Once a driver has been involved in a car accident, then that same motorist should take certain actions. In that way, he or she could do a better job of preserving valued health and legal rights.
Actions that driver should take, while at scene of accident
Call police and emergency medical workers. Exchange name and contact information with the other driver; get the other driver’s license number, and the number on the plate of any other involved vehicle. Exchange information that can serve as proof of insurance; get the name of the other motorist’s insurance company.
Note the names of the streets that are closest to the scene of the collision. Seek medical attention. If possible, take pictures of the damaged vehicle, and pictures of any injuries.
Actions that driver should take, after returning home
Call the company that was the seller of the drive’s auto insurance policy. Report the accident. Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in Waterdown and schedule a consultation.
Obtain a copy of the police report. Start a journal; record the frequency and duration for any painful sensation. Record any challenges created by the accident-linked injury. Record any inability to take part in a specific activity.
The items to collect and put in a safe place
• Medical bills
• Pay stubs
• Gas receipts: Those that show the cost of transportation to the doctor’s office, or to a clinic.
• Receipts obtained when paying for any needed over-the-counter medicine.
Actions to avoid
Do not post on any social media network information about the incident that has caused your injury. Do not post any pictures of the damage to your vehicle, or of any injury that you have sustained.
Insurance companies have employees that spend their whole day online, visiting various social media networks. Each of them studies the pictures that have been posted, in an effort to find a photograph of a claimant that has reported an injury.
Insurers pay men and women to look for photographs that cast a doubt on a injury claim. The reason for that doubt would be the nature of the action that was taking place, when the photograph was taken. It could be an action that someone with the claimed injury would not be apt to carry out.
Because, insurers have instituted that practice, lawyers caution their clients against trying any movement, without first speaking with the treating physician. A patent’s plans for experimenting with a given movement could be placed in the same patient’s medical record.
Once those plans have been added to that record, an insurance company would lack reason to question the appearance of a picture that showed a given claimant making that planned movement. Hence, the insurer could not dispute the injured claimant’s statements.