The 4 Most Important Steps You Must Make After Surviving A Car Accident
While any accident that results in physical harm can be traumatic, surviving a car crash can leave lasting, life-altering damage. Whether you are the driver of the car, a passenger in another vehicle, or a pedestrian, there are several steps you must take to keep your health and legal standing safe.
This article provides six important steps every person involved in a car accident must take after surviving a car crash. You may also read how settlement works so you have ideas about the timeline of the process.
Call Your Lawyer
The single most important step after surviving a car accident is to call your lawyer. When arriving at the scene of an accident, it is always best to immediately seek legal guidance from a law firm specializing in personal injury cases. Seeking immediate counsel will better protect you in many ways. Firstly, It creates a "chain of command." By calling a lawyer immediately, passing control over information and evidence gathering from emergency responders to your lawyer, you can prevent anyone involved from tampering with or destroying crucial evidence that could be used in court later.
Additionally, personal injury lawyers are trained to gather the evidence necessary for a successful personal injury claim, including witness statements and accident reports. Immediate legal counsel can prove to insurers that you were not at fault in the accident, something vital to ensuring your medical treatment costs is covered. If you try negotiating with an insurance company on your own after a car crash without legal representation, they can use any errors you make as a reason to deny compensation. Seeking immediate counsel from a car accident lawyer will better protect you in many ways.
File a Police Report
You should always file a police report if you were injured in an accident involving another driver. This may be done either at the scene of the accident or at your nearest police station. Filing a police report will provide official documentation that can corroborate evidence later used to prove responsibility in court, which becomes especially important when dealing with hit-and-run accidents. Additionally, filing a police report is also necessary for anyone who plans on making an insurance claim, as liability claims must typically be accompanied by an official record of the event.
If your case is not resolved by the police, you may be able to file an official private criminal complaint. This allows you to press charges against someone without their permission or knowledge until they are served with a summons informing them of the trial date. The court will then determine whether there is enough evidence that the accused party caused your injuries and issue a ruling.
Seek Medical Assistance Immediately
If you feel injured after surviving a car crash, seek medical attention immediately even if there are no apparent injuries on the surface. While whiplash-like symptoms may appear later in life, getting treatment after surviving a car crash is important for reasons several reasons. As mentioned above, your insurance company needs to be convinced you were not at fault for the accident. They may use any sign of injury as an excuse to deny compensation later on if you do not seek immediate medical treatment after surviving a car crash.
It is also difficult to determine how badly an internal organ or bone has been injured by exterior symptoms alone. For this reason, you should see a doctor within 48 hours of the accident just in case some injuries cannot be detected externally and require urgent care. The doctor will also be able to provide a prognosis of your injury, how long it may take for you to heal, and whether there is any long-term damage.
Do Not Discuss The Accident With Anyone Except Your Lawyer
Do not discuss details of your car crash with anyone except for your lawyer. While it is natural to want to discuss what happened in an accident after surviving one, keeping quiet about details until speaking to legal representation will better protect you in the long term. For example, if someone involved in the accident expresses relief or gratitude towards another driver or person involved, this could later be used as evidence against them in court during trial proceedings. Similarly, discussing who was at fault before consulting a lawyer can hurt your injury claim and open you up to lawsuits.
If you want to discuss the accident with your family members or close friends, ensure they understand not to talk about it with anyone else. This includes social media and their cellphones. It is a good idea for everyone involved in the car crash to leave their phones at home if possible during this time as any text messages sent before speaking with a lawyer could be used as evidence against you later.
While every case has unique circumstances that will require different legal advice, these steps are crucial in ensuring your long-term safety and well-being. For more information about the legal process and your rights following surviving a car accident, speak to an experienced lawyer in your area who can advise you of what to do next.