Automobiles

10 Things You Need to Do After a Car Accident

In USA, over six million car accidents occur every year, and most of them involve only vehicle damage. But one in three accidents involve personal injury to the driver or passengers. If you are involved in vehicle accident, there are some important things to do and call your Accident Lawyers.

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The following is a list of the important 10 things you should do if you face any automobile / vehicle accident:

1. Stop the Vehicle

Don’t be panic and stop your vehicle immediately and never drive away from the scene of accident, This is the first thing you should do in case of any vehicle / automobile accident. even a minor one.

2. Protect the Scene

Second most important thing to do is to setting up flares, or keeping your flashers on to avoid any further accident. In case, you are in some dark place and your vehicle lights don’t work, you should have a flashlight or emergency light while you wait in your damage vehicle or by the side of the road.

3. Call the Police and your Accident Lawyers

After you stopped your car and secure yourself, it is a good idea to call the traffic police even if there are no serious injuries. You may need a traffic police report to file a claim with your insurance company, even if it is just to make a claim for damage to your vehicle. You don’t need to move the cars from the accident spot, until traffic police arrived and make the complete report of the incident.

4. Make an accurate accident record

When the traffic police arrive, make sure you share with investigating officer(s) exactly what happened in the accident. In case, you don’t know certain facts, tell that to the officer. Do not rely on speculate, guess or misstate any of the facts. In case, police officer asked if you are injured or you are not sure, be wise and say ‘you are not sure’, rather than ‘No’. As most of the times, the pain and injuries from vehicle accidents become apparent hours after the accident. You should also focus and make sure statements made by other persons involved in the accident are accurate according to the situation.

5. Take Pictures

If you have a camera available in your vehicle, or a cell phone equipped with a camera, you should take pictures of the vehicles from all sides if there is visible damage. In case, you have visible injuries, you should photograph them as well for the records and insurance claims purpose. However, you shouldn’t interfere with the on-going police investigation after the accident. If you cannot take pictures at the scene of the accident, take them as soon as possible after the accident.

6. Exchange detailed information

Usually, the Traffic Police officer obtains the detailed information of the peoples involve in the accident from their ID cards, driving License and vehicle registration. However, if the police do not respond to the accident, you should obtain the name, address and telephone number of all the peoples involved in the accident, including drivers and passengers. In addition, you should try to obtain information about life insurance by asking for all vehicles involved in the accident. If there are or you find some witnesses of the incident, you should get information from them as well so that you or your attorney can contact them in the future, if needed. If police responded to the accident, the investigating officer usually will provide all drivers with a police report number as a reference for further follow-up.

7. Report the incident to Insurer and your Accident Lawyers

Immediately notify your life insurance company and accident lawyers about the incident, since many insurance policies require immediate reporting and full cooperation for the claims. Further, you needs to check if you have medical benefits as part of your insurance coverage. As you pay extra charges for that type of insurance coverage, you should use their services and medical benefits.

8. Seek Medical Attention

Often, injuries caused by vehicle accidents are not immediately apparent unless serious injuries. Most of the people report feeling the most pain a day or two following an vehicle accident. Unless you are absolutely certain you were not injured, you should seek medical attention at your nearest emergency room or by seeing your family physician. Even in accidents involving minor injuries, you can sustain a serious and permanent injury to your spinal cord. If you lost consciousness or were dazed for even a short period of time following the accident, you may have suffered a concussion or closed head injury. This can cause cognitive and behavioral changes if left untreated.

9. Keep a record file

Keep all your accident-related documents and records together in some secure place. This information should include a claim number, the claim’s adjuster who is handling the claim, names and phone numbers of all contacts of peoples involve in accident, contact details of witnesses and receipts for a rental car and other expenses incurred as a result of the accident.

10. Protect your rights with your Accident Lawyers

Perhaps the most important thing you should do after an accident is to consult your attorney or lawyers for vehicle accidents. Your attorney can protect your rights and make sure valuable evidence is not destroyed. Usually, insurance companies want to take statements immediately after an accident. It is important that you have received legal advice before providing such a statement to your insurance company. Your attorney or lawyers for vehicle accidents can advise you on issues ranging from how to make sure you are fully compensated for your vehicle to how to make sure you are getting the best medical treatment available. Personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means there is no legal fee unless the Personal injury attorney recovers compensation for your injuries.

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