How Fitness Tracker Data May Help Your Auto Accident Case

If you habitually check your fitness watch for step count updates, information on your heart rate, or progress on your daily goals, you could be one step ahead in your personal injury claim. The data your watch provides could support your claim and provide additional evidence that your attorney can use during negotiations.

Find out how your fitness tracker could give you an advantage in your car crash case, and when you’re ready to talk to our team about your claim, call Burge & Burge at 205-251-9000.

Look for Changes in Your Heart Rate

Your heart rate tells the story of your day. Spikes can tell you when you saw someone attractive, hustled to catch the train, or did a long workout. A massive spike in heart rate is seen in almost every car accident, thanks to the enormous amount of stress you’re put under. The adrenaline boost you sustain in a crash leads to a spike that may come down gradually after the collision. You can use your heart rate data to corroborate the time of your accident.

Accident Detection is a Useful Feature

A growing number of fitness trackers come with accident detection features. This feature realizes when you’ve been in a serious crash and notifies emergency services if you don’t stop it in time. Accident detection generally only works in serious crashes, not fender-benders. If the other driver involved in the accident insists that they barely tapped you or that they were driving at a very low speed when they crashed, the history of your accident detection feature could prove your claims.

Keep Track of the Progression of Your Injuries

A fitness tracker may be useful to show the other side how your injuries have progressed. First, you can track your workouts. If you go to physical therapy every week for your injuries, your workout log may be a good way of proving that you are doing everything you can to encourage healing.

Your injuries may have a profound impact on various areas of your life, many of which can be tracked on your fitness watch. Consider your sleep, for example. Some watches come with built-in sleep trackers, while others require a third-party app. Either way, proof of your sleep quality can be helpful when you are seeking compensation.

If you have a sudden decrease in uninterrupted sleep or deep sleep after a collision, that may serve as evidence that the accident has had a negative effect on your health. You may also be able to track if you’re taking an unusual amount of naps to handle your pain levels after an injury.

Your Activity Trends Can Be Helpful

Serious injuries can often limit your mobility and independence. If that’s the case, you definitely want to prove that to the other party—it may help you get the compensation you deserve. A fitness watch may track data like your daily steps, your resting heart rate, your workout minutes, and how often you stand up or sit down.

A sudden decrease in daily steps, workout minutes, or standing hours could indicate a serious injury. A gradual increase in resting heart rate could be due to a loss of overall cardiovascular fitness that may come with decreased physical activity.

Of course, you can download this data and perform the analysis on your own or allow your attorney to do so. However, you may not have to. Many fitness trackers automatically track these trends and notify you when there has been an unusual or unexpected change.

This data is useful in two ways. First, it can highlight the severity of the accident if your physical health and mobility are seriously affected. Second, it can show whether or not your healing trajectory is what the insurance company expects us to be. Insurance companies have a habit of expecting accident victims to make an incredibly fast turnaround, and fitness tracker data can disprove that idea.

Begin Your Personal Injury Claim with Burge & Burge

There’s a lot of evidence to consult when you’ve been hurt in a crash. Our team is ready to sort through it and use it to create the strongest case possible for you. Set up a time to talk with us now—just call us at 205-251-90