Injured In A New Haven Car Accident? Take These Three Steps
New Haven County personal injury lawyer Jack O’Donnell offers guidance for accident victims to help them ensure they can recover financial compensation.
Whether you are a commuter grinding your way down I-95, a speed demon roaring down rural New Haven County roadways, or just pulling into your street with the week's groceries, a car accident can strike at any time. While too many of these accidents leave deaths in their wake, the majority are far more likely to leave you injured, sometimes severely.
They are also likely to be stressful, even traumatic, moments, and it can be hard to know what to do, especially when you or someone you love is injured. Yet what you do in the next few minutes and hours after a serious crash can have a much bigger impact than the one left by a truck or car on your vehicle.
This is because what you do and how you behave after an accident affects both your immediate health and safety, and the legal process you might soon need to cover the costs associated with your injury. These personal injury claims are delicate and often contested legal measures used to ensure those responsible for your injury pay for it, and lawyers like New Haven County’s Jack O’Donnell will help you prepare for them. Starting right after your accident.
New Haven County Road Safety: Never Guaranteed
New Haven County and Connecticut have been at the forefront of automobile safety standards and controls since the first motorized vehicles hit the roads. Over 120 years ago, a town in New Haven County, Orange, was the first to pass a speed limit law, and the county and state soon followed suit.
Despite this safety-first mentality, and nearly a hundred years to perfect the art of keeping people out of accidents, they remain, essentially, an inevitability. Worse still, nearly a third of reported vehicle accidents involve either an injury or a fatality, revealing just how deadly and dangerous car accidents have become in New Haven County.
To keep up with those injuries, and make sure those whose recklessness and negligence cause them, Connecticut law allows individuals to bring personal injury claims against those who hurt them. These claims have to go through one very difficult hurdle, however: insurance companies. Insurers are notoriously uncooperative when it comes to parting with their “hard-earned” cash, and will use anything and everything they can against you, including your behavior immediately after the accident.
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Three Key Steps To Follow After A Car Accident In New Haven
It doesn't matter where in New Haven County your car accident happened. The following will help you be safe in the immediate aftermath of the crash and give you a better long-term chance of recovering the personal injury compensation you need.
1. Get To Safety And Call Authorities
As you have just discovered, roads are not safe places. You need to get yourself and any passengers to safety as quickly as possible. However, if someone is injured, it might be best not to move them unless they are in imminent danger.
Once safe, call 911 to alert the police and request an ambulance for anyone who has been injured. Not only will they help ensure your safety, but getting both legal and medical authorities involved is important, as their testimony will later help corroborate your version of the events and the causal connection between your accident and your injuries.
2. Preserve Evidence (When Possible) From The Scene
While waiting for emergency services to arrive, try to do as much as you can to preserve evidence of what happened:
- Take pictures with your phone of your vehicle, any other vehicles involved, the environment, road conditions, and any other relevant factors to the crash.
- Obtain contact information for other drivers and witnesses who were present and saw what happened.
- Exchange insurance information, but do not discuss the accident with the other driver.
- Take pictures of any injuries, your own and any injured loved ones.
- If you cannot take pictures, see if a friendly witness will record them for you.
Once the police arrive, be honest with them, but avoid apologizing (instinctual as it may be) when you are not to blame. Even a polite apology could later be interpreted as an admission of guilt or responsibility.
3. Obtain Medical Assistance Even If Injuries Seem Mild
Between the body’s natural reaction to shock and adrenaline, and the hidden nature of such injuries, many car accident injuries, such as concussions, whiplash, spinal cord damage, and more, can go undetected for hours or even days. As a result, it is imperative that you get checked out by medical professionals right away, even if your pain and discomfort seem mild at first.
The longer you wait, the greater the harm to your body from an untreated injury. Additionally, if you do later get treatment for an injury after waiting weeks or even just days after the accident, the insurance company responsible for paying for that treatment might deny it, arguing that you were faking, or that the delay means some other injury or accident caused the damages you are trying to claim.
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Car Accident Step #4: Call A Personal Injury Lawyer
Law Office of Jack O'Donnell, L.L.C. | Affordable and Accessible New Haven County Car Accident And Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have just been in a car accident or are with someone who was injured in New Haven County, the final step you need to take to protect your right to full compensation is to call an experienced personal injury lawyer.
To schedule a free consultation with our team to determine whether you have a valid claim, just call (203) 787-8603 or contact us online. It will cost you nothing to ask, nor will our help cost you anything out of pocket, and it could make all the difference in covering the harm you have just suffered.