Tips Following a Car Accident

As Fairfield Car Accident Lawyers we have represented thousands of victims of car crashes. As a result, we have picked up a few tips that we thought we would share with you.

Immediately following an accident, always call the police. It is tempting to think that you can simply exchange information with the other driver without waiting for the police. The other driver may seem very polite, taking full responsibility for the accident. However, without the officer documenting that admission of liability in a report, it is too easy for the other driver, over time, to change their story. Let the officer also confirm the insurance information for the other driver and draw a diagram of what happened. It takes a few minutes but can make all the difference down the road. Also, be calm when the officer arrives. Most police officers wear body cameras. As Fairfield Car Accident Lawyers we will frequently request that body cam footage. You want to understand that everything you say to the officer as well as your actions at the scene are being recorded.

Recordings also come in to play when you speak with an insurance company after the accident. In particular, the insurance company for the other person will want to take a recorded statement from you. They will want to ask you questions about how the accident happened but will also want to ask you questions about your health before the accident and about any complaints of pain that you have after the accident. You are under no obligation to give a recorded statement to the other person’s insurance company. You should consider speaking with an attorney before giving any recorded statement so that you can be prepared on how to answer the questions. That recorded statement can be used later against you at any trial, so it is important to be careful.

If you are having pain after a car accident it is important that you seek medical attention. Some people do not seek treatment with the hope that the pain will resolve. That is a reasonable thing to think. The problem is that we have seen as Fairfield Car Accident Lawyers many occasions where the insurance company uses that delay in seeking treatment against the person. The insurance company takes the position that you could not have been hurt in the accident because it took you so long to go to the doctor. If you are having pain following the accident, take that argument away from them and get checked out. You can do that with your primary care physician or at an urgent care walk in facility.

If your car is going to be declared a total loss, you want to make sure you take photos of your car before the insurance company takes it away. If the officer feels that your car is not drivable, it will be towed from the scene to a body shop. Once at the body shop, the car will be accruing daily storage charges. The insurance company will likely move quickly, particularly if the car is going to be a total loss to get it out of that garage. You are going to want to visit the garage, or have someone visit for you, to take photographs before the car disappears as a total loss. Those photographs can be most valuable to you down the road if you must explain to a jury how this accident caused you to be hurt. That being said, there is no direct correlation between the extent of the damage to the car and the extent of the damage to the people who were inside of it.

If you are injured in a car accident it is important to proceed carefully thereafter. Each step you take can be used against you by an insurance company down the road. At Robinson Mahoney we are here to answer any questions you have. Do not hesitate to call us.