In this Live Google Hangout, personal injury lawyer John Kelly answers what you should do after a car accident as well as legal options available to you. After then initial question is answered, he will answer online questions. If you have a question for John, simply post it in the comments question below and John will provide you free legal answers. For more information you can also visit him online at: https://www.jkphoenixpersonalinjuryattorney.com/auto-accident
Bo- What should you do immediately after a car accident?
Thanks, Ryan. Immediately after an accident, you want to make sure that everyone’s safe. I see sometimes people get into an accident and they stay right on a busy street. If you can, pull your car over. It’s not necessarily the most important thing if it was a clear rear-end accident to remain where you were. You want your safety first. You don’t want to be walking around on a highway. You want to also seek medical attention. If anyone’s injured, you want to call 9-1-1. Have the police and paramedics respond to make sure that everyone’s okay. If anyone needs to go to the hospital, that is the most important thing. You don’t want to be worrying about the implications of your personal injury case and trying to take photographs if someone needs help and needs, you know, to get to the hospital. That being said, there’s a lot of times where the injuries aren’t so severe and you’re not being transported to the hospital. And in that case, you may want to speak with the officer, make sure that the police get there, make sure that your side of the story is told to them. You can use your phone and take photographs of the damages. Make sure the officer gets the other party’s information, including their contact information and insurance provider. That’s something that you’re gonna need to make a claim against them if you were injured by them. You want to kind of probably start a folder that has all your paperwork because it’s gonna be a lot. You know, you’ll have what we call an exchange sheet from the officer. The police report is not always ready right away but you’ll want to take the number down and contact the police to try to get that as soon as you can. Any medical providers you have, if they can be paid for work, throw it in a folder. Then eventually you’ll get to a point, later the day of or after, you may consider talking to a lawyer. It may be a situation where it was a minor accident. Damages to the vehicle were small. No one seemed to be injured very badly. You can handle those cases on your own and contact the insurance provider if you feel comfortable with that. But it never does hurt to talk to an attorney. Reach out to a lawyer, just ask them, okay, here’s the exact steps of what happened. Here’s the scenario of my case that’s different from every other case, because your lawyer might have experience with your type of actual basis that he can give you some good advice. If you feel comfortable with them and you think you need their services, you can go ahead and retain them. A lot of lawyers will go out and visit with you. I’m one of those lawyers that can go out and, actually, people that are injured often can’t get transportation. Their vehicles are broken down, that kind of thing. Or you can set up an office conference but it’s a good idea to set up something face-to-face.
Eric- Hi John. I’m hopeful you can point me in the right direction. I was exiting the highway when a truck coming along the feeder didn’t yield and hit the back right corner of my car; spinning me and forcing me into a guardrail. I ended up with a broken rib and some serious bruising. I don’t know if they are going to consider my car totaled or not at this point. I’m out of the hospital now and would like to know my options. Thank you.
Danny- Quick question for you. I was in a fairly major accident which was my fault and the police say it’s my fault. My insurance is going to pay for my medical costs and car repairs, which is great, but since it was my fault can I still sue more money?
Amber- I was injured in a car accident a few weeks ago and my insurance still hasn’t paid me. What can I do to expedite this process?
Loreal- How does the insurance company determine the amount of money I’m going to get for an accident? Do they just calculate the hospital bills and add that to the car repairs or is their pain and suffering included?
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