The time immediately following a car accident is extremely frightening and stressful. Even if you’ve obeyed all of the rules of the road and have been careful while driving, there’s still no guarantee that the other people sharing the road with you can say the same.
Here are some steps that you can take after a car accident to ensure that you and any passengers are safe and sound and to give you the best chances of success for a potential injury claim:
- Check for injuries. Before you do anything else, check yourself and any passengers for injuries. If any of the injuries appear to be serious, call an ambulance. If you’re not sure whether the injury is serious or not, it’s better to be safe than sorry and call the ambulance.
- Get your vehicle to the side of the road. If possible, get your car off the road as soon as you can. To alert oncoming traffic of the accident, set up road flares or warning triangles if you have any. It’s always a good idea to keep this kind of equipment in your trunk or glove compartment.
- Call the police. You’ll need to file an accident report, and the police can help to be an intermediary between you and the other drivers.
- Document all damage. Take pictures and notes of all the damage done to all vehicles involved in the accident. These will act as records for proof of damage in potential personal injury or insurance claims.
- Exchange information with people at the scene. Get the information of other drivers involved in the accident, including name, phone number, email, address, license plate, insurance information and more. Speak to potential witnesses as well to get their information. They could come in handy for your claims.
- Be careful what you say. When talking to police and to other drivers, make sure that you never take responsibility for the accident. This could seriously hurt your chances of being successful with your claim.
- Contact insurance as soon as possible. Once you’ve dealt with everything ta the scene of the accident, contact your insurance provider to inform them of the crash and get started with the process of filing your claim.
If you or a loved one suffers an injury in a car accident, be sure to follow these tips to stay safe. Once your safety is assured, call our New Jersey car accident attorneys at Gaylord Popp, LLC to obtain representation as you begin preparing for a personal injury suit.
