When you get in a car accident, you might feel shocked, dizzy or you might feel enraged at the person who is involved in the accident. Having an accident is stressful; however, it is important to stay focused after an accident.
The first thing you should do after a car accident is to stay calm. The procedure after meeting a car accident is straightforward, but it is not easy. Styling calm and managing a cool head will help you in carrying out the post-accident procedure easily. Below mentioned are some of the steps to follow after a car accident.
Stop
The most important step that you should take after meeting a car accident is stopping at the scene. Never run away from the accident’s scene, even if the accident is a minor one. After the accident follows the car accident legal process.
Check for Injuries
The next step to follow after a car accident is determining whether anyone involved in the accident is injured. After checking for injuries, protect the scene of the accident for preventing further accidents. You can keep your flashers on or set up flares in order to protect the scene. If you find an injured person, immediately call 911 to get an ambulance on the scene.
Call the Police
Even if it is not a serious accident or there is no serious injury involved in the accident, it is always safe and better to call the police. You may need the report of the police to file a claim to your insurance company. It will help you in getting an insurance claim for your vehicle’s damage from the insurance company.
Let the vehicles involved in the accident remain where they are unless they are hindering the traffic. Let the vehicles stay at the place until the police and insurance companies. Consider getting a lawyer after the car accident, if the accident is serious, and severe injuries are involved in it.
Provide Accurate Record
When the police arrive at the accident scene, ensure that you tell everything accurately to the investigating officer. Make sure that you tell the investigating officer everything correctly and precisely. In addition to this, make sure to stay calm while explaining everything to the officer.
Do not misstate any of the facts involved in the accident. If the officer asks you whether you got any injuries injured, say that you are not sure rather than saying no. In many cases, pain and injuries due to the accident become apparent after some time. In addition to this, make sure that the statements of the other persons involved in car accidents are also accurate.
Exchange Essential Information
In most of the cases, the investigating officer collects the information. Nevertheless, if, in any case, police do not respond to the car accident appropriately, collect essential information from all the persons involved in the car accident. The information that you need to collect is the name, telephone number, and address of all the persons.
You should also collect information about insurance by seeing the insurance card of all the vehicles involved. Below mentioned are some of the information that you should include.
- Name and information regarding the insurance of the other drivers
- Name, telephone number, and address of other drivers
- Contact information of the witness
- Photos of any damage caused by the accident
- Number of the police report
- Name of the telephone number of the police officer
- Make personal notes regarding everything that happened during the accident
Report the Accident to the Insurance Company
Report the accident to your insurance company as soon as possible. Many insurance policies require immediate reporting. Check if you have medical benefits included in your insurance coverage.
Check Insurance Coverages
How the process of insurance coverage will proceed depends on who the defaulter is and what type of coverage you and the other driver have. If the fault is of the other person, then the property liability coverage of the other driver will pay for the repairs of your vehicle.
In case the other driver does not have any insurance or does not have sufficient coverage to pay your bills, the uninsured motorist coverage would pay for the damage.
Decide If You Want to File the Insurance Claim
The next step that you need to take is deciding whether you want to file a claim. If you are responsible for the accident and it is your fault, it is better to pay for the repairs of the other driver. You might still need to use your insurance upfront, even if the accident is the fault of the other person.
Protect Your Rights
The most important thing that you should consider doing is getting a lawyer after the car accident. Your lawyer can help you in the car accident legal process and can also help you in protecting your rights. Your lawyer will also provide you legal advice for filing an insurance claim. If you were involved in an accident with a truck, you may want to consider calling a truck accident lawyer to help protect your rights and advocate for you when you need it the most.
