If you’ve ever witnessed an accident, you know that the people involved can tend to act abnormally. Victims jump up from seemingly destructive impacts, witnesses shrug and move on, guilty parties split the scene. In this chapter, we want to share some things that you should keep in mind if you’re in an accident.
Believe it or not, there is a typical auto accident. This scenario happens so often that it’s almost predictable: A car is at a light, stopped in traffic and waiting to turn. Then, out of the blue, they get hit from behind. The damages can vary from minor bumper damage to the back seat of the car being pressed into the front dash.
Another common accident is when a driver is traveling on a busy street and someone pulls out to turn in front of them. These accidents are all-too common, and they can also result in serious injuries.
Let’s say that you’re in an accident and you’re coherent enough to take action. These are the steps you should take:
Statistics have proven that people who run red lights or stop signs are likely to lie. They say, “The light was green!” or “I came to a complete stop!” They will lie to you and they will lie to their insurance companies. When it comes down to your word against theirs, you need proof. You need witnesses.
In order to illustrate this point, consider the following real-life story from the O’Sullivan Law files.
Patrick was driving southbound on a busy, four-lane road. A northbound driver turned left in front of him and Patrick barely had time to hit the brakes. He hit the other car and sustained a shattered left collarbone, broken ribs, torn ligaments in his knee, and other injuries.
The police arrived. Because Patrick had no traumatic head injury, he was able to explain the accident. However, one witness told the police that she had seen Patrick earlier driving erratically. She admitted, however, that she did not see the accident. Two other witnesses saw the accident and said Patrick was not at-fault and that he had the right-of-way.
The police officer gave Patrick the ticket.
Patrick asked the O’Sullivan Law Firm to represent him and we visited the scene of the accident. We were able to collect witness statements from people who worked in a nearby restaurant. These witnesses also said that Patrick was driving legally and had the right-of-way. We took those statements to the prosecutors who promptly dropped the case against Patrick.
And yet, the at-fault driver’s insurance company continued to deny responsibility until we filed a lawsuit and took the witnesses’ depositions. Finally, the insurance company dropped their defense and accepted full responsibility.
Clearly, in Patrick’s case, witnesses made all of the difference.
And you know those red light cameras that cities are installing at intersections to catch red-light-runners? You and your personal injury attorney can’t get access to those tapes. Again, you need witnesses.
Your behavior at the scene of an accident can impact your case’s outcome later. Here are two tips that you should follow after an accident:
A final note that bears repeating: It is crucial to call 911 when you’ve been in an accident. If you don’t call the police and you discover injuries from the incident 24 hours later, you won’t have a record of the accident. We’ve never had someone regret calling the police to the scene of an accident… but they do regret it if they don’t!
