You’ve Just Been Injured in a Car Accident: What Should You Do?
You've just been in a car accident. You are in shock and confused as to what you should do. As soon as you calm down and regain full cognition, assess the situation in and outside of your vehicle. Are there any injuries? If so, immediately call 911 and inform the operator of the accident and identify whom and to what extent an individual is injured, whether it be you, a passenger, pedestrians, or the driver of the other vehicle(s) involved in the accident. If the injuries reported are severe, an ambulance will immediately be dispatched to the scene of the accident. If you or anyone else require immediate medical attention, please allow the EMTs to perform their job and assist those in need to the hospital. If, however, no one is significantly injured the first and most important thing you should do is to get the name, address, phone number, driver’s license number, license plate and insurance information from the other driver or drivers involved in the accident. While doing so, make sure to get the names of all the passengers who were present in the vehicle(s) during the accident. Second, try to identify all persons who may have witnessed the accident and obtain their contact information as well. Third, call the local police department and notify them that an accident has occurred and give them precise information as to where the accident happened. A police officer should be dispatched to the scene and will make a police report documenting what happened (make sure to get a copy of this police report before the officer leaves). Fourth, if the vehicles are not too damaged, move the cars away from oncoming traffic.
Once you have done the above, the next most critical step you can take is to document everything that happened before, during, and after the accident. Any twists, turns, or jolts should be noted. If you have a digital camera or a camera phone, take as many pictures as possible. Photograph the damage to all vehicles inside and out. Photograph any visible bumps or abrasions you or a passenger in your car may have. Did you bump your head on the steering wheel or against the window? Did your back hit the center console? No matter how small the pain, whether instant or enduring, reduce is to writing or take a picture of it. Injuries sustained in automobile accidents have a tendency to turn into chronic conditions over time if not treated immediately or properly. That simple head bump may possibly have been a concussion or could lead to serious cognitive issues in the future. What you thought was just a sore back may turn out to be a ruptured disc, which could lead to terrible pains that shoot down to the lower extremities.
In the ensuing days, make sure to write down every little pain that occurs. Apply detail to these notes by describing what action you were doing and what bodily position you were in immediately before the pain arrived. This information is critical to doctors, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals in diagnosing the injury. Did you miss work because of the pain? Were you unable to take that planned biking & hiking trip? Were you unable to be intimate with your loved one due to the severity of the pain? If so, write this down as well because it may allow your attorney to file a lost wages or loss of consortium claim against those responsible.
The best and most ideal way to preserve these notes and pictures is via email. Type all of your notes and attach the pictures in an email and send it to a family member or a friend you can trust. Make sure to copy the same email to yourself. By doing so, you are preserving the date and time of the pain which is important for attorneys in proving the causation element of a tort claim. Finally, you should schedule an appointment with a personal injury attorney to learn what legal remedies may be available to you for the injuries, pain, and other inconveniences you may have suffered.
Article provided by Mazen Abdallah, JD/LLM
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