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According to the United States Census Bureau, there are more than 10.8 million car accidents across the United States each year. The average driver will be in a car accident at least three times in their life. In other words, car accidents in this country are unfortunately common.
A lot can happen after a car accident. You may be injured, or your car may need repairs. You may have to defend yourself from a car accident compensation claim with the help of experienced car accidents lawyers. The latter, at least, can potentially be avoided if you know what to do immediately following a car accident.
Five Things You Need to Do After a Car Accident
- Call the Police
- Try to Calm Down Before Interacting with the Other Party
- Never Admit You’re at Fault
- Stay at the Scene
- Collect All Important Information
For CNN, the first thing you should do after a car accident is call the police. They will come and survey the accident seen, providing you and the other party with an accident report. This report is crucial to defending yourself if you weren’t the at-fault party, assuming you get a phone call from auto injury attorneys hired by the other driver.
As State Farm Insurance writes, being in a car accident is a scary, oftentimes frustrating experience. That being said, you need to try and calm down before talking to the other driver, whether they were at fault or not. Screaming at the top of your lungs to release your anger may feel good, but it can be used as evidence against you in court.
After your accident, you may feel drawn to apologize to the other party, even if the accident wasn’t your fault. As any auto injury attorneys worth their salt can tell you, however, the last thing you want to do is say or do anything that admits you were at fault. The minute you say “I’m sorry,” the other driver has evidence backing their claim that you are to blame.
You might be surprised to hear that many people flee the scene after an accident, landing them in very hot water, indeed, with both police and auto injury attorneys. As FindLaw.com points out, fleeing the scene is a crime. Don’t add insult to injury just because you don’t want to be responsible.
As Edmunds.com suggests, collecting all relevant information at the scene of your accident is just as important to defending yourself as it is to making your own car accident injury claim a success. You should gather license information, insurance data, registration, license plate numbers, and a phone number to cover all of your bases.
Do you work as an auto accident injury attorney? What other tips would you give American drivers on protecting themselves from having to defend against car accident settlements? Let us know in the comments below! Great references here.
