The moments after a car accident injury can feel tumultuous and confusing. You may not know the steps you need to take, the people you need to talk to, and the things you need to say or not say.
Failing to take the proper steps can endanger your legal rights and ability to obtain compensation.
Experienced car accident lawyers advise injured motorists to take prompt, decisive steps after a crash. Doing so can mean the difference between a successful physical and financial recovery or a path forward that’s full of challenges.
Step One: Assess Yourself and Others for Injuries
Once a crash occurs, your primary concern should be assessing your situation and whether you or anyone with you is hurt. During this step, you are deciding whether you need emergency medical assistance or whether you can get to the doctor’s office or hospital on your own.
You may need emergency medical care if you struck your head or lost consciousness. You may also need an ambulance for profuse bleeding, broken bones, your back hurts, or strange or no sensations in your limbs.
If you doubt how serious your injuries are, err on the side of caution, call 911, and request that they dispatch an ambulance to your location.
Your crash may have caused:
- Broken bones
- Cuts and lacerations
- Head, neck, or spine injuries
- Bruising and damage to internal organs
Taking stock of your potential injuries should tell you whether you need emergency care at the accident location or not.
Step Two: Get Yourself to Safety
If you can do it safely, move to a location away from traffic while you wait for a law enforcement officer to show up at the scene. Do not move the vehicles unless it’s safe to do so and they are blocking a travel lane.
Otherwise, if the car is difficult to start, is leaking fluid, or you do not feel safe operating it, leave it where it is and get yourself and your passengers to a safe location nearby.
If you are seriously hurt, or your neck or back hurts, try not to move unless you absolutely must do so. If you can stay still, it will protect your neck and spinal cord from further damage. However, if the scene of the crash is dangerous because of a fire or leaking chemicals, you may need to carefully move someplace safe.
Step Two: Get Yourself to Safety
If you can do it safely, move to a location away from traffic while you wait for a law enforcement officer to show up at the scene. Do not move the vehicles unless it’s safe to do so and they are blocking a travel lane.
Otherwise, if the car is difficult to start, is leaking fluid, or you do not feel safe operating it, leave it where it is and get yourself and your passengers to a safe location nearby.
If you are seriously hurt, or your neck or back hurts, try not to move unless you absolutely must do so. If you can stay still, it will protect your neck and spinal cord from further damage. However, if the scene of the crash is dangerous because of a fire or leaking chemicals, you may need to carefully move someplace safe.
Step Three: Call for Law Enforcement Assistance
In Florida, you are legally required to immediately report a car crash that results in death, personal injury, or at least $500 in property damage to police. When you report your crash, law enforcement officers will respond and collect information to make a written report of the crash.
This written report can help in a claim or lawsuit.
Law enforcement will also be notified if you call 911 and request emergency medical assistance. There’s no need to make two separate calls. If you or anyone else in the wreck has an injury, call 911.
Only call the non-emergency line if there are no injuries, all participants in the crash are safe, and no vehicles involved are blocking traffic.
Step Four: Watch What You Say
Be careful when speaking to law enforcement, the other driver, or bystanders about the crash. It’s best to cooperate with the police’s investigation, but you should only report facts you’re sure about.
Don’t guess about information you don’t know or volunteer information they don’t ask you about. Most importantly, do not admit responsibility or say the accident was your fault.
You should not speak with the other driver or witnesses about your recollection of the crash. If witnesses want to share with you what they observed, it can help you determine whether they might be helpful in any future claim or lawsuit you file.
But do not share your memory of what happened, and do not under any circumstances admit or suggest that you were at fault. You shouldn’t even say anything like, “I should have watched where I was going.”
Also, be careful about discussing your injuries with people other than emergency responders. Although it is rare, comments such as “I’m fine” or “I don’t think I’m hurt that bad” can be used later to suggest that your injuries are not as severe as they are in reality.
If the other driver or a bystander asks if you are okay, it’s safe to report any pain or symptoms you are experiencing.
You must remain guarded about what you say because these statements can later be used to undermine your insurance claim or car accident lawsuit. While careless comments are not always detrimental to recovering compensation, they may create a potential obstacle that your car accident lawyer will have to address.
In the instance of a car wreck, the best practice is to say as little as possible at the accident scene.
Step Five: Collect What Evidence You Can at the Scene
Authorities will clean up a car crash scene in a matter of hours at most. When it is clear, all that remains of what the scene looked like immediately after the wreck are any notes, reports, and photographs that may exist.
The scenario can even change between the time of the crash and the time law enforcement officers arrive on the scene to investigate. It is helpful, therefore, to document as much about the crash scene as possible.
