Evidence checklist
Taxi and rideshare accident evidence checklist
A for-hire crash has the same basic collision evidence as another motor-vehicle case, plus a critical digital question: what was the driver's app and trip status at the moment of impact? That status can affect which company policy, personal policy, or taxi coverage applies.
Move to safety and seek emergency help first. Do not remain in traffic or risk further injury to gather photographs.
Published August 23, 2026 · Last reviewed August 23, 2026
Scene and collision evidence
Scene records establish vehicle positions, impact points, road conditions, traffic controls, and witnesses. Capture context as well as damage when it is safe to do so.
- Vehicles and plates: All sides of each vehicle, license plates, taxi medallion or for-hire number, company markings, and visible damage.
- Road and surroundings: Intersection, lanes, signals, signs, crosswalk, lighting, weather, debris, skid marks, and nearby cameras.
- People and reports: Drivers, passengers, witnesses, police agency, report number, citations, and emergency response.
App and trip status
Coverage can depend on the driver's digital status. Preserve records showing the timeline before access changes, a trip disappears from the visible history, or a phone is replaced.
- Trip receipt: Date, pickup, destination, route, driver, vehicle, fare, and platform incident or support number.
- Screenshots and messages: Driver profile, license plate, map, app status, pickup messages, support communications, and cancellation or rerouting notices.
- Driver records: For drivers: app log, ride requests, acceptance time, navigation, dashcam footage, earnings record, and deactivation messages.
Insurance identification
Do not assume one policy is the only coverage. The vehicle, driver, platform, employer, and other involved motorists may have separate policies with different notice requirements.
- Policy information: Driver's personal insurer, platform insurer, taxi or livery policy, fleet owner, employer, and other drivers' coverage.
- Coverage communications: Claim numbers, adjuster contacts, reservation-of-rights letters, denials, recorded-statement requests, and medical authorizations.
- Vehicle ownership: Registration, lease or fleet relationship, taxi base, dispatch company, and any commercial operator information.
Injury and loss proof
Prompt and consistent medical documentation helps connect the crash to the injury. Maintain an accurate timeline even when symptoms evolve after the initial shock.
- Medical records: Emergency evaluation, symptoms, imaging, diagnoses, treatment, referrals, and restrictions.
- Financial records: Medical bills, transportation, vehicle or property damage, wage loss, replacement services, and insurance payments.
- Daily impact: Pain, mobility, sleep, driving anxiety, childcare, household tasks, and missed work or school.
A safe preservation rule
Preserve; do not investigate at personal risk. Keep original files and objects, record where they came from, and avoid editing, repairing, washing, testing, returning, or posting them publicly. Do not record private conversations or enter property unless the law and the circumstances permit it.
This checklist is general information. An attorney can identify evidence held by other people, send a targeted preservation demand, and apply the law of the state where the event occurred.
Use the checklist with these guides
Finding the policy
Layered coverage means a denial from one insurer isn't the end.
Read thisAt the scene
Different information matters here. Ten items, in priority order.
Read thisWhat these claims are worth
Coverage is usually the real ceiling. Higher commercial limits change everything.
Read thisThe deadlines
Years for the lawsuit. Weeks for PIP, camera footage, and government notice.
Read thisDo not wait for records to disappear
A free review can identify the evidence controlled by a business, employer, platform, provider, or manufacturer and whether a preservation request is warranted.
Free · No obligation · About 90 seconds