Being in a car crash can be scary. Knowing what to do after a car accident in Georgia can help you protect yourself — both physically and financially. The actual steps you should take will depend on the facts of your situation, and you should do what makes sense for the circumstances.

Get Immediate Medical Attention

You should get medical care right away after a car accident. If you do not detect any injuries immediately, but you were in a significant crash, you should go for a medical evaluation at an emergency room, urgent care center, or doctor’s office at once. Reasons for getting professional healthcare treatment or assessment right after a car accident include:

  • Injuries usually heal better with prompt treatment. An extremely mild injury, like a small bruise, might heal on its own without complications, but many car crash injuries need medical attention quickly to prevent further harm and to give you the best chance for a positive healing outcome.
  • You might have injuries that you have not yet detected. Some severe injuries, like head wounds, spinal cord damage, and internal bleeding can have delayed symptoms. You might not realize that there is a problem until you go into shock or have a medical crisis.
  • Your medical records will link your injuries to the crash. We can use the records from the emergency room, urgent care center, or doctor as evidence to show that the crash caused the harm you suffered. If you wait a few days to get medical care, the defendant will likely claim that something else, not the collision, caused your injuries.

Collect Evidence from the Scene of the Car Accident

The scene of the accident often contains valuable evidence that your Atlanta car accident lawyer can use to prove whose carelessness caused the crash. You should put your safety first when collecting evidence at the scene. Do not risk injury from other vehicles or people when gathering evidence. If you sustained injuries, you might need to delegate the task of evidence collecting to someone else.

Photographs

A picture truly is worth 1,000 words. A photograph can show what the weather, lighting, signage, and road conditions were at the time of the wreck. Photos can show the point of impact of the vehicles and where they ended up after the collision.

If there is a dispute as to the cause of the accident, an accident reconstruction expert can use information from photographs to make calculations and prove things scientifically, like how fast some vehicles were traveling.

A location can look different during the various seasons of the year, so it is important to get photos soon after the wreck. Also, if conditions like potholes or a lack of stop signs contributed to the crash, someone might repair those things after the accident. You want to document how the scene looked at the time of the collision.

Eyewitnesses

Try to get the names and contact information of other people at the scene of the crash. The police report can be another source of this information.

Get Legal Help

When you get hurt in a car accident, you have enough on your mind without worrying about how to get compensation for your injuries. When S. Burke Law is on the case, you can devote your attention to your health and well-being, and we can take care of the rest.

We handle car accident injury claims on a contingent fee basis, which means that you will not have upfront legal fees. You pay us out of your settlement or award once you receive it.

The court can throw out your case for rules of which you are not aware, such as a violation of a time limit. A lawyer can protect you from this problem because an Atlanta car accident lawyer knows the deadlines and other rules of litigation.

Insurance companies can be intimidating. Having a lawyer work on your case instead of trying to handle it on your own can help to level the playing field.

Avoid These Pitfalls

Insurance companies make a profit by paying people as little as possible for their injury claims. Working with an Atlanta car accident lawyer can help you avoid these situations that could cost you plenty:

  • Accepting a lowball offer. When people accept the insurance company’s first offer, they often find out later that they should have gotten much more money for their losses. There will not be another check from the insurer, and you have to pay the medical bills out of that one check.
  • Settling too early. You might have a permanent impairment or need additional medical procedures like surgery to correct the damage to your body. The insurance company will not give you more money after you settle the case because you have to sign a waiver of your right to ever get more money from the insurer. Your health insurance policy most likely will not help to pay your medical bills because most health insurance excludes benefits for motor vehicle accidents.

The car accident team at S. Burke Law will treat you with compassion and respect after your car accident in Georgia. Call us today at 404-842-7838 for a free consultation.