What Should I Do Immediately After a Car Accident to Protect My Legal Rights?

A fast start helps ensure a successful outcome.

When law enforcement authorities investigate crimes, the first 48 hours are critical. When that window closes, it becomes more difficult to gather good evidence, and the likelihood of that perpetrator being caught is diminished. Similarly, the first 48 hours are also critical in car accident claims. people unintentionally take actions, or fail to take actions, that hamper their court cases later, making it difficult to obtain maximum compensation.

The 48-hour rule is not absolute in law enforcement. Investigators often solve crimes months, years, or decades after their commission. Likewise, the first 48-hour rule is not absolute for a Brandon personal injury lawyer. A successful outcome is possible and indeed likely. On average, attorney-negotiated personal injury settlements are over three times higher than non-attorney-negotiated car accident settlements. In law, as in life, a good start makes a successful outcome more likely.

See a Doctor

Primarily because adrenaline masks their pain and they do not “feel” hurt, many people don’t immediately see doctors. Prompt medical assistance is essential for both medical and legal reasons.

Many car accident victims do not feel pain immediately, but they often sustain injuries, particularly head injuries. Initial head injury symptoms include disorientation and neck soreness. Many people, as well as many doctors, dismiss these symptoms as accident shock.

Undiagnosed head injuries are killers, quite literally. Unchecked brain bleeding and swelling kill over 50,000 Americans every year. However, if aggressively treated, head injuries are usually manageable.

Legally, if victims do not promptly see doctors, insurance company lawyers subsequently argue that their damage claims are inflated. These damages usually include money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Watch Your Words

Usually, because of head injuries, most victims are not thinking clearly in the wake of a car accident. So, they should minimize or eliminate their contact with emergency responders, family, and insurance adjusters.

If emergency responders interview you, cooperate, but do not volunteer information. Think before you answer each question, even seemingly trivial ones. a rule of thumb, answers longer than ten words are too long. The same principle applies to conversations with friends and family.

Take the same approach when you report the accident to your insurance company. Paint with broad strokes and let your Brandon personal injury lawyer fill in the details later.

Do not talk to the other insurance company under any circumstances. Telephone adjusters seem like affable people, like Jake from State Farm. However, these adjusters know how to extract damaging information from victims that can be used against them later.

Call a Brandon Personal Injury Lawyer

We make mistakes. We do not see doctors immediately after car crashes, and we say things we should not say. That is okay because attorneys are adept at damage control. In many cases, they can erase early mistakes.

Notice that we did not add “collect evidence” to the “what should I do after a car accident” list. An attorney, along with a team of investigators and other professionals, handles that chore for you. Furthermore, a lawyer knows how to present this evidence in court. This combination means a lawyer can obtain much more money than you may have expected, as mentioned above.

Count on a Hard-Hitting Hillsborough County Attorney

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Brandon, contact Carman & Finegan, P.A. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.