How to Get Footage from a Cruise Ship Camera for a Lawsuit
Evidence in cruise ship injury claims is often sparse because accidents happen at sea. When building your case, our lawyers may investigate if security camera footage exists. Even if it does, how can you get footage from a cruise ship camera for a lawsuit?
Under the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA), cruises typically need onboard video surveillance systems. Footage from these systems must be made available to law enforcement agencies upon request. If you need footage from a cruise ship camera to use as evidence in your civil claim, our lawyers can request access to it. If the cruise ship denies us access, we can subpoena footage by motioning the court and showing its relevance to your case. If footage is unavailable because it was deleted or lost, we can use other evidence to help prove fault in your case. Even with the added support of surveillance footage, victims should employ additional proof, like witness statements, photos, and incident reports, to prove a cruise ship’s liability for their damages.
You can call our cruise ship injury lawyers at (305) 204-5369 to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation with Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. today.
Can You Get Footage from a Cruise Ship Security Camera?
The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 was passed to intentionally look at and increase safety for passengers on cruise ships that make port in the United States. This legislation created mandates for security and surveillance on cruise ships, making obtaining evidence easier for some victims pursuing civil litigation against cruise ship companies.
Under the CVSSA, cruise ships must maintain video surveillance systems on board to deter crime and certain violent acts. This means that, depending on where an incident occurred and its proximity to nearby surveillance cameras, there might be footage of an accident that injured you. Onboard security cameras mandated by the CVSSA might film assaults, slip and falls, or other incidents that commonly injure passengers on cruise ships. Surveillance footage can help prove other complex cases as well. For example, if a passenger fell overboard because they were severely intoxicated, surveillance footage might show a crew member overserving them alcohol.
The CVSSA applies to all cruise ships that make port in the United States, meaning many American passengers are protected in some form by its mandates. Because of this, you might be able to get footage from a cruise ship security camera to use as evidence in your lawsuit, provided you do so soon enough after an accident takes place.
How Our Lawyers Can Get Footage from a Cruise Ship Camera for a Lawsuit
Even if surveillance footage of a cruise ship accident exists, obtaining it can be difficult. Our attorneys can employ various tactics to get security camera footage in our possession so that we can review it and evaluate how it might help your compensation claim.
Security camera footage does not always last forever. While the CVSSA requires cruise ship companies to keep and provide surveillance footage to law enforcement agencies when requested, that does not mean that all cruises comply. Some surveillance systems automatically delete footage after a certain amount of time passes, making it even more crucial for injury victims suing cruises to obtain footage right away. The longer you wait, the higher the chances are that footage is deleted or destroyed.
We can start by simply requesting security camera footage from the cruise ship company in question. While the cruise ship should provide us with this footage upon request, that is not guaranteed. If we get pushback, we can subpoena surveillance footage from the cruise ship company by getting a court order. To do this, we will explain how the cruise ship’s security camera footage is relevant to your case in that it shows the incident occurring.
You can request access to video footage of the incident when you make a report with the cruise ship company. Even if the cruise ship rejects your initial request, doing this can let you document that you asked for the footage and were denied. If the cruise ship then deleted the footage, our lawyers might argue that it did so because the footage helped prove the cruise’s liability for your injuries.
Evidence to Use in a Lawsuit in Addition to Cruise Ship Security Camera Footage
Despite the fact that cruise ships need onboard video surveillance systems under the CVSSA, that does not mean that all assaults, slip and falls, and other accidents are always caught on tape. If you cannot get surveillance footage from a cruise ship company to use in your lawsuit, what evidence can you use instead?
Relying on possible video footage showing an accident as the only evidence in your case is not wise. That is primarily because there is no guarantee that video footage will exist at all. Depending on how much time has passed since your accident at sea, the footage might be erased or lost. Furthermore, footage might get degraded, be grainy, or not capture the full accident.
Because of this, our cruise ship injury lawyers will, in addition to investigating and obtaining surveillance footage, interview eyewitnesses, analyze police reports, and review your medical records so that there is sufficient evidence in your case to meet the applicable standard of proof.
After an accident on a cruise ship, survey the area to see if there are any security cameras nearby. If you cannot see any cameras, assume that your accident was not filmed. You can then take pictures of your injuries, as you should, regardless of whether or not there are surveillance cameras, and proceed with documenting the accident by informing the cruise ship and getting medical care.
Call Our Lawyers About Your Cruise Ship Injury Claim Today
Call the Miami cruise ship injury lawyers of Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind, P.A. at (305) 204-5369 to get a free assessment of your case.
