When you’ve been injured because of the careless or negligent actions of another motorist, your whole life can change in an instant, even if the injuries are primarily to soft tissue. The steps you take in the immediate aftermath of an injury can have a significant impact on your physical and your financial recovery. Here are some guidelines for protecting your health and your rights.
Get the Care You Need
Get the care you need and get it right away. This is not just to improve your chances of a full physical recovery, although early diagnosis and treatment are often critical components of recovery from injury. The longer you wait to seek treatment for an injury, the greater the risk that an intervening event—some other accident, for example—will occur and defense attorneys will be able to argue that your injuries were not caused by the car accident, but by the intervening event.
Regardless of where you get treatment—at the hospital, an urgent care facility or with your family doctor—be sure to tell medical professionals about everything that’s out of the ordinary, as well as anywhere that you felt or experienced pain, twisting, bumps or sprains. Don’t focus on your broken arm and neglect to tell the doctor about the stiffness in your lower back. That might be a more serious injury in the long run.
Don’t try to be strong or be a hero. If you can’t move under your own power or it really hurts to do so, stay where you are and let emergency technicians move you. You may end up aggravating your injuries.
Get Information
As a general rule, the more information you get, the better you’ll be able to help your lawyer pursue damages for your losses. If you can, get contact information from any other drivers, as well as all witnesses. This includes name, phone number, address, e-mail address and insurance provider (for other motorists). Don’t assume that police officers will obtain this information—get it yourself, if you can.
Take pictures of everything—the damage to vehicles, any injuries suffered, the weather conditions, any issues with the roadway, such as potholes, loose gravel or defective signs/signals. The camera on your phone is sufficient.
Contact Our Office
At The Cintron Firm, LLC, we bring more than 14 years of experience men and women in New Jersey who are involved in or contemplating filing for divorce. To set up an appointment, contact our office at 201-791-1333 or (201) 535-0323 or send us an e-mail.
