Every year millions of people across the globe are involved in minor or major automobile accidents. They are certainly one of the most traumatic experiences to overcome. You may just want to walk away from the accident scene without acquiring medical care. Shock and trauma can cause serious disorientation and you may not be able to figure out what to do next. Here we have discussed a few important things to help you with such an unfortunate situation.
Medical Help
The very first step you should consider is seeking medical care. Even if you think that there aren’t any injuries, it is still important to get a detailed medical examination since you never know when any unexpected injuries from car accidents start showing up. There are certain injuries such as whiplash or internal wounds that take some time to appear. Also, they can be more expensive and life-threatening in the long run.
Car accidents can cause emotional stress and mental trauma that can be as harmful as physical injuries. Your emotional wellbeing can worsen if left untreated. Many car accident victims experience anxiety, insomnia, or PTSD. To combat the situation, seeking professional medical care can help you begin your life with a fresh perspective.
Collecting Essential Information
As soon as you make sure everyone is safe and sound, it’s time to consider the post-accident formalities. Here is what you need to do!
- Take a paper and pen and write about the circumstances while you were driving. This may include the condition of lighting and weather. If you find any unusual facts, write them too. Every piece of information can help you later.
- Another important piece of evidence is the photographs. Get as many photos as possible from multiple angles that can clearly depict the situation. If your mobile phone is damaged, you can ask someone to help you.
- Note down the model, color, and registration number of every automobile involved.
- Names and contact information of the witnesses along with insurance information with the other car driver.
Information to Give
If you are involved in an automobile accident, you must provide your name and contact information. Though keep in mind not to accept any blame unless and until you clearly know what has happened and everything is precisely recorded. Make sure to report the accident within 24 hours otherwise you may be held accountable for any penalty points or disqualification.
Inform Your Car Insurer
We suggest you inform your care insurance agency whether or not you want to make a claim. Once they are familiar with the situation, they can better guide you on how to proceed further. They are more likely to contact other agencies of the people involved to resolve the financial claim. At the same time, remember medical bills may considerably increase after a car accident so make sure to have every detail of the injury well documented. Insurance agencies will carefully evaluate your claim to decide how much financial compensation you deserve.
It is no surprise that insurance companies will prefer settling the case as cheaply as possible. They will try to cut down the compensation cost. If you wait for the medical treatment or visit a doctor after few days, they can put up an argument that your injuries were not as severe otherwise you would have visited the car accident clinic immediately. Seek prompt medical care and contact an experienced car accident lawyer who can put up the case in your best interest.
Potential Harmful Symptoms
Many victims often have a flow of adrenaline during the accident which is why they do not experience any painful symptoms at the moment. You may believe that that there aren’t any injuries since you are not feeling pain. However, the painful symptoms may appear after a few days or even weeks. These are referred to as delayed injuries primarily including soft tissue injuries. If left untreated can lead to worse consequences. Therefore do not come to a conclusion whether you are injured or not before the medical examination.
Medical Care and Lawsuit
After an unfortunate accident, you might not want to think about anything else other than being recovered from the injuries. If you have experienced this traumatic event of your life and have been injured, you truly deserve compensation. Medical records will improve your likelihood of getting fair compensation. The longer you wait, the more challenging your case will become as we have mentioned above. These documentations make crucial evidence that your attorney can put forward to file a lawsuit. Consulting a doctor for physical and emotional wounds is the best approach to fight your case for justified financial compensation.
What NOT to Do
If you have read this far, you are more likely to be familiar with what to do in an unfortunate car accident situation. Yet you may make some mistakes with so much panic and undesirable circumstances all around. Here is what you need to avoid.
- If you are involved in a car accident, irrespective of whether you are at fault or the other party, do not run away. According to traffic rules and regulations, it’s an offense to drive away from the accident scene. If you do so, you will be held accountable for the penalty.
- Try to control your emotional state of mind and keep calm in this situation instead of showing your anger or losing temper on others. At the end of the day remember no argument can help you to resolve the problem. It will even make the scenario more intense.
- When it comes to a car accident, there are many ambiguities about the situation and who is at fault. Things will take some time to become obvious. Even if you think you have made a slight mistake, do not accept it. Try not to utter any word that may go against you and make things challenging.
- Lastly, we would suggest you not apologize for the accident. Many people make this mistake out of courtesy or care. It may appear that you are guilty and admitting the mistake. It will affect your case even if you are not at fault.
Wrapping Up
Irrespective of the nature of a car accident, it can be traumatic leaving the worst memories in your life. Since many things are going around in an accident from reporting the police to noting down important information, you may ignore a few crucial factors that must be considered. The foremost one is your physical and emotional wellbeing. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to seek medical treatment immediately to make sure you are safe and sound or get treatment in case of any evident or non-evident injuries.
On the other hand, it helps you with the insurance claim procedure so you can receive well-deserved compensation. Even if you have received medical care after a few days, it may not be strong evidence in your best interest. We hope this article will help you on how to deal with such unwelcomed situations. For any other queries or information regarding car accident, feel free to write to us in the comment section below. Stay Safe!
