If you’ve been injured in a serious car, truck, or motorcycle accident, you know that the days and weeks immediately following it can be incredibly stressful and not just because of your injuries. You may not be able to work. Your car has been totaled. You and your family are scared and confused because you don’t know what to do next. Getting the help you need from an experienced New York car accident lawyer immediately after your accident is crucial to your financial security and your physical and emotional well-being.
New York’s premier motor vehicle accident lawyers at Horn Wright have created this guide to take you through the steps you must follow immediately after your car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident. We want to help you avoid the costly mistakes that too many people make in such a situation. You should print this handy guide and keep it in your glove compartment or download it, so you always have it on your phone. Once you follow the first steps and you’ve received emergency medical care for your car accident injuries, call us at (855) 465-4622, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Knowing what to do after a car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident will not only prepare you to handle the immediate situation but will also help protect your rights to the money damages to which you are entitled for your injuries.
1. Make Sure Everyone is Safe and Secure.
Immediately check yourself and your passengers for injuries. Adrenaline is very powerful and after the shock of an accident, it may prevent you from realizing that you’re hurt. Check for bleeding, torn clothing, and localized pain in your head, torso, arms, and legs. If anyone is injured, keep them awake, don’t move them, and wait for emergency personnel.
2. Call 911.
Even if the accident seems minor, if someone is injured, it’s crucial to ensure that medical help gets there as quickly as possible. In New York, if anyone is injured or if there is more than one thousand dollars in property damage, the accident must be reported to the police.
3. Move to Safety.
If the accident is minor and there are no serious injuries, move to the side of the road to avoid being hit by other vehicles and to prevent traffic congestion. Turn on your hazard lights and put out road flares or reflective triangles to warn oncoming vehicles.
Once you’ve taken these steps, it’s time to make sure you protect your rights to file a personal injury lawsuit, or to protect yourself if the other driver files a claim against you.
Gather Information:
- If someone was injured, notify the police. Make sure you get the report number from the officer at the scene. You’ll need it to get the report from the precinct or from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The police report will be an important record for insurance claims and future legal proceedings.
- Take pictures and video of the accident scene from various angles, highlighting vehicle positions, license plates, damage, road and lighting conditions, and any relevant road signs or signals. Photos should show damage to all involved vehicles and where each vehicle is located in relation to the lane markers.
- Drivers: Exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver(s). Take pictures of them and their licenses, registrations, and insurance cards. The registrations are important because the drivers may not own the other cars involved in the accident.
- Passengers: Get the names and contact information of passengers who may be important witnesses. Ask to take pictures of their identification and find out if they are friends or family members of the driver or if they are Uber or Lyft passengers.
- Details Count: Make sure to get full names, phone numbers, home and email addresses. Don’t hesitate to call the phone numbers at the scene so no one gives you false information.
- Insurance Details: Take pictures of the insurance cards, showing the company name, policy number, and claim reporting information.
- Witnesses: Speak with any witnesses who stop at the scene. They can provide valuable perspectives about what happened because they don’t have an interest in the situation. Politely ask them to provide a statement about what they saw, and if they agree, get it on video. If your phone is broken or you left it at home, ask them to write down what they saw at the scene and make sure they give their information to the police. However, some witnesses will be reluctant to get involved. Respect their decision without conflict. Just because they don’t want to talk at the scene doesn’t mean they won’t get involved later and you don’t want to create any animosity.
- Statements: Don’t be aggressive but don’t admit fault either.Accidents happen and it’s almost always someone’s fault, but it doesn’t help to lose your cool. Limit your conversation about the accident to making sure everyone is okay or that anyone who needs medical attention gets it. When you speak with the other driver, avoid admitting fault or saying how the accident happened but let them keep talking. Anything you say can be used against you and you should assume that everything is being recorded.
- Video Surveillance: Remember that just as you are taking video evidence at the scene of the accident, you are also being surveilled. The occupants of the other involved vehicles and witnesses are taking pictures and video of you. There are almost certainly cameras on nearby businesses or residences capturing the accident and what happened afterwards. There may also be police surveillance cameras in the area. All of this video is potential evidence for or against you in a personal injury action and you, or even better, your attorney should act quickly to obtain it.
Managing Insurance Claims and Disputes
New York's No-Fault insurance law can work to your advantage when it comes to getting your medical bills and lost wages paid, but it can also complicate your claim for personal injuries resulting from a car, truck, or motorcycle accident. Even if the police aren’t called to the accident scene, make sure you report the accident to your insurance company within 24 hours regardless of whose fault it was. Provide your insurance company with all the paperwork, photos, video and additional evidence you collected.
Most importantly, if you or someone you love is injured in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident, you must contact an experienced group of experienced New York personal injury lawyers as soon as possible. At Horn Wright, our lawyers have hundreds of years of experience between them and have collected hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for our clients in cases throughout New York. We have a proven track record of successfully handling every kind of personal injury case. So you can trust us to fight for your rights and never back down. Insurance companies know who we are. We’ve dealt with them for decades and they are much more likely to pay you what you deserve if they know you have experienced attorneys like Horn Wright on your side.