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“I just got hit by a car” are not the first words your parents want to hear on any day of the week or weekend.
But, it is something they are likely to hear at least once in their lives.
The feeling you have is that you just got screwed.
Screwed out of your brand new car.
Screwed out of having a great day.
And screwed out of being able to do lots of things without pain.
While those are some really crappy things to happen to you because of someone else who was operating her car negligently, that is the reality you face every day when you get on the road and drive yourself to your favorite video rental store.
Video rental store? They don’t exist anymore, but just wanted to check to see if you were still reading.
Even though you were just screwed by someone else, there is always the possibility that you can also screw up the new car accident case that was just put before you to handle without you even asking for it.
These are the gifts of life right?
By knowing about these three ways you can seriously mess up your case (without even knowing it), hopefully you will avoid the major pitfalls and be on your way to getting paid and getting healthy again.
Never ever, ever, ever, leave the scene of your car accident
Unless you were seriously injured in the accident and required immediate medical attention, there is absolutely no reason good enough to leave the scene of the accident. No baseball game, no dance recital, no Dixie Chicks concert, etc.
There is nothing that important at that moment that will be more important for your case. The reason is that the police officer who shows up to the scene is going to document everything that happened at that scene.
That means she will note how the accident happened by talking to both drivers, any passengers and any eye-witnesses. She will then reconstruct the accident, visually, on paper, and then give a ticket to the at fault driver.
This also gives you the name and contact information for the insurance company and information about the driver and the owner of the vehicle, both of whom may be different people with different sets of insurance polices (and therefore more money for you to get).
Waiting for Months to Get Treatment
Injured people treat. That is the mantra repeated over and over again by a defense lawyer in court should you not treat immediately and regularly. Don’t “Deal with the pain” and not get treated. You will deal with the pain either way. Doesn’t it make more sense for your pain and symptoms to be documented by an objective professional health care provider? The longer you wait, the less credible you will seem…and the insurance companies already believe that everyone who files a claim in not credible.
Posting Pictures of You Spelunking
For the un-initiated or those who have never seen the movie Batman Begins, spelunking is cave exploration in under water caves. You don’t want to get into a wreck and then post photos of you doing backflips into a cave while you are spelunking in Tulum. The laws generally do not treat private anything posted to social media, even if those pictures are only shown to friends, families or shared in groups. There are generally no protections on those pictures when they are used to impeach (aka discredit) a Plaintiff who claims they are injured. Because, frankly, unless you are Batman, you are not going to be spelunking if you are injured.
If you follow the advice above, you will find yourself with three easy ways to avoid screwing up your case after you’ve been screwed by a car accident.
If you have questions about a car accident case contact a personal injury lawyer for more information and the next steps.