It’s common for people to file a car accident claim. Car accidents occur relatively frequently. While people often imagine particularly dangerous car accidents when they think about these disasters, plenty of car accidents are not lethal.
The vehicles that people use today are safer than the ones that were driven in the past. Cars have safety features that can help to prevent automotive accidents in the first place. Many cars were also designed to respond to car accidents in a certain way as well.
Vehicles are often damaged in ways that are somewhat predictable, which has helped automotive engineers make them safer than they were when cars were first introduced. When modern cars break in many car accidents, they’re less likely to be a source of problems themselves.
Still, it’s very rare for a car accident to cause no injuries or damages whatsoever. The car should at least be somewhat visibly harmed or changed.
Auto bodily injury coverage can certainly make a difference for drivers. Thanks to bodily injury and property damage insurance, both of these sets of issues could be covered. Auto bodily injury insurance will help people cover their potentially high medical costs. The bodily injury liability minimum might vary.
No one really wants to need to hire a personal injury lawyer. No one really wants to be in a car accident. In 2013, 21,132 people were killed in accidents on America’s roads. Another 21,132 people were injured. During that same 12 months, 3,154 people were killed in accidents that involved a driver who was distracted and 424,000 people were hurt. It has been estimated that, during the daylight hours, there are about 660,000 people driving around distracted at any given minute. If this happens to you, you may want to get legal representation to get what you need and deserve after your accident. Here are some other things you need to do to help your case.
- Get medical treatment. The best lawyers will tell you that the first thing you have to do when you have been in an accident is to get the medical care that you need to treat your injuries. Before you seek out legal representation, you need to see a doctor. If you have not been taken to the hospital in an ambulance, you need to get to your doctor as soon as you can. There are a few reasons for this. In the first place, doctors and other medical professionals can do more for you when you are treated soon after your accident. In the second place, if you have to pursue a personal injury lawsuit, you will hurt your case if you did not get the care you need as soon as you needed it. It can look like you avoided care to make your injuries look worse than they are and that will hurt your credibility.
- Follow the instructions from your medical professionals. All insurance companies are going to do whatever they can to pay out as little as they can get away with paying. If your doctor tells you to stay home from work and you go to work, it will hurt your personal injury claims. You should also get whatever documentation that you can get. When you get legal representation, they will be able to make use of any documentation you have.
- Keep records of everything. Document everything. In addition to getting the documents from your medical team, you should keep any documentation you get. You should keep receipts from prescriptions you pick up. If you take a cab to medical appointments, keep the receipts. If you have anything from your insurance company or the other driver’s insurance company, you should save that to give to your legal representation. The more paperwork you have and evidence you can collect to show your injuries, the better.
- Find a lawyer. You often need legal representation when you are looking for personal injury settlements. You may not know how much you are entitled to but they can look at your case and your needs and give you a good idea of what you can expect to receive. When in doubt, it is always a good idea to, at the very least, consult with a personal injury lawyer. They can give you a better sense of what you can expect.
- Get evidence from the scene. If you are not taken to the hospital from the accident, you can do this. If you are, you should have someone else do it. Get photos of the scene. Get video. This is not going to be considered for an Academy Award, you can use your smart phone. Talk to witnesses and get their contact information. Your legal representation will need to talk to these people and will be able to use the images and video to help bolster your claim. If the police came to the scene, you should get any report that they filed.
- Do not sign anything. If you receive anything from your insurance company or the opposing insurance company, do not accept anything or sign anything without having your legal representation look it over. In fact, once you have secured legal representation, you should let them handle all communications with the insurance companies. They are good at handling this very important part of the process.
You can get the settlement you need, these tips will help.
