The biggest thought after being in a car accident is, “I just got hit, where do I go from here?” Many times, victims of a car accident take the wrong steps. You have to take the right steps going forward to ensure compensation, and to alleviate any psychological or emotional trauma that may have altered your way of life due to interrupting your source of income. So how should you proceed?
Preventative Measures
If you’re reading this before ever being in an accident, you’re arming yourself with knowledge, and that’s invaluable. The first thing you should do after a car accident, provided that you aren’t seriously injured, is taking down every piece of information you can. Eyewitness names, phone numbers, information of the other driver(s), photographs of the scene, and anything else that appears important. You can never have too much information when trying to build your case.
If you’ve been seriously injured, emergency services will also have a record of what happened through police statements and medical forms.
Being Hit as a Pedestrian
There’s nothing more traumatizing than being the victim of a car incident when you weren’t even driving in the first place. The negligent acts of another driver have resulted in your personal injury—you’ve been seriously hurt. In most cases, being hit as a pedestrian or a cyclist involves dire injuries, requiring you be brought to the nearest hospital for medical attention and treatment. You won’t be able to take photographs or takedown eyewitness information. The ball isn’t out of your court yet.
In a case like this, you’ve been injured so severely that you weren’t able to consciously call 911 for yourself, and either an eyewitness or the driver of the vehicle will end up doing that for you. The driver has stayed around (as they always should) and this won’t go down as a crime. However, that doesn’t impede upon your right to full compensation. Your quality of life, income, and other aspects have been temporarily or permanently altered due to no fault of your own—don’t assume that accidents happen and that it’s just an unfortunate part of life. You have been injured, and you are entitled to compensation.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney
You must contact an attorney as soon as possible after a car accident. This is going to show the immediate need for compensation and trauma relief to put this incident behind you, all without affecting your quality of life for longer than necessary. When you wait for an extended period of time before contacting an attorney, you’re injecting disbelief into the urgency of the case.
When you’re recovering from an accident, it can take a little while to wrap your head around everything that’s happened. Even so, you should still be certain not to hesitate too long, and contact your local Houston car accident attorney to handle the situation as quickly as possible.
