If you’ve been in an accident caused by somebody else, it’s important to take the right steps so you can bring a claim with the help of a personal injury attorney. When accidents happen, though, it can be hard to know what to do, so it’s a good idea to think through in advance what steps to take after a Salt Lake City, UT personal injury accident.
What Should I Do After a Personal Injury Accident in Salt Lake City, UT?
1. Get Medical Help
Emergency Help
The first consideration is your health and safety. If you’ve been badly injured, you should never delay getting medical help to do any of the other things on this list. You can always talk to a personal injury lawyer, and they can do an investigation to turn up evidence and witnesses. If you have friends, family, or coworkers in the area, you can request that they collect evidence for you at the scene.
But if you need to get emergency care, don’t delay, and don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Not only is it important to get care to protect your health and safety, but if you delay too long, the liable party and their insurance company may try to claim that your injuries are not actually related to the accident at all.
Non-Emergency Situations
If you are feeling well enough to do some of the next steps on this list, great: but be sure to get seen by a healthcare professional as soon as possible once you leave the scene. Some injuries don’t manifest immediately, especially when adrenaline is running high, and it will be much better for your claim if you can show that a physician diagnosed you with an injury immediately after the event instead of you going to a doctor a day or two later complaining of symptoms.
Whatever your doctor or other healthcare professional advises that you do, be sure to follow through. If you’re told to avoid certain activities, avoid them until you are given the all clear by your doctor. If you’re told to get diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, or follow-up treatments, don’t neglect these. You don’t want the other side to claim that you made your injuries worse by not following through with medical instructions.
2. Report the Accident
Report any accident as soon as possible to the relevant authorities. If it’s a car accident, call the police and request that they come to the scene. If they can’t or won’t come to the scene, make an official report at the police station as soon as you can.
If you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident on a commercial property, file an official report with the business itself and call the police if needed. If you’re injured on someone’s private property, it’s usually not a situation where the police are required, but you will want to file a report with the homeowner’s insurance company as soon as you can.
3. Collect Evidence
Evidence will be vitally important in proving your claim. To get compensation in a personal injury case, you have to show that the person or entity responsible for your accident owed you a duty of care, failed in that duty of care, that this failure directly caused the accident, and that your injuries were directly caused by that accident. Each of these is a separate link that has to be thoroughly proven. You’ll thus need evidence to show all of these different links.
If it’s a commercial property, for example, you’ll need to show who had a duty to keep that property safe. If you were injured on that property, you’ll need to show that the person or entity responsible for your safety failed in some way. In a slip-and-fall case, this is often proven by witness testimony and security video footage, which might show, for example, that there was a known hazard which no one had warned you about or protected you from.
In any kind of accident, it’s a good idea to get pictures and video of the accident scene, including both close-ups and panoramic shots. Note whether there are any video cameras in the vicinity and talk to your lawyer as soon as possible about accessing the footage. Get the names and contact of any witnesses who were in the area so you can pass on their contact information to your lawyer. You’ll also need to have copies of any police or other official reports, as well as copies of all your medical records clearly linking your injuries to the accident in question. Talk to your lawyer about what other evidence might be useful.
4. Be Careful of What You Say
It’s essential to be careful of what you say at the scene of the accident. Don’t admit fault, even casually, and don’t casually dismiss your injuries, either. Any of this could be used later to minimize or even deny your claim. Even if you believe that the accident was your fault, you should not say this at the scene. As you make reports and talk to insurance companies, stick to the facts very strictly and don’t speculate in any way about fault. Remember that you only saw the accident from your perspective, and there may have been other factors in play that you don’t yet know. Your lawyer will do an investigation, and this may very well turn up elements that you weren’t aware of.
Being careful about what you say extends to how you talk about the incident online. It’s best not to say anything at all on social media or in email or texts, even to friends and family. You never know how something might end up being used against you. If you feel that you must give people an update on your condition, talk to your lawyer about the best way to express this.
5. Talk to a Personal Injury Attorney
As soon as possible after the injury, talk to an attorney. Good personal injury attorneys offer free consultations or case evaluations so that you can talk through what happened and find out whether you have a case and what to do next. A good lawyer will not take on a case if it’s unwinnable, so you’re going to get an honest evaluation. Personal injury lawyers typically work on a contingency basis, as well, which means they only get paid once they win for you, as a percentage of your settlement. If you don’t win anything, they don’t get paid.
It’s never wise to try to bring a personal injury case without the help of a lawyer, in fact. In most personal injury cases, you’re dealing with an insurance company that provides coverage to the person or entity responsible for your accident. Insurance companies can be difficult to negotiate with, have a lot of experience in minimizing and denying claims, and are not above trying to trick you into saying something they can use against you in some way. A lawyer will level the field for you and help you maximize your compensation.
Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Whatever your situation, reach out to the experienced attorneys at RamRock Injury Law today for a free case evaluation. We proudly serve clients across Utah. Visit us at our Salt Lake City office:
RamRock Injury Law – Salt Lake City Office
5353 South 960 East Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
Phone: (866) 427-5167
