what does "Better safe—he’d learned that the hard way—than sorry."mean?
“We have a warrant to search the premises, any outbuildings and vehicles.”
Stomach knotted, Eli took the warrant, skimmed it. “Then I guess you’d better get started. It’s a big house.”
He stepped back, spotted Wolfe. Saying nothing, Eli walked out, grabbed the kitchen phone and took it out to the terrace to call his law-yer. Better safe—he’d learned that the hard way—than sorry.
Yeah, he could smell spring, he thought when he’d finished the call. But spring brought storms just like winter. He’d just have to ride this one out like the rest.

Question

what does "Better safe—he’d learned that the hard way—than sorry."mean?
“We have a warrant to search the premises, any outbuildings and vehicles.” 
Stomach knotted, Eli took the warrant, skimmed it. “Then I guess you’d better get started. It’s a big house.” 
He stepped back, spotted Wolfe. Saying nothing, Eli walked out, grabbed the kitchen phone and took it out to the terrace to call his law-yer. Better safe—he’d learned that the hard way—than sorry. 
Yeah, he could smell spring, he thought when he’d finished the call. But spring brought storms just like winter. He’d just have to ride this one out like the rest.

Answer

"better safe than sorry" is an expression meaning that it is better to be careful and take precautions (and be safe) than to face a risky situation unprepared (and be sorry about it later). The "he'd learned about it the hard way" is inserted to illustrate that in the past he'd taken a risk unprepared and it did not turn out well.
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Answer

A thought interrupted his original line. The phrase "better safe than sorry" means that it's better to do something now instead of regret it later. 
And "he'd learned the hard way" means that he's been through this before and knows the consequences. 
The writer apparently squished these two phrases together. 
Hope this helped!

Answer

In this phrase, being safe requires effort to be in that condition, but the effort is small compared to what loss might occur if that effort weren't made.

For example, it is better to check behind your car every time you back out of your driveway, even if you don't have children or pets. Another example, is it is better to always check if the gun is loaded, even if you don't have bullets.