When You’ve Been in a Serious Auto Accident

Being in a car wreck can be a stressful and confusing situation.  The more traumatic the accident, the more taxing the aftermath will be.  Here are some tips to help protect your rights if you find yourself dealing with a serious collision.

Your immediate action will be to make sure everyone is safe and being cared for as needed.  Make sure you call the police – even if you think someone else may have already called.

Gather Information. Write down everyone’s name, contact information, and Insurance Company.  Make a notation is the person was a driver, passenger or witness.  Try to match people to the vehicles involved.  For example: “Felicia Smith, passenger in the Red Honda.”  Obtain the police officers names and employee numbers when possible.

Make Notes.  Record as much information as you can about the weather, road conditions, traffic volume.  Describe the damage to the vehicles. Make note of how many ambulances arrived at the scene, and number of EMS personnel. If you have observations about things like faulty streetlights or turn signals be sure capture those observations.  Did anyone take blame for the accident? If so, try to annotate specifically what they said. Consider using your voice recorder on your phone and try to do this as soon as possible after the accident.

Injuries?  Ask people involve if they’re injured.  Remember and note who describes injuries and who says “I’m fine.”  Was anyone taken to the hospital?

Take Photos!  Use your phone camera to take as many photographs as possible.  Try to focus on where vehicles ended up being positioned relative to the other vehicles involved. Photograph vehicle damage as much as possible, and look for skid marks or other indicators of breaking or lack of breaking.  If any of the vehicles appear to be commercial / business vehicles try to capture images that document the business name.  Take photos of license plates but make sure the photo identifies the vehicle the plate belongs to.

Watch What You Say!  You’ll need to contact your insurance company, but if you’re concerned that the accident might be your fault, talk to an Attorney first.  When you do speak to your insurance company, understand the call will be recorded.  If you are seriously injured and the accident was not your fault, it’s especially important to speak with an Attorney BEFORE you talk to any insurance company representatives.

Doug O’Connell is an Attorney representing people in serious personal injury cases.  If you have questions please contact Doug at Doug@OConnellWest.com or (512) 547-7265.