College Park Car Accident Lawyer

If your car is driveable, move it to the side or shoulder of the roadway. This will protect you against the possibility of being in a pile-up crash, which is common when two or more vehicles have already collided and blocked the road.

If the accident occurred at night, turn on your hazards. If the accident occurred in the day, it’s not a bad idea to turn on your hazards, either.

If you can’t move your vehicle, get yourself, your passenger(s), and anyone else involved in the accident to a safer location.

If you or your passenger(s) are in pain or visibly injured, call 911 or ask someone else to do so. If you’re seriously injured, try not to move until someone can get to you.

If you are injured and need to go to the hospital, don’t try and wait around for the police to show up so you can tell them about the accident. Your health is the priority, and you can always obtain the police report later.

Keep in mind that our bodies release adrenaline when we’re involved in traumatic events like car accidents. Adrenaline can dull or numb pain, so even if you don’t feel injured at the scene, you may still need medical attention. It’s never a bad idea to visit the doctor and receive a check-up; in fact, doing so is a good way to support your claim.

If you didn’t visit the doctor after your accident, the other party’s insurance company will likely bring this up in an effort to devalue your claim.

Latent injuries (injuries that appear later) are also common in car accidents. If you have a latent injury, such as an internal injury that doesn’t present symptoms right away, and you agree to a settlement from the other party, you may be selling your claim far short of what it’s worth. If there’s any chance that you may have been injured in the accident, be proactive and visit the doctor.

Even if the crash doesn’t appear serious, it’s a good idea to call the police to the scene. The responding officer will create an accident report that is an invaluable piece of evidence for the insurance company. Police reports aren’t admissible as evidence in court, but insurance companies place great value in them as they conduct their own investigation and determine the value of an injury claim.

The police officer can also function as a mediator if the other driver is being aggressive or noncompliant.

Before leaving the scene of the crash, the reporting officer will hand you a receipt with the identification number of the report. That document will likely have the phone number of the office from which the officer reported. Call the number and ask for your report with the identification number. You might have to pay a small fee (usually $5 or less), but that’s a small price to pay for an extremely helpful piece of evidence.

You’ve probably heard this before, but you must exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver(s) involved in the accident. You should also try and obtain:

• The other driver’s name and address
• Their contact information (phone number, email address)
• The make and model of the other driver’s vehicle
• The name and contact information of any witnesses to the crash
• The name, badge number, and contact information of the reporting police officer

An unfortunate but common problem in Georgia is the prevalence of uninsured drivers. Auto insurance is mandatory in Georgia, but many people don’t comply with the rules and end up driving illegally.

You have several options if you were injured in a crash with an uninsured driver. You may be able to obtain payment from uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage; medical payments “med pay” coverage; health insurance, or collision insurance.

Even if you aren’t planning to file a claim at the moment, you can prepare yourself and be proactive in protecting your legal rights by gathering certain types of evidence at the scene of the crash. Valuable evidence is often destroyed or lost in the hours and days after a crash, so try your best to take pictures of the following as soon as you can (if it’s safe to do so):

• Accident scene from various angles
• Stop signs, traffic signals, and other traffic control devices
• Your and the other driver’s vehicles, including any damage
• Your or your passenger’s injuries

It would also be extremely helpful to obtain witness testimony from anyone who was nearby at the time of the crash. Other drivers are great, but also consider patrons in nearby restaurants, people walking on the street, or anyone else who would have been in the proximity of the crash.

If you have any questions about obtaining evidence and how it can be used in your case, contact a College Park car accident lawyer at (404) 800-1156.