There are essentially seven things that you really need to do. You need to stay there. First of all, if you are ever in an accident, you need to stay there even if it is minor. You do not want to be charged with a hit and run, you definitely want to stay at the scene and call the police. I have had cases before where people stay at the scene, they look around and they say, “You know what, it doesn’t look that bad” and sometimes the other party does not even think to get the other person’s license plate, name, contact information or insurance information and they leave and then they later have pain in their back or they find out that they suffered whiplash and now they cannot even recover because they cannot prove that the accident actually happened. So, number one, obviously, it to stay on the scene and exchange information.
First of all, remain on the scene. Second, I always recommend that everybody stay calm. If it is a minor impact, there is no reason to get out, yell at the other person or anything like that. Before you get out of the car, make sure it is a safe scene. Sometimes, wrecks can be so bad that you cannot get out of the car. Obviously, if you are involved in the accident, like I said before, you always want to call 9-1-1; you want to call the police. Depending on how bad they are, you want to assess the injuries, look around, is there someone that you can help or are you the one that needs help? Assess what can be done, what needs to be done. If it is a minor impact case or it is one where you can get out, make sure it is safe, get out, exchange information with the other driver and you want to jot down the license plate number of the other car.
Most people do not keep a pen and paper anymore in their car, but they have their cellphone, so you can take pictures with your cell phone immediately. Take pictures of the license plate, what the other person looks like anything to help in investigation of the accident. Remember if you can write down time that would be great as well and also use the video feature if appropriate. I would say start a video log, make a diary, “Today is”, you know, list the date, the time, where you are located, what is the name of the street, look around, what is the weather like. If you are videoing yourself, doing a selfie video, you tell how you fell. “Oh, my back hurts, my neck hurts, my feet hurt, my shoulders hurt”, whatever injuries you have you want to log those and if you do not have a smartphone, write them down as soon as you get a chance.
Of course, after you have done that, wait for the police. The police will do a report and then you want to get a copy of that report and you want to call our office so that we can help you with your case going forward.
What Are The Typical Outcomes Of Cases Involving Uninsured Or Underinsured Motorists?
It really is fact specific. It depends on each case. We look at each case specifically to determine whether it is one worth taking or not when there is an uninsured motorist. Coverage is a huge question. Is there coverage? If there is not coverage, we want to research the other individual to see if it is worth going after them or not. We do hope you have uninsured motorist coverage to cover your damages! When someone is at fault, sometimes we as people think, “They committed a wrong and they have to pay for that and justice ought to be served, so let’s have them pay”, the problem is that attorneys, court system and everything else costs money and takes time. Is it worth your time and ours to do so and if it is a small amount, even though justice will not prevail, this is not just an emotional decision or what is right and wrong, it is a money decision and a cost benefit analysis and if does not mustard, it is just not worth going after and we should just move on, as hard as that seems to be.
Communicating With the Insurance Regarding Uninsured Motorist Coverage
It really depends on the agent. You can definitely get the insurance and people should. It is definitely something that is offered out there and you should definitely get it. I read a statistic once; it is probably a few years old that one out of every seven drivers in the United States is uninsured.
For more information on Accident with Uninsured Motorists, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling [number type=”1″] today.
