When in a car accident, it’s easy to become confused. The initial jolt of the accident, potential injuries, and assessing the damage to your car can quickly disorient even the most fastidious of us. If you experience a car accident in Alabama, it’s important to know what to do at the scene of the accident.
Follow these three steps to ensure the best outcome if you have the misfortune of getting into a fender bender in Alabama.
Document the Car Accident
This step is crucial for reporting the accident to authorities, your insurance company, and your automobile accident attorney, so be thorough. The best form of documentation is to take pictures. Most of us have a cell phone with camera capabilities these days. Snap as many pictures as possible from many different angles to fully document the accident scene. If you do not have a phone or camera on hand, see if the other driver or a bystander does and ask that they forward the photos to you as well.
Report the Automobile Accident
This step is incredibly important if there are injuries on the scene. Police and emergency personnel need to be alerted to tend to the injured and further document the car accident. Remember not to blame or admit fault when recounting the car accident. Let the police review the scene objectively. If there are any questions asked that you aren’t sure how to answer, contact your automobile accident attorney before proceeding.
If there are no injuries, it’s likely the police may have you file an accident report after the fact. In this case, fully documenting the scene becomes even more crucial to assist your insurer and automobile accident attorney with your case later on.
Call Your Alabama Lawyers
The most important step after ensuring the safety of those involved and documenting the car accident scene is to call your Alabama lawyer. Even if your car accident seems minor, there’s no telling what may arise down the road.
You may have injuries that do not initially present at the car accident scene, the other person involved may not have adequate insurance. Worse yet, the other party involved may come after you for damages. It’s important to know your rights and if you have a potential case. Because of these potential pitfalls, it’s important to reach out to a reliable Alabama lawyer, like Brock & Stout to determine what your next steps should be. Contact us today if you have any questions about how to proceed with your car accident case and to fully understand the scope of your situation.