Hinesville, GA Car Accident Lawyer

Car accidents are common enough that most of us know someone who was injured or has been injured before ourselves. Still, what to do after and how to cover their damages might be a mystery to those injured by a negligent driver.

Fortunately, our attorneys can guide you on what steps must be taken to recover compensation for your injuries. You will also want to be prepared to handle the scene of a crash before meeting with our team to protect your claim. Always report an accident caused by another driver to the police and get care from paramedics before going to the hospital for further treatment. Getting witness information can also be incredibly helpful while on the scene, but our team will identify, contact, and interview witnesses during our investigation if they are available. Most importantly, we will prepare your claim so that it can be filed within the limitations period.

Call (470) 287-3070 and speak with our car accident attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras to get your free case evaluation today.

What You Can Do Immediately After a Car Accident in Hinesville, GA to Help Your Legal Claim

Protecting your legal rights starts as soon as the accident occurs. While car accident scenes are fairly chaotic, even minor ones, it is important to focus on taking the correct steps to start building your claim. It is completely understandable if you feel overwhelmed and anxious from the experience, but knowing what to do will also help you not accidentally do or say something that can hurt your chances of recovering compensation.

Call Emergency Services

After ensuring you are in a safe place, the first move is to call 911 for help. The police and emergency medical services will be dispatched, and you should get help from both. The police will take your statements for their report, as well as any witnesses’ statements and their own observations. If EMS arrives first, accept care but try to speak to the police before going to the hospital. The police will also likely note whether you accepted care on the scene. Our car accident attorneys can help you get a copy of the accident report later to use during settlement negotiations and track down other evidence.

Exchange Information

You will also need to exchange information with the other driver at some point during this. When doing so, stick to exchanging insurance and contact information. What you do not want to do is start trading facts about the crash. The chances of misstating the details or saying something that indicates accepting blame are high, and the mistake can cost you compensation. Our team will have enough information about the defendant with that to get your claim started.

Speak to Eyewitnesses

Other drivers or pedestrians might have stopped to render aid if they saw the collision. If you can, speak to them as well. The important thing is to get their contact information, but feel free to take notes about what they witnessed. Our lawyers will reach out to them later and determine if their testimony will support your claim.

It is also common for witnesses to record videos with their phones when a noteworthy event occurs. If one of the witnesses was filming, ask if you can get the footage or if they will save it until our lawyers can obtain it.

Take Photos

We can also use pictures and videos that you take before leaving the scene as evidence. Photographing the scene is often a significant benefit to a car accident claim because it preserves evidence that typically cannot be gathered later. Accident scenes create added dangers on the road, so they are usually cleaned quickly after the police conclude their investigation. Wherever you see damage to your and the other driver’s vehicles, debris on the road, tire marks, or anything that will help prove your case, photograph it. Take several so that multiple views can be seen.

Pictures of your injuries will also act as powerful evidence in your case. By the time crash victims get to court, many of their visible injuries might be healed and do not indicate how severe they were at the time of the accident. Photos of your injuries immediately after the crash will show how serious they are regardless of how well you appear later.

Seek Medical Care

As mentioned, your next stop after the crash should be the emergency room. There, you can be evaluated fully and discover injuries you might not have known you suffered. You will also get directions on the further medical treatment you must get to continue documenting your injuries.

This is the one step you cannot overlook. Without medical evidence of your injuries and medical opinions regarding your treatment plan, you will have little to no way to prove the damages the defendant caused. Your doctors will provide a treatment plan, which you must follow to the letter. A few missed appointments are all insurance companies need to fight your claim that much harder.

You will also need medical records, among other evidence, to evaluate how much your claim should be worth. Car collision victims are entitled to pursue economic and non-economic losses in a lawsuit. However, the estimate for your non-economic damages, generally called “pain and suffering,” is usually based on the value of your economic losses. If we have little evidence substantiating your financial damages, your non-economic losses will likely be much lower, significantly reducing the value of your claim.

File Your Lawsuit

Another step that will prevent you from recovering damages if not observed is filing your case before the “statute of limitations” closes. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, you must file your lawsuit within just two years from the date you were injured. If you file after that date and no exception can save the claim, the lawsuit will be dismissed.

Reach Out to Our Hinesville, GA Car Accident Lawyers Today to Discuss How to Cover Your Damages in a Lawsuit

Contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (470) 287-3070 to get your free case review with our car accident lawyers.