How to Save Dashcam, Doorbell and Store Video After a Crash
The best evidence disappears first
When two drivers tell different stories, video ends the argument. It shows who ran the light, who drifted across the line, and how hard the impact really was.
The problem is that most of it is gone within days. Store and business cameras typically record over themselves on a loop, sometimes after a week or two, sometimes sooner. Doorbell cameras keep footage only as long as the owner’s plan allows. Nobody saves it unless someone asks.
That is why the first few days matter more than almost anything else in a case like a hit and run or a disputed crash.
Where the video is
Stand at the spot where the crash happened, or think back to it, and look in every direction:
- Businesses: gas stations, convenience stores, banks, restaurants, shopping centers. Most have cameras covering their lots and entrances, and many also catch part of the street.
- Homes: doorbell and security cameras on nearby houses.
- Other drivers: dashcams in cars that were behind or beside you. Witnesses sometimes have footage without realizing it.
- Buses and commercial vehicles: transit buses, delivery trucks and rideshare cars often have cameras.
- Your own car: a dashcam, or a newer car’s built-in camera system.
How to ask
Go in person if you can, and go fast. Ask for the manager or owner. Be polite, and be specific:
“There was a crash out front on Tuesday at about 5:40 in the afternoon. Your camera may have caught it. Could you please save the footage from 5:30 to 6:00 before it records over?”
Write down the name of the person you spoke with, the business, the date and time you asked, and what they said.
If they will give you a copy, take it. If they will not, which is common and is their right, ask them to preserve it. A business that is asked to save footage will often hold it for a lawyer or the police even if it will not hand it to you.
Ask neighbors directly about doorbell cameras. Most people are willing to help if you explain what happened and ask for a specific window of time.
Have a lawyer send a preservation letter
A lawyer can send a formal written request, a preservation letter, to the business, the rideshare company or the trucking company, asking them to keep the footage and any other records. Once someone has been put on notice, destroying the evidence can have consequences in a lawsuit; courts call that spoliation.
This is one of the first things we do on a case, and it is a reason to call early rather than late.
Save your own
- Download your dashcam footage today and store a copy somewhere other than the card in the camera
- Do not edit or trim it. Keep the original file
- Save your photos and videos from the scene in more than one place
- Screenshot anything relevant in your phone, such as a rideshare trip or a map with the time of the crash
Talk to Boyd
If you were in a crash in the last few days and you think a camera may have caught it, call now. The consultation is free, and Boyd takes the call himself: (714) 656-2400.