What To Do If You Are Injured In A Motor Vehicle Accident

February 2, 2016

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, you are required to stop. If you do not stop, you may be found guilty of a hit-and-run.

If your vehicle is in a dangerous position on the roadway where it might be a traffic danger, you should move your car to safety if possible. If your car is undriveable or there is no safe area nearby, you should put on your hazard lights and use flares (if you have them) in order to warn other motorists and prevent another accident.

Attend to your injuries and your passengers’ injuries, and make sure that any responding parties such as the police or ambulance personnel know about all injuries. It is important to have the police or CHP create an accident report to document the facts of the accident. The police report should include all the relevant information, including the names, addresses, phone numbers and insurance companies of all parties involved in the accident. If you are physically able to do so, ask the reporting officer if they obtained the insurance information of the other driver(s). In the event that the police do not come to the accident scene and make a report, you should obtain the following information from the other drivers: Their name, address, driver’s license number, telephone number, insurance company and policy number, the name of the owner of the other vehicle, names and addresses of other passengers.

If possible, you should personally look at and write down the license plate information of all the other vehicles involved in the accident. If you have a camera with you and you are physically able, it is extremely important to take PHOTOGRAPHS of the vehicles at the accident scene, preferably in the position that they came to rest after impact (if it is safe to do so).

WITNESSES: If you are physically able, try to obtain and write down the name, address and phone number of any witnesses who saw the accident, before they leave the accident scene. Many times people involved in accidents see or even talk to witnesses but fail to get their name, and if they leave before the police arrive at the accident scene, you may never be able to locate them. Independent witnesses are often crucial to determining fault for an accident.

Avoid discussing the accident with anyone other than the reporting officer. What you say can and probably will be used against you in a court of law. For instance, even if the other driver is completely at fault, you may say “I’m sorry” for the fact that they were also injured. The defense attorney for the other driver may try to twist this around and say that you meant you were sorry for causing the accident, and that your statement means you feel that you were at fault.

Get medical attention for your injuries as soon as possible. Sometimes the severity of injuries are not immediately known, and what appears to be a minor or moderate injury can eventually become more serious. This is especially true with head injuries or possible internal bleeding that may not be evident to you. Sometimes herniated discs in your spine do not cause pain immediately, or the pain fluctuates greatly over time, getting better but then getting worse. Thus, it is important to go an emergency room as soon as possible, and then follow up with your own personal physician or any specialist to whom you are referred. If you have a serious injury and do not see a health care provider for a long period of time, not only may it be detrimental to your health, but the opposing insurance company may also attempt to use this fact to argue that your injury is not as serious as you claim. Of course, you do not want to incur unnecessary medical treatment, but undertreating may be extremely hazardous to your health. Insurance companies often LOVE to point out missed appointments to disparage a claimant’s case, so if you have to cancel an appointment, call ahead of time and re-schedule.

Contact your insurance agent and give them whatever information they need regarding the accident. This is especially important if the other driver does not have insurance, or if you are hit by a hit-and-run driver who flees the accident scene. You are required to notify the police department within twenty-four hours of a hit-and-run accident in order to later make an uninsured motorist claim. In addition, you are responsible for filing a DMV accident report (SR1 Form) within ten days of an accident (even if you are not at fault), if the accident causes property damage over $500 or any injury or death. Ask your insurance broker to file the SR1 on your behalf, and if they cannot do so, you need to go to the DMV department and fill out and file the SR1 form yourself.

PHOTOGRAPHS: It is absolutely crucial that if you do not have a camera in the car at the time of the accident, you take PHOTOGRAPHS of the property damage to your vehicle and any injuries you suffered in the accident: Try to take the photographs outside in good light from as many different angles as possible. If you do not have good lighting or you are take photographs indoors, make sure that you use a flash when taking the photographs. Take your own photograph’s even if your insurance company has taken photographs, because insurance companies have been known to lose photographs they have taken. If you eventually have surgery, ask the doctor to take a VIDEOTAPE of the surgery. If your case goes to trial, this will be powerful visual evidence for the jury regarding the severity of your injury.