Protect the Evidence That Shapes Your Crash Claim

If you were hurt in a serious crash in New Mexico, the evidence you keep in the first days can matter a great deal. Photos, crash report numbers, medical records, and vehicle details can change or disappear over time. This checklist explains what to keep, why it matters, and what to avoid after car and commercial truck crashes. Use it as a working reference, and add to it as your records grow.

Why Evidence Matters in the First Days After a Serious Crash

Evidence matters most early because scenes change, cars get repaired, and memories fade. A crash that causes serious injury can also leave a medical trail that grows for weeks or months. Starting your records on day one helps show the full picture.

New Mexico courts look at cause in a practical way. Under the New Mexico proximate cause rule, a proximate cause is one that, in a natural and continuous sequence, produces the injury. It need not be the only cause, the last cause, or the nearest one. Records that link your crash to each injury can matter.

No single item decides a claim. Each crash has its own facts. A folder started on day one is easier to build than one pieced together months later.

Photos, Video, and the Scene

Photos are often the most useful record you can make at the scene, if you can take them safely. Capture the position of each vehicle, damage to every vehicle, skid marks, the road surface, weather, signs, traffic signals, and lane markings. Wide shots show how the vehicles sat. Close-ups show the damage itself.

Keep the original files. Time-stamped images straight from your phone are better than edited copies. Don’t crop, filter, or delete shots, even the blurry ones. Save a second copy in a cloud folder or on a computer, so a lost phone doesn’t mean a lost record.

Write down the location and any nearby businesses. Note any camera that might cover the area, such as a store camera, a traffic camera, or a home doorbell camera. Then write what you saw and heard while your memory is fresh. Include the time of day and what the other driver said.

If you can’t take photos safely, ask a family member or friend to help. A short video of the scene can also help show the layout of the road.

Police Reports, Witnesses, and Contact Information

Making sure the crash is reported comes first. Under NMSA § 66-7-206, the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person, or property damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the accident to the police department if the accident occurs within a municipality, or otherwise to the office of the county sheriff or the nearest office of the New Mexico state police. For an autonomous motor vehicle or autonomous commercial motor vehicle operating without a human driver, the owner of that motor vehicle or person working on behalf of the vehicle owner is responsible for giving this notice. Inside a city, notice goes to the police department. Outside a city, it goes to the county sheriff or the nearest New Mexico State Police office.

Under NMSA § 66-7-206, the driver of a vehicle, or the autonomous motor vehicle operator or autonomous commercial motor vehicle operator, if applicable, involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person, or property damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the accident to the police department if the accident occurs within a municipality; otherwise to the office of the county sheriff or the nearest office of the New Mexico state police. If an autonomous vehicle is operating without a human driver, the owner or a person working on the owner’s behalf must give this notice. NMSA 1978, § 66-7-201 requires the driver to stop immediately at the scene and remain there until the duties in the law are done. Under NMSA § 66-7-203, the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or damage to any vehicle driven or attended by any person, shall give his name, address and the registration number of the vehicle he is driving. The driver must also show a driver’s license on request and give reasonable help to anyone hurt.

Write these details down when you can. Ask for the officer’s name and the report number. Record the other driver’s insurance and vehicle details, and get names and phone numbers from witnesses. Wrong details matter, so if someone gives you a wrong fact, correct it in writing as soon as you can.

Reports follow their own timeline. Under NMSA § 66-7-207, the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person, or total property damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, shall, within five days after the accident, forward a written report of the accident to the department of transportation. Under NMSA § 66-7-207, every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident of which report must be made shall, within twenty-four hours after completing the investigation, forward a written report of the accident to the department of transportation. A state accident report generally cannot be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident, except as otherwise provided in NMSA § 66-7-213. That is one reason your own photos and notes are worth keeping.

Vehicles, Parts, and Vehicle Data

Keep the damaged vehicle and its parts. If you have questions about preserving the car before approving repairs, salvage, or disposal, you can ask El Gringo Law about it. Ask the repair shop or tow yard for a written record of where the vehicle is kept.

Many newer vehicles store data about a crash. That data can be harder to check once a car is repaired, sold, or scrapped. Ask for written estimates before any work starts.

Keep the personal items you had with you, too. These include the phone you were using, the clothing you wore, and damaged safety gear such as a helmet or a child seat. Keep receipts for towing and storage, since those costs add up.

Medical Records, Bills, and an Injury Journal

Keep every medical record, bill, and receipt in one place. Useful records include emergency and hospital notes, imaging results, surgery and rehab notes, prescriptions, and itemized bills. Keep any insurance explanation-of-benefits forms, too.

Start an injury journal in the first week and keep it going. Each day, write in your own words about your pain level, sleep, how far you can walk, and what you can lift. Note tasks you can’t do and any time you missed from work. Accuracy matters more than neat writing. A journal that matches your medical records shows the real impact of the crash.

Keep receipts for travel to appointments and for out-of-pocket costs, such as copays, prescriptions, and medical equipment. A simple mileage log for medical trips helps, too.

Follow your providers’ advice and keep your scheduled visits. Tell every provider about every symptom, even ones that seem minor. Keep their contact information together in one place.

Extra Records When a Commercial Truck Is Involved

Truck crashes add records held by the carrier and the driver. Federal rules set minimum keeping periods for some of them. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8, a motor carrier must keep a driver’s record of duty status for at least six months from the date of receipt.

Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.11, carriers must keep supporting documents, such as bills of lading, dispatch or trip records, and expense receipts, for each driver for every 24-hour period to verify on-duty not driving time. The same section says no motor carrier or driver may obscure, destroy, or alter information in a supporting document.

Testing after a truck crash is another record to ask about. Under 49 C.F.R. § 382.303, an employer must test surviving drivers after certain commercial vehicle crashes. Under 49 C.F.R. § 382.303(a), as soon as practicable following an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a public road in commerce, each employer shall test for alcohol each of its surviving drivers who was performing safety-sensitive functions with respect to the vehicle if the accident involved the loss of human life, and each of its surviving drivers who receives a citation within 8 hours of the occurrence under State or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident, if the accident involved bodily injury to any person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident, or one or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle. An alcohol test is due as soon as practicable. If it is not given within two hours, the employer must record why. Attempts stop after eight hours.

Retention periods can run out, so the sooner records are requested, the less risk that a period ends first. Whether any given record matters depends on the facts of the crash.

What to Avoid in the First Days

Don’t delete anything related to the crash. That includes photos, texts, call logs, voicemails, and social media posts. Don’t edit or crop original images.

Don’t post about the crash, your injuries, or your daily activities on social media. Insurers may look at posts when they question an injury.

Don’t give a recorded statement, sign a release, or sign settlement papers from an insurer until you understand what they say. Ask for written questions and take your time with the answers.

Don’t skip medical care or downplay symptoms. Describe every symptom to your providers, even minor ones.

Before you repair, sell, or discard the vehicle or damaged items, you can ask El Gringo Law how to preserve them.

Talking Through Your Crash with El Gringo Law

Gather what you can, and talk with El Gringo Law when you’re ready. A serious crash, a damaged car, growing medical records, and calls from insurers can all arrive at once. You don’t have to sort them out alone.

Josh Wood is the responsible lawyer for this page. He is licensed in New Mexico and Arizona. The initial consultation is free, confidential, and without obligation. Reach out through the El Gringo Law contact page, where you can use the contact form or chat.

Every case is different; past results do not predict a similar outcome.