# Getting Surveillance Camera Footage of a Car Accident | Attorney Brian White **Table of Contents***[*Expand*]* 1. How Camera Footage Can Help Your Case 2. How to Best Obtain Camera Footage Relevant to Your Car Accident 3. The Difficulties of Getting Camera Footage 4. Act Quickly to Get Video Footage of Your Car Accident 5. Contact a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer to Help You With Your Claim ![Getting Surveillance Camera Footage Of A Car Accident](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/getting-surveillance-camera-footage-of-a-car-accident-300x205.jpg) After you are injured in a [car accident](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/houston-tx/car-accident-lawyer/) in Texas, you can pursue compensation from the liable party by filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit. To succeed in this claim, you must gather extensive evidence that supports your case. One of the most important types of evidence can be surveillance camera footage of the accident.  Depending on the circumstances of the accident and the footage’s owner, getting this footage can be a challenge. If you don’t have a dashboard camera, you’ll have to find out who owns the footage of the incident, which may come from traffic cameras or surveillance footage from a nearby building or structure.  Keep reading to learn more about how footage of your accident might help your case, tips for obtaining it, and some potential challenges you may face.  ## How Camera Footage Can Help Your Case Imagine you were involved in an accident where the other driver drove through a [red light](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/houston-tx/car-accident-lawyer/red-and-yellow-light/). This seems like an easy case. But what happens if the other driver claims the light was yellow and you were the one who was running the red light? A [traffic camera at the traffic light](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/traffic-and-red-light-cameras-in-houston/) could solve that dispute simply. If a camera were present, it should have recorded the accident with a timestamp of exactly when it happened. Similarly, surveillance footage from nearby buildings or structures can be extremely helpful evidence in [multi-vehicle accidents](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/houston-tx/car-accident-lawyer/multi-vehicle/).  Reconstructing an accident with only two vehicles is tough enough. When several vehicles are involved, it can be nearly impossible if there isn’t video footage. However, the footage from a few dashboard cameras or ATM cameras can make it relatively easy to [determine fault](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/common-car-accident-scenarios/). For a legal consultation call [(713) 500-5000](tel:+17135005000) ## How to Best Obtain Camera Footage Relevant to Your Car Accident The first thing you should do to get access to relevant camera footage is to identify that it exists. To do this, you or someone working on your behalf should determine whether any cameras were present at the time of the accident.  Once a camera is identified, you need to determine the owner. This step could require looking at government records to identify property or business owners or contacting third-party surveillance companies. After identifying the camera owner, you need to ask them to preserve the video footage. This should be done even if you aren’t yet certain whether the footage is relevant or whether you can access it. Once a video is destroyed, it probably can’t be recovered. If the owner is willing to share it, that makes things easy. Otherwise, you may need to [subpoena the evidence](https://texaslawhelp.org/sites/default/files/2022-11/harris_-_hcdcwebsite_new_features_esubpoena.pdf).  It is important to remember that videos are rarely preserved for more than a month. Thus, while you may have [two years](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/docs/cp/htm/cp.16.htm) to file a lawsuit, you may only have a few weeks to access video footage of your car accident before it disappears. ## The Difficulties of Getting Camera Footage Several factors can make it difficult to get camera footage of an accident.  You or your lawyer may have to be ready to deal with each of the following problems: - You may not know that a camera exists near the accident scene - The owner of the footage may be unwilling to share it - Footage may be deleted or destroyed after a certain amount of time - It may be unclear who owns the camera footage Any of these problems can result in camera footage being unavailable, even if it exists. [Click to contact](/contact-us/) us today ## Act Quickly to Get Video Footage of Your Car Accident While video of your car accident may be the best evidence for proving your case, it may only be available briefly. If you don’t act quickly and follow proper procedures for procuring evidence, all video footage could disappear, making it much more challenging to pursue your claim. Complete a [Case Evaluation Form](/contact-us/) Now ## Contact a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer to Help You With Your Claim For more information, [contact](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/contact-us/) the [Houston](https://www.houstontx.gov/) car accident law firm of Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers by calling [(713) 500-5000](tel:+17135005000). **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers – Houston**[3120 Southwest Freeway, Suite 350, Houston, TX 77098](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+Houston/@29.7309684,-95.4262545,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x8640bf255e7aaf73:0x52064b120afa59fe!8m2!3d29.7309684!4d-95.4262545!16s%2Fg%2F1tfrxw9q?entry=tts/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers – East Fwy**[11811 East Fwy, Suite 630-06, Houston, TX 77029](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+East+Fwy/@29.773407,-95.2301421,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x8640bd52b80b3fe3:0xb5804dd15c47b17b!8m2!3d29.773407!4d-95.2301421!16s%2Fg%2F11r10lsb0x?source=g.page.share&entry=tts/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers – South Loop**[2600 S Loop W, Suite 293, Houston, TX 77054](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+South+Loop/@29.6785093,-95.4184191,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x8640c1c0e435eacd:0x81fd3c6eb30bc542!8m2!3d29.6785093!4d-95.4184191!16s%2Fg%2F11ry4wjwqr?cid=9366709246148461890&_ga=2.209939733.1628598219.1648478482-1081226185.1622227003&shorturl=1&entry=tts/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers – Katy Freeway**[11511 Katy Fwy Suite 515, Houston, TX 77079](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+Katy+Freeway/@29.7836667,-95.5861677,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x8640dbd008653a11:0x9786540c9ab0bfd9!8m2!3d29.7836667!4d-95.5861677!16s%2Fg%2F11y3dw2v44?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111&entry=tts/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers** **– Burnet** [205 S Pierce St. Burnet, TX 78611](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+Burnet/@30.7574536,-98.2260966,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x907ba5aa207c69:0xca5503e0175023eb!8m2!3d30.7574536!4d-98.2260966!16s%2Fg%2F11vyqvpllk?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111&entry=tts&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDUyMC4wKgBIAVAD/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers** **– Clear Lake** [1300 Bay Area Blvd Suite B268, Houston, TX 77058](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+Clear+Lake/@29.5598212,-95.1152728,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x86409d1b345242c9:0x5895a119f6ed1d9!8m2!3d29.5598212!4d-95.1152728!16s%2Fg%2F11lf7xm8n8?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111&coh=219816&entry=tts&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDgxNC4xKgBIAVAD/) **Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers** **– The Woodlands** [1776 Woodstead Ct ste 203, The Woodlands, TX 77380](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Attorney+Brian+White+Personal+Injury+Lawyers+-+The+Woodlands/@30.1548897,-95.4639792,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x864737efe5a3cb73:0xff70634b80d03844!8m2!3d30.1548897!4d-95.4639792!16s%2Fg%2F11y98y92_f?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111&entry=tts&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExOS4yIPu8ASoASAFQAw%3D%3D/) Call or Text [(713) 500-5000](tel:+17135005000) or Complete a [Case Evaluation Form](/contact-us/) Car Accidents Blog Posts: [![How Can I Get Compensation For My Car Wreck?](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-1156650289-300x200.jpg)](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/falling-asleep-while-driving/) [Falling Asleep While Driving](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/falling-asleep-while-driving/) There is a great deal of information available about distracted driving and drunk driving. State and federal agencies [![What to Know About Car Accident Reports in Houston](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/What-to-Know-About-Car-Accident-Reports-in-Houston-300x200.jpeg)](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/what-to-know-about-car-accident-reports-in-houston/) [What to Know About Car Accident Reports in Houston](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/what-to-know-about-car-accident-reports-in-houston/) If you've been involved in a car accident in Houston, a car accident report can help you if you ever need to file an [![The 5 Most Common Types of Car Crashes](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Houston-Traffic-Accident-Attorney-Brian-White-Personal-Injury-Lawyers-1-300x200.jpeg)](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/rear-end-collisions-causation-physics-and-injuries/) [Rear-End Collisions: Causation, Physics, and Injuries](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/rear-end-collisions-causation-physics-and-injuries/) Data compiled by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that rear-end collisions consistently [![Houston Car Accident](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Who-is-Responsible-in-an-Accident-Involving-a-Rental-Car-300x200.jpg)](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/what-you-should-and-should-not-do-after-a-car-accident-in-houston-tx/) [What You Should and Should Not Do After a Car Accident in Houston, TX](https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/what-you-should-and-should-not-do-after-a-car-accident-in-houston-tx/) Do you know what to do after a car accident in Houston? Are you familiar with insurance laws and personal injury laws --- Source: https://attorneybrianwhite.com/blog/getting-surveillance-camera-footage-of-a-car-accident/