What To Do Immediately After A Car Accident?
What Do I Do Immediately After a Car Accident?
It’s called a car accident after all. It’s not supposed to happen very often. You are not supposed to expect it because it’s not supposed to happen and it is a mistake. That is basically what a car accident is. But what if that accident costs you more than you expected? What if the accident takes someone’s life? Then, even though it is just an “accident”, someone has to be held responsible and pay for your losses.
As a personal injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, I know your struggles. There are many car accidents on the highway and local roads. A lot of people get in accidents, whether it is a small accident or a major accident with lots of injuries, it happens in our lives. Especially when you are heading down to Miami or Miami Beach for work. It is a common thing that happens.
But, let’s get one thing right, if you are not at fault and you are paying for medical bills, insurance bills, or are forced to take time off from your job because of the injuries, then you have to see a personal injury lawyer and get what you are owed. Why pay for an accident that wasn’t your fault? Not to mention that you will be paying for someone ELSE’s actions that harmed you.
Check For Injuries
During a car accident, the most important thing to do is to make sure that you or the other person is not injured. Check your body for any injuries and make sure that there is nothing wrong and then go check on the other person and make sure they are fine as well. Whether you are injured or not, the next step is to go to a safer place away from the main activity on the road and then take photos of the accident.
This can be done at any time, but let’s make this the first thing because you might forget, or you might not read the whole post.
Get Evidence AKA, Take Photos
You HAVE to take photos of damages. It doesn’t matter if it is on the vehicle or the people. Taking pictures of whatever you think could be evidence is so important. Remember, you don’t want to be held liable for damages that aren’t your fault.
We are NOT saying that you should create doctored or fake photos for the sake of not being held responsible. But, we are saying that there should always be photos so that there is physical evidence of what happened, so that both parties know that nothing was just created out of thin air, or that nothing was just made-up. Once you are done with taking pictures of the scene, it is time to move on to the exchange of contact.
Exchange Information with the Other Driver
This is maybe the most important step of the process. There are so many people that forget this part and just let it slide. If this goes to court, or you need to get more information from the other party, how are you going to contact them without their contact information? It would be impossible. This is why it is so important to get their contact information. Some of the things that you should write down are :
- Name and insurance of the other driver
- Phone number of the other driver
- If there were any witnesses, get their numbers and contact as well
Call the Police and Get a Police Report Number
After this, if neither you nor the other driver has called the police, then that is the next step. You must call the police and have them evaluate and give a police report. That is a big step in determining who is at fault during this whole mess. It may take some time to get the police report, so the next step is to call your insurance provider and report the accident. During this time, it is most important to give accurate details. The insurance provider will be able to determine who is at fault after the details you provide. Every detail matters, so it is important to tell everything that you remember so that you can not be at fault for the accident and not be financially responsible for the event.
Once you call the insurance provider and the police gives the police report, it is important to get the police report number. You can report this to your insurance provider later on and in other useful scenarios when they ask for the police report. Sometimes, the police report and the fault the police officer places during the accident is a big factor. Sometimes, it is the only factor that matters in determining who was at fault.
Still confused about the police reports? We get it, it’s sometimes a confusing and tedious process. We wanted to keep this short and sweet and not a whole page on police reports. For the whole rundown on police reports, check out this blog post for our explanation that will explain police reports like you are 6. If not, get it from another reputable source and click this link.
Close Up and Follow up
This doesn’t mean that everything is settled. There is still a long process that goes on after the car accident. You MUST keep calling the insurance provider and talk to an adjuster so that you are in the know of where they are during the claims process. Even if you don’t call your insurance provider, they may call you first to get your side of the story again.
Call our Personal Injury Lawyers
If you are confused throughout the process after the accident, then get in contact with a personal injury lawyer. If you are hurt or you took severe damage that cost you money (such as pay from work, medical bills, insurance bills), then you are severely overdue on contacting a personal injury lawyer.
Our team can help YOU get a lawyer that will make the process pain-free and stress-free. Our lawyers have taken on thousands of cases and helped so many people get the money they deserve to get from car accidents. Our Miami location has already helped hundreds of people and now, we have opened up our Fort Lauderdale location to help those that are hurt or suffering in the Fort Lauderdale area because of someone else’s irresponsible behavior.