When you are driving to work, school, or to dinner at your favorite restaurant, being involved in a car accident will turn your life upside down. Along with the stress of the accident, you may have suffered serious injuries that require extensive treatment. This, coupled with worrying about how to pay medical bills and the possibility of missing work for a period of time, make it essential you gain compensation for injuries and other damages. But before doing so, make sure you take these steps immediately after your accident.
Contact Police
By having police at the scene, they will file an accident report detailing how the accident occurred and who they believe was at fault. This is important, since your personal injury lawyer can use this information to plan a legal strategy for your case.
Get Medical Treatment
Whether or not you believe you are seriously injured, always call 9-1-1 to make sure paramedics come to the scene and examine you. In many car accidents, complications from injuries such as whiplash or concussions may take hours to show themselves. By getting examined immediately after the accident, you can be taken to a hospital for further evaluation. In addition, your injuries from the accident will be immediately documented in your medical records, making it impossible for insurance companies to claim you were not injured as a result of the accident.
Do Not Admit Fault
When speaking to police, other drivers, paramedics, or others at the accident scene, never say anything that has you admitting fault for the accident. Even though you may feel the urge to say “I’m sorry” to police or other drivers, doing so will be construed as an admission of fault on your part. Therefore, while you should try to cooperate as much as possible with police and others, say as little as possible about the accident’s specifics until you have discussed your situation in greater detail with a knowledgeable car accident attorney.
By heeding this advice, you will have a much better chance of gaining compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
