What You Should Do If You've Been Injured In An Automobile Accident

Auto accidents often result in injuries to one or both drivers. Injuries happen whether the accident was a high speed or low speed collision. While we expect big accidents to cause serious injuries, even a minor accident can result in dangerous injuries that require repeated care, for more details read this.

Your first step after a car accident is to seek treatment for any injuries you've suffered. You should do this whether the injuries seem minor or not. You should do this for several reasons.

First, any injury sustained during an automobile accident is potentially serious. This is doubly true for head injuries. All too often, a seemingly minor head injury results in serious long-term consequences. Also, some injuries are not immediately obvious to a laymen but can be better diagnosed by a professional.

There are also legal reasons to be treated as soon as possible. First, insurance companies, rightly or wrongly, often judge the seriousness of an injury based on how soon after the accident you sought medical care. The sooner you seek treatment, the better, as it serves as an indicator of the seriousness of the injury. When you fail to get treated right away, it makes your injuries seem less severe in the eyes of the insurance companies, and the court if you're forced to seek legal recourse.

The other major reasons also involve proof for the insurance companies and the court. When you don't get treated right away, you introduce the possibility that you sustained the injury at some other time, not at the time of the accident. It can be easier for an insurance company to dismiss your claim if you delay treatment because your injury could have been sustained sometime after the event, but before you saw a doctor. The more time that passes, the more likely it is, to the insurance company, that you sustained the injury at another time and only later decided to attribute it to the accident in an attempt to receive compensation for it. Lastly, your medical bills and the records of your treatment serve as proof for the damages you're claiming against the insurance company and you'll need this proof to collect the amount in damages that you need.

Speaking with an attorney should be your next step, after seeking treatment. A qualified auto accident attorney can help you determine whether you have a viable personal injury case. If you do decide to file a claim, the attorney can help you do so. This attorney should also be able to calculate what your costs are and how much you should seek in compensation, including any additional damages for lost wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. Check out more info about a car accident injury via this website.