The first three days after a construction or auto accident decide what evidence survives. Surveillance footage overwrites. Witnesses disappear. Equipment gets repaired. Here’s the checklist we work with our clients in those first 72 hours.
If anyone is hurt, call 911. Medical records from the scene are the foundation of every case. Once medical care is underway, photograph the scene, the vehicle (or the equipment), and visible injuries. Get names and phone numbers of every person who saw what happened. Note the exact address, the position of vehicles, the lighting conditions, the weather. Get the police report number and the responding officer’s name.
Most private business cameras overwrite footage in 24 to 72 hours. Hotel cameras, restaurant cameras, gas station cameras, building lobby cameras — they all rotate fast. We send a preservation letter the day we’re retained. If the accident involved a commercial truck, NYC DOT camera, MTA bus, or NYCHA shuttle, the preservation timeline is even tighter and the deadlines are statutory.
Follow up on every medical referral. Specialist visits, imaging, physical therapy. Keep every discharge paper. Do not give recorded statements to the other side’s insurance adjuster. Do not sign anything from the at-fault insurer. The recorded statement is designed to lock you into early facts before you’ve fully recovered or understood your injuries.
The 90-day Notice of Claim deadline against the City, NYCHA, or the MTA starts the moment of the accident under GML §50-e. The 30-day No-Fault application deadline is already running under Ins. Law §5103. The 6-month evidence retention windows on commercial-truck and rideshare data are running. A lawyer can preserve every deadline simultaneously. That’s the call to make.
Free consultation. No fee unless we recover.
