Q
What Should I DO If I Was in a Car Accident?
A
- DO STOP YOUR CAR. If your car is involved in an accident and you don’t stop, you may be subject to criminal charges. Leave your car as close as possible to the place of impact without blocking traffic. To avoid additional collisions, raise the hood of your car and put your hazard warning lights on. If the accident occurs at night, place flares or reflectors on the road.
- DO AID THE INJURED. If someone is injured, give first aid if you are qualified and call for an ambulance. Remember to make note of the location of the accident before you call for an ambulance. Tell the ambulance dispatcher the name and number of the street as well as the direction in which the cars were traveling at the time of the accident.
- DO CALL THE POLICE. A police report of the accident will aid your insurance claim and any liability claims. Note the officer’s name and badge number, and ask the officer how to obtain a copy of the accident report. If you do receive a traffic ticket, it does not mean you are guilty of a traffic offense or that you are responsible for the accident. Pleading guilty though, could very well hurt your claim for damages from the other driver. Consult your lawyer and insurance agent before pleading guilty to any traffic offense.
- DO WRITE DOWN THE DETAILS OF YOUR ACCIDENT. Make notes about details like the time of day, weather conditions, road conditions, streetlights, and length of skid marks. Also make a diagram of the accident noting the location of the vehicles, cross walks, stop signs and traffic signals
- DO EXCHANGE INFORMATION WITH THE OTHER DRIVER. Exchange information with the driver of the other car. You should get the following information:
- Other driver’s name, address, phone number, driver’s license number, name of insurance company and policy number.
- Passenger’s name, address and phone number.
- Witnesses’ name, address and phone number.
- Owner’s (if not the driver) name, address, phone number, insurance company and policy number.
- DO TAKE A LOT OF PICTURES of all the damage to your vehicle before you have it repaired, as well as any visible physical injuries.
- DO GET MEDICAL ATTENTION RIGHT AWAY. Even if you feel O.K., the longer you delay seeing a doctor, the less documentation you have of your accident. It is best to go straight to the emergency room. It is likely that even if you don’t hurt at the scene, you will begin to “stiffen up” within an hour or two after the accident.
- DO GIVE THE DOCTOR A DETAILED HISTORY –tell the doctor exactly how the impact to your vehicle occurred. Tell the doctor about everything that’s hurting you, even if it doesn’t hurt much. It may hurt more later on.
- DO NOTIFY YOUR INSURANCE AGENT. Call your insurance agent as soon as possible after an accident. If you delay, your insurance company may have grounds to deny you coverage. Follow up the phone call with a written notice that should contain information about the date, time and place of the accident, with names and addresses of the other drivers, injured persons, passengers, and witnesses. If you were at fault, your liability insurance should pay for any injuries or property damages. If the other driver is at fault but does not have insurance, your insurance may pay for damages to your car (collision coverage), your medical expenses (medical payment coverage) and even for your pain and suffering (if you have uninsured motorist coverage).
- DO CALL YOUR LAWYER. Most lawyers offer a free consultation so you have nothing to lose by calling your lawyer first. Remember: the insurance companies have thousands of lawyers working to protect them so make sure you have an attorney working to protect YOU! If you don’t have a lawyer, you may call us at 1–800-ZIFFLAW or E-mail us at info@zifflaw.com and we will be happy to speak with you right away. Your lawyer can best advise you about your rights and responsibilities. Because witnesses may forget the details of the accident, the sooner you get the assistance of a lawyer, the better. Your lawyer can counsel you on how to respond to questions from insurance adjusters and help you recover compensation for your personal injuries and damages to your car.
We hope you found this information helpful but if you have remaining questions that have not been answered on our website, feel free to E-mail us your question here
