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October 8, 2024
- Blog
- By Cesar Ornelas
A car wreck is always overwhelming. If you know in advance what to do, however, you’ll be able to protect your rights and minimize the effects of the wreck on your future. Here are some tips from a car wreck attorney in Carlsbad, NM.
What Are the Steps to Take After a Car Wreck?
1. Call for Help
Obviously, if you or someone else is badly injured, you’ll be calling 911. But even if you feel pretty good and don’t believe you need emergency medical help, you still need to call and report the accident to the police. You can be charged with a hit-and-run, and so can the other driver, if anyone leaves when someone has been injured or killed in an accident. Technically, you don’t have to call the police if there is no injury and less than $500 worth of damage done to the vehicles, but in almost all situations, you should call the police anyway.
For one thing, $500 is a very low bar these days. Even a minor fender bender can easily cause more than $1,000 of damage to a vehicle. For another, even if you feel fine, you don’t know the extent of your injuries until you’ve had a chance to visit an emergency room or urgent care center. The injury could be masked by adrenaline. Additionally, having a police report will be very helpful if you need to bring a car accident claim against the other driver. The police report will include the police officer’s assessment of the situation, including whom they believe to have been at fault, as well as all the important details which will be helpful to your case.
2. Exchange Information
Assuming that neither you nor the other driver are badly injured, the next step should be to exchange information. You should get (and give) names, make and model of the vehicles, insurance information, telephone numbers and addresses, and the information of any passengers. It should go without saying that if the other driver is belligerent and angry or causing you to fear for your safety, don’t approach them until after the police arrive. If you feel in immediate danger, stay in your vehicle. If that’s not possible, or if the other driver is becoming violent, call 911, explain the situation, and follow their directions.
3. Gather Evidence
If you are well enough to do so, gather as much information and evidence from the scene as possible. You’ll want pictures and video of the vehicles, your injuries (if there are any visible at the moment), and the entire surrounding area. You want both close-ups of the vehicle that show the license plates and the make and model, as well as panoramic video to allow the viewer to see the larger situation.
You also want to get photos of any skid marks and the weather conditions. If there was anything that contributed to the accident, such as a malfunctioning traffic light or an obscured traffic sign, get pictures and video of that, too. Witnesses will also be important to your case, so now is also a good time to talk to anyone in the vicinity to find out if they saw anything and are willing to talk about it. If they are, get their name and phone number to pass on to your lawyer.
If there are homes or buildings near the crash, be sure to look around and see if there are any video cameras in the area. Often times businesses will have a video camera outside the building for security purposes, which could help show a video of the crash. But video footage like this is often recorded and then taped over with new footage after a certain time period lapses, so you’ll want to notify the business to save the video recording as soon as possible so you have it as evidence.
4. Be Careful of Your Behavior
As you do all of the above, be very cautious about your behavior in the following ways:
Don’t Admit Fault
First, you should never admit fault, even if you believe you are at fault. You may be, but it’s also possible that things were happening that you were not aware of. You were only able to see from a limited perspective when the incident occurred, and a comprehensive traffic cam video or the testimony of witnesses may reveal something happened you were completely unaware of.
Don’t Accuse or Speculate
At the same time, you need to avoid casting blame on others. This is likely to get you and the other driver into an argument and enrage them, and it may possibly entrench them in a defensive position, and they will fight you tooth and nail at every step as you bring a claim. Instead, remain calm and only discuss the facts. Tell the police factually everything you saw and did, but avoid speculating about what you think might have happened or who you think might be to blame.
Exercise Basic Kindness
As you take pictures, make sure you do so with the right attitude. The last thing you want to do is make it look as if you don’t care in the slightest about the injuries of the other driver or the damage they’ve suffered. Be sensitive to the situation.
Remember Fault At All Times
Always remember that New Mexico has a comparative fault system. This means whoever is primarily at fault is responsible to pay the damages of everyone else; but the amount of damages you collect will be reduced by your percentage of fault in the crash. This means if you are considered 25% at fault, you can only recover 75% of your damages. For this reason, it’s very important to avoid doing or saying anything that could be used to put more blame on you than you deserve.
5. Get Medical Help
When you leave the scene, don’t hesitate to get medical care. Even if you feel fine, remember you could be injured and just not feeling it yet. Some things, like whiplash, take a few hours to manifest symptoms. Some injuries can be almost entirely without symptoms at first, even though they are very serious, such as internal bleeding. In other cases, you may have so much adrenaline running through your system that it masks the injuries entirely.
The longer you delay in getting medical care, the easier you make it for the other side to claim your injuries had nothing to do with the accident itself. Go to an urgent care center or an emergency room and tell them you have been in a car accident. They are aware of the common injuries to look for in these situations and will make sure you are safe and any injuries you have are properly documented.
6. Contact a Carlsbad, NM Car Wreck Attorney
As soon as you are able, contact a car wreck attorney for help. Choose someone who has experience in New Mexico law, the local courts, and specifically in personal injury. If insurance companies call asking you questions, refer them to your lawyer. If you have to give them a formal statement, you can have your lawyer present.
The lawyer will also work to uncover all the relevant evidence, will put it together to tell a cohesive story, and will fight for you against the other parties and their insurance companies all along the way. This may mean negotiating for you, protecting you from unfair accusations and blame, or even taking the case to court if necessary.
If you’ve been in an accident, contact us now at Cesar Ornelas Injury Law in Carlsbad, Albuquerque, and Hobbs, NM; San Antonio, El Paso, Midland, Laredo, and Odessa, TX; or Corona, CA for experienced help.
