If you’ve been involved in a motor vehicle accident that’s not your fault, one of the first things you want to ensure that you do is make sure you’re okay, see what injuries you have. Check to see if you’re bleeding, if you have broken bones, or if your neck or back feels impacted. If you are able to get out of the vehicle, you can do so. If not, you want to wait until fire rescue arrives or the police, especially if you feel you may have a neck or back injury. Moving too soon, too quickly, or even just in the wrong way can take a minor fracture and turn it into a much more serious problem that threatens your health and mobility. When emergency personnel arrives, they can ensure that you are moved in a way that doesn’t exacerbate any injuries you might have, and they can provide you that treatment you need. If you need additional medical treatment, you go and get the medical treatment that you need.
If you’re still at the scene of the accident, you want to take photographs. Document the damages to your car, document the damage to the other vehicles car because you’re going to use that later when you seek compensation for your injuries. You want to take photographs of the damage to your car as well as any other cars involved. Take pictures of the scene, what it looks like, and any mitigating factors that might be present— road hazards, for instance, or maybe a lack of skid marks that would suggest that the other party did not attempt to brake in time. Whatever you see that you think might be relevant to the situation should be recorded.
Also, make sure to give a clear statement to the police. When it comes down to determining fault, your statement, the statement of the other driver, and the statements of any witnesses will be critical. You want your side of the story heard and officially on the record. But it’s not all about what any one particular person claims to be true. What we commonly see in a car accident is a ‘he said’ ‘she said’ type of action. This isn’t effective, for you or for them, and it’s then that a car accident lawyer becomes vital. You know you’re not at fault, but the person that hit you is claiming you are at fault. And you’ll hear that every law firm is going to fight. They’re all going to go through the process and try to fight for you. But we’re not every other firm. What we’re willing to do is go that extra step. If we need to hire an accident reconstructionist to come in and prove that in fact, you’re not at fault, that you were injured and that you deserve recovery for those injuries. We won’t let your case rely on the tenuous thread of allegations and testimony. We know the importance of evidence, a clear chain of items and events that prove that the other driver was at fault. So if you’ve been in an accident and want to ensure that fault lies with the correct party and not with you, contact us, and we can start building your case.