WHAT TO DO AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
- Check yourself for injuries
- Check your passengers for injuries
- Remove yourself from any danger
- Call 911
- Wait for first responders
- Cooperate with first responders
- Exchange information
- Take photographs
- Seek medical attention
- Notify your insurance carrier
- Contact a car accident attorney
This list is intended as a checklist for what to do after an accident. Depending on the nature and severity of the accident, you may not be able to complete all of the recommended tasks or in the order outlined above.
STAY CALM, BE POLITE AND COOPERATE
It is important that you cooperate with police officers, firefighters and paramedics. First responders are there to keep everyone safe, prevent any further danger, provide medical attention and investigate the accident.
If able, make sure you provide police officers with a statement of what happened. Unfortunately, not everyone is honest and takes responsibility for their actions, and some will lie to try to avoid a ticket and/or an at-fault insurance claim. You should not automatically assume that someone who crashes into you is going to be dishonest and you should be polite and respectful to them. However, you want to make sure your version of the story is told.
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS CAN BE GREAT EVIDENCE
If possible, take photographs of the accident scene and damage to your vehicle and save them. If you cannot take photos at the scene, try to get pictures of your vehicle’s damage as soon as possible thereafter.
Many drivers now have dashboard cameras. If you have a dashboard camera that captured the accident, be sure to share that with the police officers investigating the accident and be sure to save the footage.
GET MEDICAL TREATMENT
Immediately following a car accident, you may not physically see or feel injuries because of an adrenaline rush. Many people do not feel any serious pain or other symptoms until the following day. If you have any pain immediately following a car accident, it is best to get checked out by emergency personnel at the scene and/or go to the emergency room or an urgent care facility immediately.
If you feel like you do not need immediate medical attention but start feeling worse later, seek medical attention as soon as possible. Should you need to make a personal injury claim, the sooner you seek medical attention the better. I have had too many insurance adjusters try to use this as leverage. They will say things like, “your client cannot be that hurt if they waited to go to hospital two days after the accident.”
NOTIFY YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY
Even if you are not at fault, you need to put your insurance company on notice of an accident immediately. Insurance companies will often dispute responsibility even when their insured driver was cited a ticket as result of the accident. If this happens, your insurance company should step in and make necessary payments pursuant to your policy’s terms and then seek reimbursement from the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Another critical reason to put your insurance company on notice is to ensure that you take full advantage of any medical payment benefits you may have under your own policy. In Virginia, we refer to these benefits as Medical Payment benefits or “MedPay”. If you have a policy from another state, your insurance carrier might refer to these benefits as Personal Injury Protection benefits or “PIP”.
MedPay benefits are additional benefits you often pay extra for. If you have MedPay coverage, your insurance company will pay you or your medical providers for medical costs incurred as result of the accident.
Please see my article on Medical Payment / Personal Injury Protection Benefits for a more detailed analysis of these benefits.
WHAT YOU POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS
I think everyone can agree that social media can be a blessing and a curse. I routinely see people posting pictures of their mangled vehicle on Facebook with a long post about an accident they were just in, and a lot of these posts include phrases like, “So glad I was not injured.” This ties into the last section on seeking medical attention sooner than later.
Below is a hypothetical to explain why what you post on social media matters in a personal injury claim:
Corey is in a car accident that he is not at fault for. Corey’s car has to be towed from the accident scene. Thankfully, Corey just feels a little shaken up and sore immediately after the accident. Being the tough guy he is, Corey decides he does not need medical attention immediately following the accident.
Corey loves to share his big life moments with his social media followers so two hours after his accident he posts a picture of his car being towed from the accident scene with a caption that reads, “This could have been a lot worse than it was, I am so blessed to have walked away from this accident without any injuries.”
Corey wakes up the next morning with pain in his lower back. He takes some Tylenol and gets on with his day. The at-fault driver’s insurance company calls Corey later in the day and takes a recorded statement from him. They ask if Corey is hurt. Corey says, “Nah, I am just little sore.” He is then asked if he has been to the doctor or plans to go to the doctor. He replies with, “No, I think I am okay.”
Corey’s back continues to get worse over the next week and he finally decides to go the doctor. His doctor refers him to an orthopedic. By the time Corey sees the orthopedic doctor and has an MRI of his back, it has been a month since the accident. The MRI shows that Corey has a herniated disc in his lower back.
Corey contacts the claims adjuster and tells them about his back injury. Corey is shocked to hear the claims adjuster tell him that they are denying responsibility for his back injury.
What Corey doesn’t know is that the at-fault party’s insurance company did a social media search on him and found his Facebook post the day of the accident. His Facebook post and recorded statement have now given the insurance company a way to challenge his claim for personal injuries.
This may sound ridiculous but it happens.
CALL A CAR ACCIDENT ATTORNEY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
If you have been injured in a car accident and are considering filing a claim for personal injuries, it is best to call a car accident attorney as soon as possible to avoid some of the pitfalls outlined in the hypothetical above.
If you have been seriously injured in a car accident that was not your fault, contact Brent and his team today for a free case evaluation.