Your emotions are running high, and your injuries may be severe when a car accident happens. Nonetheless, there are vital actions to take both at the collision scene and shortly after.
This article provides critical steps for handling a car accident resulting in bodily injuries, death, or property damage.
Stop and Assess Your Vehicle
The first step you should do after an accident is to stop your car. Verify if anyone else in your vehicle has sustained any injuries.
Pulling over to the nearest safe spot or shoulder may be cleverest to prevent blockage traffic in a minor collision. If this isn’t possible, attempt to stay in the traffic lane and be cautious not to cross into oncoming traffic.
As soon as all of the affected cars have stopped, evaluate any harm that has happened, including any property.
Call the Police
You should contact police enforcement and emergency medical services (EMS) if there is significant property damage, bodily harm, or death.
Upon the arrival of a police officer, request the filing of a police report.
Identify the responding police officers by name and badge numbers.
Gather and exchange insurance information
After a car accident, gathering all relevant information at the scene is essential to make the claims process more manageable. This includes taking photos of all vehicles involved, exchanging insurance information, writing down details, and getting witness information.
The insurance company will ask questions to understand the event, and witnesses may help corroborate the accident report.
Taking photos and obtaining witness information can also help verify what happened and make the claims process more efficient.
Talk to Witnesses
Talk to all witnesses. If possible, get their names, numbers, and addresses.
Find out from the locals if they have ever seen other car crashes in the exact location.
Capture the Accident Scene
Take pictures of any damage to the vehicle. In addition to being useful in court, photos help your insurance adjuster calculate how much you should be paid.
Images of your vehicle from before the collision can provide a valid “compare and contrast” to illustrate the actual degree of the damage incurred.
Video Footage
These days, many cars have “dashcams,” or dashboard-mounted video cameras. Images capture the accident as it happened, and videos are essential when they are accessible.
Keep a copy of the dashcam film if you or another driver in the collision has one.
Hire a Pro Attorney to Help You in a Case About an Accident
It is suggested that anyone who was hurt in the collision speak with an expert personal injury attorney. If you’re at fault, an attorney can assist you in better defending yourself and maximizing your reimbursement.
A lot of accident lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. This implies that they only get paid if they are awarded damages.