action — and the most important call you can make after getting medical care is to an attorney who will start the preservation process the same day. Learn more about the full scope of trucking investigation on our truck crash investigations page.
Don’t wait to call. Every day that passes after a crash is a day more footage may be gone. If you or a family member was hurt in a crash — especially involving a commercial truck — the clock on evidence preservation is already running. Call 502-888-8888 (Louisville) or 859-888-8000 (Lexington). We can start the preservation process the same day.
What Happens When Footage Is Destroyed
When a party who received a preservation demand destroys or allows footage to be overwritten anyway, courts can impose sanctions. In Kentucky civil cases, a court may give an adverse inference instruction — telling the jury that because the defendant destroyed evidence, the jury may assume the evidence would have been unfavorable to the defendant. In serious cases, destruction of evidence can give rise to a separate claim for spoliation under Kentucky law.
For trucking cases in federal court, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37(e) governs electronically stored information and provides specific remedies — including adverse inferences and case-dispositive sanctions — when a party fails to preserve electronically stored evidence that it had a duty to preserve. In short: destroying footage isn’t a free move.
Frequently Asked Questions About Accident Footage
Can you get traffic camera footage from a crash in Louisville?
Yes — but timing is critical. Louisville Metro, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and other agencies operate cameras at many major intersections and corridors. Some systems overwrite continuously with no archiving. We submit preservation demands and open records requests under KRS 61.872 within days of a crash to give us the best chance of recovering footage before it’s gone.
What if the business that had footage already deleted it?
If they deleted footage after receiving a preservation demand from us, that’s spoliation — and courts can sanction it. The jury may be told to assume the footage would have shown what you said it would. If they deleted it before any notice, we investigate whether they had any duty to preserve it and whether other evidence can establish the same facts. Every case is different, but deleted footage is not necessarily the end of the evidence picture.
How do you get police body camera footage after a crash?
We file open records requests with the relevant law enforcement agency under Kentucky’s Open Records Act (KRS 61.872). Louisville Metro Police, Kentucky State Police, and most other agencies have policies for responding to records requests. Once a case is in litigation, we can also obtain footage through formal discovery. The key is requesting it promptly before retention periods expire.
Can you get the truck’s own camera footage after a crash?
Yes — that’s one of the most important pieces of evidence in a trucking case. We send spoliation letters to the trucking company within 24–48 hours of being retained, demanding preservation of all onboard camera footage, ELD data, ECM data, and related records. Once litigation begins, we use formal discovery to compel production of anything that was preserved. Learn more on our trucking evidence page.
What if there was no camera footage of my crash?
Not every crash is captured on video — but our investigation doesn’t stop there. We pursue police reports, witness statements, physical evidence at the scene (skid marks, debris fields, point of impact), and in some cases engage accident reconstruction professionals. In trucking cases, ECM/black box data and ELD records often provide the same objective timeline that video would, even without footage. Many strong cases are built without video.
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