When a person is involved in a car accident, there are a million things going through their head. The first is to check that they are OK, any passengers they might have are OK, and that the other driver is not hurt. Once everyone’s immediate safety is confirmed, there are steps the driver needs to take in order to be preserve facts for their potential lawsuit. While these facts may ultimately never be needed, it is far better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. As a Portland personal injury lawyer, collecting these facts can significantly improve your chances at a successful recovery.
The first thing to do after an accident is collect the other driver’s information. This includes insurance information, license plate number, and name and address. Some people assume that the police will collect all this information, but there are times when they don’t record this info. If there is no police report, they may not keep any records of the accident. Therefore a person needs to be sure that they have collected all relevant information about any party or parties involved in the accident.
Second is to take pictures of your vehicle and photos of the scene. These photos can be helpful in proving causation and can be helpful at trial. Since most phones have cameras in them, this is relatively simple. Pictures of the scene can also help clearly explain what happened in an accident and help prove who was at fault.
The third thing to do after an accident is to see a doctor as quickly as possible. At the scene, people might refuse treatment, believing they haven’t been injured. When a person’s adrenaline is running, they might not feel some pain or might think they are OK. After a few days, however, they realize that something is not right. See a doctor immediately in order to prove that these injuries were caused by your car accident. The longer a person waits to seek treatment, the more difficult it can be to prove they were caused by the accident.
At Johnson Law, we encourage everyone to take these steps when they are in a car accident. Ultimately, a lawsuit may not be necessary and these facts won’t be needed. But if a person does decide to pursue a lawsuit, these facts are vital to a case. Contact Johnson Law today for a free consultation.
