4 Things To Do After Being In A Major Car Accident

Accidents happen when you least expect them, which is why you need to have a plan of action before one happens. If you ever get into a major auto accident, make sure to do the following things immediately.

Call Your Lawyer

You may be tempted to call your insurance company immediately after an accident, but speak to your lawyer first. You do not want to say anything that could accidentally admit fault, and your lawyer will help prepare your statement to the insurance company.

Take Photos of The Accident Scene

Start taking photos of the accident scene immediately if you are physically able to. You want to make sure things such as car placement, skid marks, and car body damage is documented before anything is tampered with. This evidence could be key to proving who was at fault if your story doesn't match with the other driver's.

Visit The Hospital To Be Checked For Injuries

Even if you feel perfectly fine, make sure to go to your local hospital to have yourself checked for any potential injuries. Even something as simple as metal that scraped your skin could be a reason to get a tetanus shot to help protect you from an infection.

If you did suffer an injury, you will need to have it documented immediately for your personal injury lawsuit. You need to prove that the injuries were a direct result of the accident, and a gap between the accident and your hospital visit could cause suspicion that the injuries happened in some other way.

Do Not Talk With The Other Accident Victim

Your first instinct might be to talk to the other person and find out what happened, but doing so could be detrimental to your case. Simply apologizing out of sympathy could be interpreted as admitting guilt, holding you responsible for the accident.  Make sure all your exchanges with the other person are through a third party, such as a police officer, even for things as basic as exchanging insurance information.

The only people you should talk to are potential eyewitnesses. Make sure to get their contact information, and make note of anything they saw related to the accident. It may help to use the voice memo feature of your smart phone so that you do not need to write anything down.

If you follow these steps, it will help ensure that you do not make any mistakes following a major car accident.

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