Being involved in an accident can be a very difficult and traumatic situation to be in- truly, it is better read about than to be experienced personally. It is an unexpected and dramatic experience no one really prepares or prays for, and even if it isn’t a serious accident, your thoughts might not be so clear, and you might not be able to make rational decisions at that point, as you might be too rattled to think straight. When you are involved in a personal injury accident, i.e. one due to the carelessness and recklessness of another person, then here are some important steps you should take:
1. DO A SELF ASSESSMENT FIRST:
After the accident happens, check yourself and others with you for injuries. Your life and health should be your first priority. If there are no visible injuries, try to move your car to somewhere safe if it is in the middle of the road. If there are injuries, immediately get medical help as soon as possible, it is important to see a doctor, even if you do not see any physical injuries at the time, because some injuries may not be evident for the first few days after the accident, so talk to a doctor to be double sure you are okay.
2. GET THE CONTACTS OF EYEWITNESSES:
This is of utmost importance, especially for the future of your case. Passengers, motorist, pedestrians, other motorists, etc can serve as important eyewitnesses, so ensure you get their identities and contact identities, just in case there’ll be need for them during your case.
3. GET LAW ENFORCEMENTS INVOLVED:
As much as your injuries can allow, make sure to get the accident and injuries are well documented as possible. And thankfully, calling 911 comes with an extra benefit of proper documentation of the accident for insurance assessments because information gathered from this call tends to indicate propensity that you are truly injured. Get law enforcement agencies involved, even if the accident or injuries are minor. This is because an accurate and official police report is needed to be filed for insurance or legal purposes. Don’t leave any information out, because well detailed goes a long way to determine the success of your case. Travel direction, speed of all involved parties, weather conditions, traffic signs, specific damage, etc should be well documented.
4. GET AN EXPERIENCED CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER:
It is very important to hire the services of an experienced car accident attorneys to handle your case. In fact, this goes a long way in increasing your chances of winning the case. Though some people try to handle such cases themselves, only to get discouraged or frustrated and drop the case half way. Getting over an accident is enough trauma on its own, let alone having to handle the aftermath of dealing with insurance agencies who are out to make sure you get little or nothing out of the situation. It is important to get an attorney who is vast in handling accident injury cases, as they will handle the case for you, deal with the insurance agency, and handle every matter in a way that will help you get the compensation you deserve.
5. TAKE PICTURES OF THE SCENE (IF YOU CAN):
Pictures can go a long way to serve as proofs or evidence for your case, so make sure you take pictures of the scene of the accident if you possibly can. It is a good idea to have a portable camera always handy in case of situations like these, and thanks to technology, your phone camera should be more than sufficient.