The Crucial Evidence To Preserve At The Scene Of An Accident

In this article, you will learn:

• What evidence to collect at the scene of an accident
• How being hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver can affect your claim
• Why seek medical attention quickly after an accident

The seriousness of the injuries you suffered as of result of the car wreck will decide how much you can help in preserving accident-related evidence. If you are injured but are able to function despite your injuries after the car wreck, then certain information can be helpful. Getting the name of the person who caused the wreck, the name of their insurance company is helpful. This will be listed on the accident report normally, but sometimes can take a few days before the accident report is complete. Taking pictures of the damages to the car you were driving or riding in when injured can be helpful. Getting the name of where your vehicle was towed, if not drivable after the wreck is helpful. My firm can send our investigator out to the towing company and take any photographs of your vehicle. Pictures of damage to the car you were in when injured can help tell the story of how you suffered your injuries. Again, my firm can always get our investigative team out to locate the vehicle and get pictures, but any knowing where it is located helps. We also tell our injured clients, if they are able or have someone, they trust like a family member or friend take pictures of their bodies that show any visible injuries suffered, such as bruising, cuts, scrapes, road rash. We also advise our clients who are recovering from injuries in the hospital or rehabilitative medical facility or having any surgical procedures to have someone take pictures of them in the hospital or rehab facility as they try to recover from their injuries, as a picture will help explain a lot about an injured person’s pain and suffering in addition to their medical records. So, pictures are the most important, pictures of damaged vehicles, of bodily injuries like bruises, scrapes, cuts, any scarring, photos of them in their hospital bed, and then recovering from will be especially important because they help tell the story of how significant this accident was and the impact it had on their life.

Now, some of our clients are seriously injured and the number one thing a person needs to be dealing with in an accident is making sure they get appropriate medical treatment. So, the more significant an accident, the more significant my client’s injuries, the more detailed we find the accident reports to be from either the state police, local sheriff, or your local municipal police officers. The accident reports themselves will document a lot of things if it is a serious accident. These reports are going to have photographs from the investigating officers at the scene, not only of the vehicles, but of any roadway evidence, such as tire marks, skid marks from breaking and gouge marks among other clues. The more serious the accident typically there are going to be more statements noted in the report because more people will stop to check on the victims. So, normally more third-party witnesses will show up in the reports. Our firm has access to private investigators, accident reconstructionist and up to the date technology that allows us to fill in any holes that may be missing to determine exactly what happened to cause our client’s injuries.

Obviously, the more severely you are injured, I would worry less about what evidence you need to recover or preserve at the scene and worry most about making sure you’re getting proper medical treatment. At our firm, we have a team of experienced people ready to put their expertise to work to recover the evidence needed to make sure the person who caused your injuries doesn’t get away with their negligence. My firm will get out any spoliation of evidence notices to the appropriate parties to assure no evidence is lost or destroyed. I have been successful recovering well over twenty million dollars for our firm’s injured clients and for the families who have had loved ones killed in accidents during the last two plus decades I have practiced law. I will assure this; our firm will take any and all necessary investigatory steps to prove your case and ultimately get you the money your entitled to compensate for your bodily injuries or your family compensated for the loss of a loved one killed in an accident by the negligence of another.

Your Ability To Get Financial Recovery For My Accident If You Were Hit By An Uninsured Or Underinsured Driver

Just because you may have been injured by a negligent party without insurance or low insurance limits doesn’t mean we can’t help you get money for your injuries or loved one’s wrongful death. Your chances of recovering money after being in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver will depend on the type of insurance coverage that the injured party carries on himself or herself or on the vehicle they were driving or riding in has. Now, if it’s their vehicle that they were driving, then their insurance policy will be primary. You look to see if they elected to have either uninsured coverage or underinsured coverage. Suppose they are driving another vehicle that they don’t own with the permission of that owner. In that case, that owner’s vehicle’s insurance comes into play, and the vehicle’s owner may have uninsured or underinsured coverage that applies. So, it is very possible to recovery money for injuries suffered even when the at fault party is uninsured. I’ve dealt with so many accident cases over the last two decades, I have found that uninsured coverage, from the vehicle owner’s policy or the policy of the injured party has come into play many times to help my clients recover money for the injuries they suffered.

Underinsured coverage has become more critical during the last two decades spent helping injured persons. First, Arkansas law only requires a minimum of $25,000.00 per person and $50,000.00 per occurrence of liability insurance to be carried on their vehicle. Second, the costs of medical treatment have become more expensive. So once our firm has received all that there is from the at fault party’s insurance company per their insurance coverage, then we will make a claim under our client’s underinsured insurance policy, if they have it available, to help pay for the damages that the injured party’s insurance company didn’t cover because of their low liability limits. Pursuing an underinsured claim is tricky in that the Arkansas law provides for a specific way to pursue underinsured claims. In Arkansas, the strict procedure that has to be followed requires an injured party or his or her attorney to give notice to the underinsured carrier of the at fault party’s insurance companies policy limit offer, proof of the at fault party’s limits, a copy of the injured parties medical records and bills that supported getting the at fault party’s insurance company’s offer and a fully executed medical release signed by the injured party. That information needs to be sent to the underinsured carrier and the underinsured carrier has thirty (30) days to review and authorize the injured party to accept the at fault party’s insurance limit offer. Effectively there are several hurdles that are set up that can trip people up from being able to pursue their own underinsured claims with their own carrier if they don’t follow the procedure to the letter of the law. So, it’s critical in both uninsured and underinsured cases that you have an attorney who is familiar with these claims and has experience so that you can access the money you’re entitled to. Our firm has the experience to pursue uninsured and underinsured insurance claims and has recovered millions under these claims over the last twenty plus years doing so.

The Importance Of Seeking Timely Medical Treatment Following A Car Accident

I believe that the sooner you seek medical treatment, the better, but every person’s situation is different. First, many times, people are in an accident, their adrenaline kicks in, and they initially feel like they are not too injured and can function. They may even report to the investigating police officer at the scene that they are not injured. It’s not uncommon, however, after the adrenaline is gone, is quite common for the person in that accident either later that day to feel the effects of the accident to their body or the following day to wake up and literally feel like they were run over as they hurt all over. I tell people that the sooner you document the injury, the easier it will be to relate it to the accident. Causation is critical; if you are claiming that you have an injury to your right knee and you don’t report that to any medical provider for many months after an accident, many things can happen between the date of the accident and when you first reported that right knee injury, that the at fault party’s insurance adjuster may argue caused the injury and not their insured’s negligence.

On the other hand, if you are in a car wreck and report the knee contusion and/or pain two days later to a medical provider it is documented, and then if months later have significant treatment that could include surgical intervention, the initial injury report exists and that supports the accident caused it. So, I think it’s important that as you begin to feel any symptoms related to an injury, the sooner you get in to see your medical provider, the better. Part of my job or any lawyer at my firm, is to explain the tricks used by the insurance industry to try to undermine an injured party’s credibility as it relates to their injuries and treatment and to explain to our injured clients the importance of reporting and documenting with their medical providers in a timely fashion so that those injuries will be compensated. Again, our firm prides itself on explaining to our injured clients, how the system works and has recovered millions of dollars on their behalf. Unfortunately, many people are misinformed and believe that the at fault party’s insurance company will pay their bills as they get medical treatment, which they will not. Most medical providers are also not just going to treat you for free and wait to resolve your case. So, you must have an attorney, or like with my firm, a team of attorneys, who know how the system works, can explain it to you, and walk you through it from step one to the final step, the day you come to pick up your money.

For more information on Evidence At The Scene Of An Accident, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you seek by calling (866) 253-2226 today.