Road traffic accidents are serious and often result in injury which can affect not only drivers of vehicles, but their passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists too. Although whiplash and various forms of muscular damage are the most common types of injuries caused, they aren’t the only ones; Psychological injuries, such as some form of post traumatic stress disorder, or anxiety are also very common. When you have been caused injury by someone else, and it wasn’t your fault, such as in a car accident, many people decide to claim compensation. This can help to make up for loss of earnings caused by you being unable to work, because of your injury. If you are injured in a road accident, apart from seeking out medical help, there are several other things that you need to make sure you do, especially if you wish to claim compensation.
Don’t Underestimate Your Injuries
If you are ever in an accident, before doing anything else, you need to make sure that you are okay. Although you may feel relatively fine now, the shock from the accident will have caused adrenaline to rush around your body, which will be numbing any pain. This could mean that you could have serious injuries that you don’t even know about. No matter how well you feel, always ensure you go to the hospital if you’ve suffered any sort of head injury, just to be on the safe side.
Call The Police
If anyone has been injured, then you should call the police, and an ambulance, if it’s required, as soon as possible. You should always call the police straight away if the accident is blocking a road in anyway, as this blockage could contribute to further road accidents. Regardless of this, you are legally required to inform the police of a car accident, within 24 hours of it taking place. You could risk getting a fine, or points on your license otherwise, so it’s always better to do it sooner, rather than later.
Exchange Details
When you are involved in a car accident, you are legally obligated to give your name and address to the other party involved, as are they with you. Even if you hit a parked car, you should always leave your contact details on a piece of paper and attach it to their windscreen. Call 999 immediately if the other party leaves the scene of the accident before providing their contact information.
Don’t Say…
It’s our human nature to apologize for things, especially in stressful situations, like a car accident. However, the last thing you should be saying after being involved in a collision is that you are sorry or that anything is your fault. Even if you believe this to be true, the stress could easily be affecting your memory, and make you see the crash in a different light to what actually happened. You should also never say that you are fine, as this suggests that you have no injuries, which might not necessarily be the case. These are innocent things to say but could be easily taken out of context and used against you in court.
Collect Evidence
If you are well enough to do so, you should always try to collect as much evidence from the scene as possible. With technology nowadays, we are never far from a device with a camera, so take as many pictures as possible. This will provide evidence of the weather conditions, visibility, and any damage inflicted on either vehicle. You should also make sure you remember the speed at which you were traveling and exactly what you believe caused the accident. Having a dash cam installed would take all of the guess work out of this process, and provide you with unbiased evidence. Witness statements are also invaluable, so try to take down as many names and addresses of the people around as possible. All of this information will be needed if you wish to take the matter to court for a personal injury claim.
Find A Good Attorney
Even if you don’t think you want to take the matter to court to get compensation, it’s always a sensible idea to have a reputable car accident attorney to hand. The last thing you want is for a claim to be brought against you when the accident wasn’t your fault, and for you to have no one to defend you in court. However, if you do decide to go for a personal injury claim, your attorney will handle that for you. They will present all of the information you gathered at the scene, as well as medical reports detailing your injuries, to the judge, to make his or her verdict. He will also question you, and the witnesses that you found at the scene of the accident, to provide further evidence as to why you should receive compensation. If all goes well, you will win your case and get the settlement you deserve anywhere up to a few weeks after the court hearing ended.
Despite prevention being better than the cure in regards to most things in life, it can sometimes be difficult going about preventing a car accident.Unfortunately, you can not control every single aspect of your life, especially the ones with other people involved, so things are going to go wrong, and accidents are going to happen. Despite this, I hope that this guide has provided you with some understanding of the things that you should and should not do after being injured in a car accident. If you follow this advice, and the car accident was definitely not your fault, then you should find it relatively hard to go wrong. Although being involved in a car accident is tough and emotional, try to look at in in a positive light, rather than a negative one. There are silver linings to most rain clouds in life, and while a car accident is a pretty big rain cloud, a new car and some compensation could be a rather nice silver lining.
