When involved in a car accident, are you supposed to take pictures?

Question

I was recently involved in a car accident (my first). Thankfully it was only front-end damage (left side only) and he had a truck and I had a small car. I was the only one driving in my car while the other driver had a few kids with him. It was relatively minor in my own words. But because I was in shock throughout the whole experience, I forgot to take pictures of what happened. Could I get screwed? I already feel low as it is about this and I'm still trying to get over it. My insurance said not to worry about pictures as the police report says it all. Thoughts anyone?

Answer 1

the police report will tell who was at fault and what damage there was pictures is just in case you would have to go to court and want to show the judge what it looked like hope this helped

Answer 2

You don't have to take pictures, but it is a good idea, I always carry a disposible camera in the car just for that purpose. It saved me once, because the other car involved had no damage, but later on they said that there was a big dent in the fender. It did not show anything when I took the picture. They did not know that I had taken the picture. Guess who got screwed in that deal.

Answer 3

It would help just in case something was to change but the police report will give an estimate of the damages as well......

Answer 4

You don't need to take pictures, but it is a good idea to do so at the time of the accident.  A friend of mine was involved in an accident a while back, and took pictures right after it happened (he just happened to have a camera with him at the time).  Later those pictures came in handy as the other person involved in the accident tried to claim that other damage was done to his vehicle that didn't happen in the accident.  My friend took those pictures to his insurance agent, and the other party was cited for insurance fraud.

Answer 5

Taking pictures is always  a good idea,   of the location,  the vehicle,  and it doesn't hurt to get the driver into one or two of them also.  

If your insurance company wants photos,  they can ask the body shop to get them before starting work,  or send someone by the other persons house or place of employment.

Answer 6

You shouldn't be worried about the lack of pictures.  You should work on squaring everything away with your insurance company, as far as paperwork or whatever.  Even the most astute drivers can get into collisions, but if you think your driving skills were to blame, you should read your state's driving manual again (the one they give out for permits) or read how-to-drive-safely guides/tutorials on the internet.