What To Do If There Was No Fault of Yours In A Car Accident?

Traffic Accidents, often very serious ones, happen thousands of times a year. Statistics show that over 3,000 people die every single day from traffic accidents and perhaps 20 times that amount of people get seriously injured.

And even if you are the most careful of drivers, there’s no telling what level of impairment an other driver is experiencing such as driving under the influence or texting while driving. Therefore, even if you’ve never had a single accident in your life, you should know how to handle one should you be involved in an unfortunate incident.

1. Check for Serious Injuries

Your first priority should be to check and see if you have serious injuries, followed closely by determining if any of your passengers have injuries. Then, immediately call 911 to get emergency help and if you can, check on the other car or cars (assuming no one is hurt in your vehicle) and see if anyone else needs help.

2. Move to Safety

Assuming serious injuries have been taken care of, if the cars are driveable, move them to safety. There is no sense surviving a traffic accident with no injuries, only to be plowed into by another car who did not see or could not avoid your accident.

This is particularly applicable at night. And if you have safety equipment such as flares, if it can be done so safely utilize them so other cars are alerted to the fact that there’s been an accident and that vehicles are disabled.

Also, check and see if the emergency flashers work on your car. The idea is to make others aware of the accident so they can react and avoid any further accidents.

3. Next, call the Police

Even if the accident is just a fender bender, you’ll want police on the scene. Not only can they facilitate the exchange of information, prepare a report, put up flares, direct traffic, and help arrange for a tow, but many states require that you do not leave the scene of an accident without first notifying police and waiting for a report to be prepared.

If for some reason the police cannot come to you, as soon as possible, go to the police department itself and complete an accident report. In most cases, the various insurance companies involved will want to see the police report to handle the claim, but in particular, if there are serious injuries involved.

Be sure and get the name and badge number of the police officer that responds, and ask for the phone number or address of where you can get a copy of the accident report.

Often, the shock of being involved in an accident may distract you from how you are feeling, or the true effect of your injuries have not yet manifested themselves. If the officer asks you whether you are injured, it is ok to say, “I’m not completely sure,” rather than a flat out “no”. The reason is that feeling pain from medical injuries from automotive accidents can be delayed, and saying that you are not injured can be used later to suggest you are lying or committing fraud. You may, at a later time, be able to make a claim for serious injuries that you did not realize you sustained at the time of the accident.

4. Exchange Information

Get the other driver’s name, address, telephone number, license number, insurance information, and note the time and location of the accident as well as whether there were any witnesses.

5. Contact Your Insurance Agency

Notify your insurance agent or contact your insurance company directly either while at the scene or as soon as possible after the accident.

What Next?

We suggest you contact a quality personal injury attorney such as Raymond D. Radow of the Radow Law Group. Being an experienced and skilled personal injury lawyer, he will carefully listen to your case. He will then assess any compensation that may be due to you because of injuries or property damage.

Insurance adjusters are sophisticated negotiators who typically are instructed to pay out as little as possible. But having a personal injury attorney levels the playing field and helps to assure a fair settlement of the claim, often without a trial, and can help obtain a verdict in your favor after trial.

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  • Radowlaw Team