Getting into an accident is always difficult and incredibly stressful. It can become even more so if you believe that the accident may have been your fault. No matter what, you need to contact a personal injury lawyer, as soon as you are in an accident before speaking with anyone else. This will protect your rights and help you figure out whether or not the accident really was your fault or, perhaps, the fault of someone else entirely.
Decline to speak with anyone about the accident.
Anything you say about the accident may be documented and written in a permanent record that you cannot change. Often, when an accident happens, you are in shock and may not know exactly what happened. Your body will go into “fight or flight mode,” making your adrenaline pump and your mind race. You may not be able to process everything that happened right away. You should decline to speak with anyone until you retain legal representation. This does not indicate any sort of guilt — rather, it ensures you do not say anything that could jeopardize your case.
Contact a personal injury lawyer right away.
You may not realize it, but you could actually be the victim of an accident. You need to speak with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to determine what exactly happened in the accident and whether or not you want to pursue action against an at-fault party. There are not always only two people involved in a case like this. There could be a company or business who is technically the at-fault party in an accident. You need to reach out to a personal injury lawyer right away so that you can explain exactly what happened, then go over the options of filing charges, if possible.
Your lawyer may also decide to open an investigation on your case if any of the details seem a little foggy. There are often many factors that come into play in a personal injury case. This means that many different people could have been at fault for the accident. It is important to determine what role you may have played in the accident, but it is also crucial to see if there were other factors that took place and affected the accident. An experienced personal injury lawyer will know what to look for and how to look deeper at your case.
Get proper medical care.
No matter who was at fault for your accident, you need to make sure to take care of yourself. Go to your primary care physician as soon as you can so that you can be evaluated and make sure that you do not have any serious injuries that need immediate care. This will also be good documentation for the future in case you determine you have injuries that need to be taken care of by insurance or another party. Ultimately, your health and wellbeing are the most important things. Your lawyer can help you take care of everything else.
