Nobody expects to have a car accident but more people are involved in vehicular crashes every year. Although it’s normal to be upset and anxious once it happens, knowing what to do may help you stay calm, making it a lot easier for you to deal with various things in the long run.
So, what should you do after a car accident? There are several things you should do, like the fact that you need to call an auto accident lawyer. In addition to that, below are some of the things you may do:
Assess Your Injuries
At the crash, your number one priority must be to avoid any further injury not just to yourself, but also to your passengers and the other persons involved in the accident. So, the best thing you should do is to stop your engine and assess your injuries.
After this, immediately call for assistance and don’t make any movements so you won’t aggravate any injuries you’ve sustained.
Call The Police
Regardless of the injuries being minor or serious, it’s always wise to call the police. A police report is crucial for you to file a claim with your insurance provider even if it’s just to make a claim for your car’s damage.
The involved vehicles in the accident must remain where they are unless professionals moved them.
Hire A Lawyer And Protect Your Rights
One of the most essential things you must do after an accident is to consult a car accident lawyer. This is because your lawyer may protect your rights and ensure that your valuable pieces of evidence aren’t destroyed. Oftentimes, insurance companies may take statements quickly after an accident. It’s crucial that you get legal advice before providing any statement. Your lawyer may advise you on the issues that range from how to make sure you’re getting the best available medical treatments to helping you get compensated for your car.
One of the good things about hiring lawyers is that these professionals work on a contingency fee basis, which means that there’s no legal fee you need to worry about unless you received the compensation for the damages or injuries. So, if you want to protect your rights, find an experienced lawyer who can help you.
Document The Scene
While at the accident site, it’s best to extensively document the scene. Taking videos or photos can be useful later on when trying to prove the at-fault party, which may also be beneficial when processing your insurance claim.
Below are some of the pieces of information that you must document:
- Tire Skid Marks – Usually, tire marks are left by cars that had to brake suddenly, which may cause too much friction between the road and the tires. It’s crucial to document this, most particularly if the marks are traced back to either of your cars.
- Damage To Your Car – Documenting the impact of the damage to your car is important. This is especially true if you decide to sue for compensation. See to it that you take photos from various angles, wide shots, and close-ups.
- Physical Injuries – Don’t forget to take photos of any scratches, cuts, bruises, or any physical injury that you or your passengers have sustained. Showing photos as proof of your injuries is part of providing who’s liable for the accident.
- Malfunctioning Or Missing Traffic Signals – A traffic signal plays an important role to ensure road safety. This is true at the intersections where traffic lights are the only thing that keeps motorists from bumping into one another.
Documenting any malfunctioning or fallen traffic sign can be useful to prove liability on the government entity.
- Road And Weather Conditions – Poor road conditions may affect the ability of the driver to completely control a car. It’s especially true in rainy and cold weather conditions where the roads can either be slippery or not visible.
Get Facts About Your Car Accident
This might be a hard thing to do, especially if you’re traumatized or stressed about the accident. However, it’s important to get the names, phone numbers, and addresses of everyone involved. You should also get a description of the vehicle and its license plate number. Lastly, see to it that you also get their car identification number and insurance.
Never assume that only getting the license plate number would suffice because some insurance companies only record the kind of car and its identification number, and not the license number itself. This may cause you trouble when getting your compensation.
Get Immediate Medical Treatment
If you’re injured, you should immediately seek medical treatments. In some cases, even a minor car accident may result in serious injuries that require treatments, surgery, and hospitalization. All of these may leave you with a significant amount of medical costs.
If you’re hurting, it’s recommended to consult a licensed health professional to document the injuries you sustained due to the accident. Documentation of the injuries is important once you decide to file a claim in the future.
Keep Your Medical Report And Document Your Recovery Process
There are several injuries that may take a while before they become visible. This is because some complications may arise due to the injuries you sustained when the accident happened. These are important details that can be used as evidence.
If you’re undergoing an extended rehabilitation, see to it that you comply with your doctor’s recommendations. You should also be faithful to the prescribed medications and rehabilitative appointments or checkups since it’s essential for your full recovery and for the court to know the necessary steps you’ve taken.
Such medical visits and procedures may incur a huge cost to your finances. From the time you enter the emergency room, your medical bills will start to accumulate until you recover. So, make sure to keep such records because they’re important when processing your claims. You may also ask your doctor to save a copy of your medical report for future reference.
Conclusion
Dealing with your compensation concerns is a complex matter. Other than preparing a statement, it’s important to back your claims with documents, photo evidence, as well as eyewitness testimony.
To help deal with such matters smoothly, you must seek the services of the best lawyer as soon as possible. Lawyers can provide you legal advice and may guide you through the process of suing for the damages.
