After an Accident

Proper Steps to Protect Your Safety & Legal Rights

Being involved in a motor vehicle accident can be a frightening, stressful, and chaotic experience. In order to ensure that your safety and rights are protected, there are certain steps you can take. While it is understandable that these points may be difficult to remember in the heat of the moment, they often prove crucial to your future personal injury case. By remaining calm, ensuring that you gather all information and documentation, and contacting a lawyer, you can provide yourself with the best possible chances of obtaining the compensation you need and deserve. Our Dallas personal injury attorneys have compiled the following steps that all local residents should take after an accident.

Do Not Leave the Scene
Texas law requires all parties involved in a motor vehicle accident to stop their vehicles and remain at the scene. Not only will this ensure everyone's safety and help to protect your case, but it will also prevent you from suffering criminal penalties for hit and run or fleeing the scene of an accident.

Report the Accident
Call 911. If injuries, including serious or catastrophic injuries, occur, contacting emergency services is an absolute must. Obtaining medical treatment at the scene can provide supporting evidence of your physical injuries. Reporting the accident will also allow a non-biased law enforcement officer to collect all information that can further support your side of the story in court.

Collect Information & Documentation
Collecting all applicable information and documentation from the parties involved in an accident is a necessity. If you are able to do so, it is wise to collect contact information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers of other parties involved. You should also record other vehicle's license plate numbers, the year, make, and model of cars, and insurance information. If any witnesses are present, you should also collect their contact information so that you have supporting evidence and testimony during your personal injury case, should one arise.

Take Pictures
As many people in this technological era have easy access to cameras, including cell phone cameras, taking pictures of the damages to vehicles, the scene of the accident, and people involved can provide you with evidence during your case. Pictures protect you from any risks and may also aid in establishing proof of unfavorable road conditions or defective roadway signs and signals. Taking pictures of your own injuries, if they are visible, may also be of benefit.

Remain Calm
In the wake of an accident, it is easy to lose your cool, blame other drivers, or accept the blame. Do not discuss fault or liability at the scene of an accident. If the other driver accepts blame, make sure to take note of it or establish it in writing. No matter what the circumstances may be, you must understand that the concept of fault is very complex and that discussing the issue may complicate your case and eligibility to recover your damages. Once the storm has settled, you should also write down everything you can remember about the accident while it is still fresh in your mind.

Consult an Attorney
One of the most important things you can do after an accident is to consult an experienced Dallas car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Our legal team can advise you about your rights and supply you with advice about the nature of your accident and whether you may be able to file a personal injury claim to recover any financial, physical, or emotional damages you suffered. A lawyer can also address any complications in your case, protect you from accusations, and ensure that insurance companies compensate you fairly.

Reach Out to Dallas Personal Injury Lawyers Who Fight for You

Whether you were able to follow these steps or not, it is imperative that you reach out for legal assistance. When you suffer any damages because of another driver's fault, you have every right to pursue the compensation you deserve. Our legal team is prepared to immediately review your case and set swiftly into action. At the Mathur Law Offices, P.C., we support our clients from the very moment they ask for help. Trust in a firm with decades of collective experience. Contact a Dallas lawyer from the Mathur Law Offices, P.C. today.