If you are involved in an accident you need to keep two things in mind. First, take actions to prevent further injuries or damages from occurring. Anyone who is injured should get medical treatment as soon as possible. Injuries may worsen if treatment is delayed. Also, if possible move your vehicle out of the roadway to avoid being hit by another car. Secondly, you need to take actions that will preserve evidence of the accident and any resulting injuries or damages.
The very first thing to do after an accident is to stop your car. The situation can only be made worse by leaving the scene. You may even be subject to criminal prosecution for leaving the scene of an accident. Pull over to a safe spot, out of traffic, if possible. If not, use cones or flares to direct traffic away from the stopped vehicles.
Call for an ambulance, if necessary, to treat any injuries incurred by anyone involved. You should avoid moving anyone who is injured if you are not trained in how to do so properly because some injuries may be worsened if the person is moved improperly. You should also call the police so they can investigate the accident and file a report. Information in the police report may be valuable evidence later on.
Do not rely solely on the police report for an investigation of the accident. You should record as much as possible about the accident on your own as well. Take pictures of the accident scene. If you have a camera available to you, you should take the pictures immediately. If not, come back to the scene as soon as possible with a camera to take pictures before skid marks or other evidence disappears. You should also take pictures of the damage to vehicles or any structures with which the vehicles collided. Take plenty of pictures and take them from multiple angles. You don’t know now which pictures may be most helpful to you if you sue the other driver. Take pictures of injuries as well, so that you will have visual proof of the extent of bruising, etc. You also may wish to continue to photograph injuries over time to show the length of the recovery.
Make sure you get the names and addresses of everyone involved in the accident, as well as the names and addresses of any witnesses. It may later become impossible to locate witnesses if you do not get their names and addresses at the time of the accident.
If the other driver or drivers were at fault, their insurance company will inevitably contact you and offer to settle the matter for a fraction of what you may really be entitled to. It is important that you do not sign anything associated with the accident, do not discuss the accident with any of their representatives, and accept no form of monetary settlement. If an insurance representative contacts you by telephone, do not discuss the accident because those phone calls are inevitably recorded and they may entice you to make comments that may later prejudice your case and ultimately reduce or eliminate any amount of money that you are entitled to.
Then contact the Law Offices of Roderick C. White IMMEDIATELY for a free no-obligation initial consultation and case evaluation. Remember, I GOT YOU, so call anytime day or night (24/7).