If you can move safely and have a camera or smartphone, take multiple photographs that show:
- The accident scene and the location of the vehicles
- The damage to your car and the other vehicle(s)
- Any injuries you sustained, like bruises and cuts
- Street lights or sources of light, if the crash occurred at night
- Traffic signals or signs, especially if the wreck occurred at an intersection
Take more photographs rather than fewer. Once law enforcement officers clear the scene, you cannot recreate it with total precision.
Speak to any witnesses willing to talk with you. Get their names, contact information, and what, if anything, they observed.
This can help you and your car accident lawyer more quickly identify witnesses who will help if the insurance company contests your claim or lawsuit.
Step Six: Get Medical Attention and Follow Your Doctor’s Instructions
If you are not transported to the hospital by ambulance, you should visit your local emergency room or doctor as soon as possible. You might feel fine after a crash and still have suffered internal injuries that need attention. The only way to know for sure is to get a medical evaluation and examination.
If your doctor does order a course of treatment or prescribe medications, make sure that you follow the instructions as they are given. Keep any follow-up appointments your doctor may request so that they can monitor the progress of your injuries.
Step Seven: Retain Knowledgeable Legal Counsel
You should hire an experienced car accident lawyer to represent you as soon as you can after a collision. You may think that you should wait to retain counsel until you run into trouble getting compensation, but there are several reasons why you should treat getting legal representation with the same urgency as getting medical care.
First, you may receive settlement offers soon after your car crash. Discuss these offers with your car accident lawyer before accepting or rejecting them. By retaining an attorney early in your case, you can respond quickly if and when you receive a settlement offer.
Second, if you don’t receive or accept a settlement offer, getting compensation will depend on filing a successful insurance claim or lawsuit.
Both claims and lawsuits can only be successful if there’s a thorough and complete investigation into the cause of the wreck. The sooner this investigation begins, the easier you can collect witness statements and evidence to support your case.
Finally, whether your compensation claim is contested or not, there will likely be numerous occasions where you will need to speak with the other parties involved in the crash.
If you are not represented by an attorney, these conversations can be time-consuming, stressful, and potentially damaging to your claim if not handled correctly. When you have legal counsel, your attorney for a car accident can handle most of these conversations on your behalf.
Step Eight: File an Insurance Claim and Lawsuit
By this time, you should have retained a car accident lawyer to manage the questions and statements you will need to make to law enforcement and insurance adjusters.
With all the work you and your car accident lawyer have already done, make sure that you file your insurance claim and car accident lawsuit in a timely manner.
When another person is the cause of your car accident, you will likely file a claim against their policy with their insurance company. If they are uninsured or underinsured, you may need to file a claim with your insurance company.
In either case, time limitations may dictate how soon you must file your claim. Failing to do so can mean missing out on insurance benefits you might otherwise be able to obtain quickly.
Florida imposes a four-year statute of limitations on car accident lawsuits. The statute of limitations requires you to file a lawsuit swiftly following a wreck. If you do not file your lawsuit within this period, you cannot pursue compensation for your wreck-related injuries through a lawsuit.
Step Nine: Pursue Compensation for Your Injuries
The road to obtaining a compensation award may take work and effort, especially if there are questions about who was at fault in the accident, the extent of your injuries, or other contested issues.
A car accident settlement may resolve your claim within a few weeks or months; in other cases, your claim must go to trial.
During this time:
- Promptly return phone calls and letters from your attorney
- Attend court hearings and depositions as directed by your attorney
- Provide any requested documents to your attorney as soon as possible
- Keep your car accident lawyer informed about up-to-date contact information
- Make copies of any bills, invoices, or new medical records you receive and send them to your lawyer as soon as you can
- Keep your attorney informed of any new diagnoses, developments, or communications others try to have with you about the case
The more informed your attorney is and the better your communication is with them, the faster they will be able to achieve the goals of your case.
Experienced Car Accident Counsel Can Improve Your Case Outcome
Retaining the services of a lawyer who practices extensively in personal injury law and auto accident law means that you benefit from the services of someone familiar with the laws and procedures of getting compensation.
While this does not guarantee success, it enables you and your personal injury lawyer in Port Richey to address setbacks or challenges more quickly and with better results than an attorney unfamiliar with car accident cases.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation Today!
Nicolette R. Nicoletti
Managing Partner
Nicolette R. Nicoletti is the founder and managing partner of the Nicoletti Accident Injury Lawyers. She was born and raised in New Port Richey, Florida. Nicolette attended Genesis Preparatory School and graduated salutatorian of her class. She then went onto Saint Leo University for her undergraduate education. She graduated magna cum laude from the Honors Program with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. While at Saint Leo University, Nicolette was President of Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honor Society), Secretary of Alpha Phi Sigma (Criminal Justice Honor Society), and an active member of Delta Epsilon Sigma (National Scholastic Honor Society).
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