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It should go without saying, but your first step should definitely be to call 911 and report the accident to the police and get emergency services on the way. Even if the other driver asks you not to and suggests that maybe you could work things out on your own without involving the authorities, call anyway. For one thing, you are required to report an accident if it involves injury, death, or property damage in excess of $500. Any serious car accident, by definition, will cause at least one of these things. You will also need a police report to file an insurance claim, and while you can file a report with the police later, it’s usually best to do it as soon as possible. When the police are on the scene, they can give a determination of fault that may weigh more heavily with the insurance company than a later report.

It’s also important to provide any emergency help that you can to anyone who has been injured. For any serious injuries, it’s best not to move the victim unless it’s necessary to do so to save their life (such as if a car is on fire). Otherwise, just provide whatever help and comfort you can while you wait for emergency services. If you are the one injured, don’t attempt to move until emergency services arrive unless you need to do so to protect yourself.

Only take this step if you are healthy enough to do so. Never delay getting emergency medical care to take pictures of an accident scene! But, assuming your injuries are not so bad that you require immediate emergency medical care, get as much information as you can from the other driver and at the scene of the accident.

You’ll want to get the name and insurance information of the driver and note down the make and model of their car. If you can get pictures, take pictures of the entire accident scene showing both vehicles, their license plates, and marks on the road, and the damage to the cars in question. Be sure to get both wide-angle shots and also close-ups.

If you notice any cameras in the area, such as a traffic camera or perhaps a security camera on a nearby business, note down the location so you can tell your lawyer. Your lawyer can ask the camera owner for footage to see if it captured the accident. If you see any witnesses in the area, ask them if they saw the accident. If they did, note down their name and contact information so you can pass that on to your lawyer.

If you didn’t go to the hospital by ambulance right away, as soon as you’ve talked to the police and the other driver, make your way to an emergency room. If an accident was serious, then even if you feel OK, it’s highly likely you’ve suffered some kind of injury that may show symptoms later. Whiplash often doesn’t feel like a big deal for several hours following an accident, but by the next morning you may find yourself almost unable to move your head and neck at all. And things could be even more serious: a brain injury may not show definitive symptoms for some days, and internal bleeding can take hours to manifest.

When you see the doctor, tell them exactly what happened in the accident so they know what to look for. You’ll need all the medical records that you have for your treatment in order to bring a personal injury claim.

If you’ve been in a serious accident, chances are that you have been injured, and the last thing you need to be worried about while you try to recover from an injury is dealing with getting the reimbursement you need to pay for all your losses and damages. The law allows you to make a claim for your losses, but doing so is both complicated and time-consuming. Working with a lawyer brings a number of benefits.

For one, you’ll have someone who can go to bat for you against the insurance company. When the insurance company makes a lowball offer hoping you don’t know what your claim is really worth or that you’re desperate and will agree to anything just to get some money coming in, your lawyer will be there to watch out for you. Your lawyer can take over communication with the insurance company entirely, so they don’t keep bothering you and can’t get you to say something they can use against you. Your lawyer will also evaluate your claim, negotiate for you, and even take things to court if that becomes necessary.

Bills will start to mount after an accident: medical bills, repairs, maybe even bills for childcare or other services you have to hire to take care of things while you’re recovering. Meanwhile, you might also be prevented from working, so not only do you have money flowing out, but no money is coming in. Talk to your lawyer about options, because you have them.

You can access your own medical insurance, for example, and simply reimburse them after the settlement is finalized. Or, your lawyer may write a letter to your healthcare provider explaining that you’re bringing a claim. At that point, your healthcare provider may be happy to put a lien on your settlement: that’s just a legal step to make sure they’re paid out of the settlement when it comes.

What you don’t want to do is allow the insurance company to push you into signing away your rights. Once you sign a settlement agreement, in most cases, that’s it. You don’t get to come back and ask for more, even if it turns out the settlement is way too low to cover your expenses. If you’re in need of money now, talk to your lawyer about your options; and never sign anything without asking your lawyer, first.

Once you have a lawyer, your primary job becomes to rest and recover. Your lawyer will take care of the legal details, the negotiations, the paperwork, the communication, and all the other frustrating aspects of bringing a personal injury claim. Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means their fee comes as a percentage of your settlement rather than as a bill to you. If they don’t win the claim for you, they don’t get paid.

If you’ve been in a serious car accident, contact us for help. Visit T. Madden & Associates, P.C. in Atlanta today. We also serve most of Georgia’s counties and cities, so get in touch right away.