How Fitness Tracker Data May Help Your Auto Accident Case
You use your fitness tracker to monitor your workouts, physical health, and activity level. Did you know it can also be useful in a car accident claim? The wealth of information held in your fitness tracker can provide evidence that the accident happened and that it negatively affected your overall health.
Your fitness tracker could be part of a larger strategy to secure fair compensation from the liable party. Find out how the team at Peake & Fowler can help. Call us at 803-788-4370 to get started.
Your Fitness Tracker Provides an Overview of Your Health
Trying to narrow down the effects of a car accident can be challenging since it has a ripple effect on nearly every part of your life. That’s why a fitness tracker can be so useful. Since it measures a wide variety of metrics, you may be able to identify trends that are related to the car accident.
Consider these metrics that may change after an injury:
- Number, duration, and intensity of workouts
- Steps walked per day
- Average resting and active heart rate
- Time spent sleeping
- Quality of sleep
- Blood pressure
- Temperature
Note that some of these measurements aren’t available on your watch out of the box. Some require specialized apps you may need to download.
Accident-Specific Data
If your fitness tracker is constantly measuring your activity levels and location, you may be able to prove that the accident happened and its location. Many fitness trackers have built-in GPS to track walks and runs, but this data can also show your location when you’re driving.
If your watch shows a sudden stop in movement and then a long period of remaining in the same area, that supports other evidence of where the accident happened. This is especially helpful if it’s combined with a sudden spike in heart rate. If your accident was particularly serious, you may even see proof of your vehicle being pushed through an intersection or across a median.
Changes in Your Health and Activity
Accidents, even minor ones, can have a serious impact on your overall health and levels of activity. Solid fitness tracker data can back this up. In fact, some trackers even identify and notify users of significant changes in habits.
If you were injured in a crash, you may notice that your daily average steps go down, your exercise sessions become less frequent and lower intensity and your resting heart rate increases. All of these can have a negative effect on your health and may support your need for compensation.
Sleep can also be significantly altered by a crash. If your watch tracks your sleep length and quality, make sure to preserve that data for your car accident lawyer. If you were previously sleeping a solid eight hours at night, but then started sleeping in three-to-four hour stretches after the crash, that is worrying. If you spend too little time in deep sleep, that could also be detrimental to your health.
Remember That Evidence Can Go Both Ways
This is the case for all types of evidence in a car crash, but please remember that anything you submit as evidence can help either party. Just because you think it helps your case does not mean that the other side will see it the same way. They may comb through your data and look for anything that can assist them.
If any of your health metrics changed in a positive way after the accident, no matter how irrelevant they may be, they can hold that up as proof that your health is not as affected as you say. They may also look for other explanations for the trends you noticed, no matter how absurd those explanations may be. An experienced auto accident attorney will know how the opposing side is likely to use the evidence and plan ahead for it.
Start Your Claim Now—Call Peake & Fowler
Don’t wait any longer to seek the compensation you deserve after a car accident. The team at Peake & Fowler is here to help and advocate for you. Let’s set up a time to talk about your accident and what comes next. Call us at 803-788-4370 or connect with us online.
