Car accidents: Tips to Get the Best Lawyer
Statistics on car accidents in the United States demonstrate that crash risk is high if compared with other first-world nations.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the US 13 car accidents occur every minute. In 2021, almost 50,000 people died in car crashes, while almost 5 million were seriously injured.
When US car accident statistics are compared with other high-income countries, it comes as results that there is a higher risk of motor vehicle crash death. In fact, the risk is 2.3 higher.
With these numbers, it is quite possible to be involved in a car crash. Thus, it is important to have access to relevant information on how to proceed to minimize the damage, both regarding health and material items.
Being involved in a car crash can be a quite traumatic experience. It is quite common for people to feel shaken by the accident and find it hard to think clearly about which steps are important to take.
In this article, we will provide information about how to proceed after a car crash and how to find legal help, especially a hit and run accident lawyer in Atlanta because those are the most difficult cases to solve.
How to Act after Car Accidents
As we mentioned before, car crash can be traumatic experiences that enable you to think clearly and take the right steps to protect yourself and the others involved. Below, there are some basic steps you should take after a car crash to keep everyone safe.
1. Take Care of Everyone’s Health
After a car accident, the most important step to take is to make sure that everyone is ok and get medical attention.
In some cases, you may think you don’t need to seek a doctor, but if you or anyone else have been physically affected by the crash, you should get attention even when you don’t seem to be seriously injured.
2. Never Leave the Scene of the Accident
If it is a small crash and you are ok, it is important to stay at the scene of the accident in order to proceed with all the steps required to claim insurance coverage. Move your car to a near and safe place to get it out of danger. Use hazard lights and emergency triangles to alert the other drivers and keep yourself safe while on the road.
If it is a serious crash and someone is hurt, you shouldn’t move your car and be extremely careful when getting out of your car, especially if you are on a highway.
3. Call the Police
It is very important to contact the police in order to get a legal report on the accident. Some police departments have online reporting systems that can be used for minor crashes, but if you are in a serious accident you should request them to actually come to the area.
When the police arrive, you should ask for the officer’s information and get a copy of the accident report.
4. Collect Information
It is quite important that you collect the information for the insurance. Take pictures of all the driver’s documentation, ask for the name and contact information and check that the driver’s name matches the car’s registration.
Information about the vehicle involved is also crucial, so take note of the year, model, license plate, and insurance policy number.
Use your cellphone camera to collect all the information that will help as evidence, such as the damages produced by the crash, marks on the street, and any other elements.
If you are involved in a hit-and-run accident it is very important to collect all the information you can at the scene. Writing down all the information about the vehicle is very important since you will probably forget it later. Also, taking pictures or creating a video showing the scene can be useful.
5. Contact Your Insurance Company
After you have done all the previous steps, you should notify your insurance company about the accident and a hit-and-run accident lawyer to ensure that you will be able to get the right compensation for the damages, whether they are material or health-related.
