February 12, 2013
1. Go to the emergency room if you are hurt
Don’t go home and think you’ll just walk it off! Have you ever slipped on the ice and then the next morning really felt it? Often times injuries will take a little more time to come out than you might expect. But if you go into the ER right away, you have a far better chance that any serious injuries will be found by a professional. Not only that, but if this accident goes to court, you’ll have documented evidence of your injury, which is invaluable.
2. Stay home from work or school if that’s what the doctor recommends
Don’t drag yourself into work. Often times we feel we’ll be a better employee somehow if we don’t take sick days to recover. Or we worry about how much work will be leftover if we don’t go in to get it done. But the fact is, going into work when you’re injured will make your injury take MUCH longer to heal, and you’ll be far less productive while it’s healing. You’ll lose so much more productivity in your work in the short run and the long run that it’s just not worth it. Stay home and recover! If the case goes to court, think of how it would look to the jury if the defense attorney asks you if you went to work the next day. No matter how much you suffered at work, you were still at work the next day. And that doesn’t help your case at all.
3. Identity any witnesses to what happened and get their contact information
Here’s a secret many people don’t realize: Don’t rely on the police to collect all of the evidence. They have enough on their plate to keep track of, and often times they’ll miss important pieces of information, or witnesses that could offer information valuable to your case. So make sure you gather the names and contact information of any witnesses who can support your side of the story. Too many times a client has told me about the testimony of a witness whom we can’t find anymore. Don’t let that happen to you.
4. Get insurance information from other driver
This one is similar to the last one. Make sure that YOU get the insurance information for the other driver. Don’t rely on anyone else to collect that information.
5. Photograph damage to cars and the whole accident scene
A picture is worth a thousand words. Making sure you have good photographic evidence of all the damage can make a big difference in your case. Don’t forget to get pictures of all the damage to all of the vehicles (not just yours!) and of the scene as a whole. The more pictures you have the better.
6. Write a statement of everything you can remember
Any accident is a traumatic accident. Trauma can often cause you to forget important details, or perhaps just make the facts ‘fuzzy’. But if you immediately write down the details of the event as you just saw them happen, then you can be sure of the facts. This sort of evidence holds up better than you might think in court. Which leads us to our next point:
7. Keep an accurate written journal of how the accident has effected you
When you go in to see the doctor, he’ll ask you all sorts of questions about your injuries and the accident. This information will be used in your court case. But he can’t get all of the details, nor the emotional side of the injury. Keeping a written journal of the effects of the accident is invaluable to your case. If nothing else, it will help you keep important details fresh in mind as you work with your physician on your recovery. A journal you wrote when the facts were fresh in your mind can help you provide personal testimony for you during your court case which helps accurately portray the entire effect the accident has had on you.
8. Report the accident to your insurance company
Unfortunately, there is a misconception among many that if you report the accident to your insurance company, that they’ll raise your rates. This can be true if the accident is your fault, or if you have a long history of accidents. But in a serious accident where you have been injured, it will cost you much more in the long run if you don’t tell them! Reporting a serious accident to your insurance company is the proper way of handling any accident, even when it’s not your fault. They need to be made aware of the situation. And if you don’t, this can be called into question when your in court.
9. Call an experienced personal injury attorney for help if you are seriously hurt
It won’t cost you a thing and it can make the difference between having your damage fairly paid or getting nothing! There’s really no drawback at all to meeting with an experienced Attorney like myself about an accident where you’ve been hurt. The information you get from a consultation like this can be invaluable to you.
Because of this, I try to make it as easy as possible for you to get in contact with me. You can call me at 907-929-4890, or email me at elliott@attorneydennis.com. Or you can even use the chat window that pops up on the screen when you refresh the page.