What to Do After a Motor Vehicle Accident

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident in East Tennessee, you may be injured and in a state of shock. However, the way that you respond may affect your ability to recover compensation for any injuries that you suffered. Sometimes after an accident, the insurer for an at-fault driver will get in touch to try to obtain an admission of fault so that it may reduce the exposure of its insured. You should be careful about what you do after a motor vehicle accident in which you were hurt. Among other things, you should consult Maryville car accident attorney Mark Hartsoe before speaking to the insurance adjustor.

Drivers should never leave the scene of an accident until they have exchanged insurance information. If you notice that the other driver is leaving the scene after an accident that caused injuries or property damage, you should take down their phone number or take a photograph of the license plate. Leaving an accident scene may result in the suspension of a driver's license or the revocation of privileges. You should contact 911 to report the accident and injuries, and you should obtain medical assistance as necessary. In general, a police report may be helpful evidence should you need to bring a personal injury lawsuit.

If you are able to do so, you should also try to move your car to safety and where it is not obstructing traffic. You should be aware of potential dangers, including fires or explosions. You should try to help anyone, whether they are a driver, passenger, or pedestrian, who may have been hurt by the collision. If it is possible, you should wait for an ambulance to come.

You should exchange insurance and contact information with other drivers and individuals who were involved in the accident. Among other things, you should take down other motorists' auto insurance information, license plates, driver's license numbers, and names and addresses. If there are people who were not involved but who saw what happened, you should ask them for their names and contact information because they may be witnesses who can testify should the matter proceed to trial.

While waiting for the police and medical assistance, you may want to take photographs. Photographs may be useful not only to document the damage but also to resolve a dispute over what happened. In some cases, drivers have significantly different accounts of what happened, but physical evidence at the scene, such as the position of skid marks, debris, and property damage, may yield the true account of what happened to an accident reconstruction expert. Mark Hartsoe has an accident reconstruction team on-call 24/7, and he can dispatch them in complicated cases to find out what happened.

If a crash causes injuries or property damage, you should complete an accident report and submit it to the Tennessee Department of Safety. A failure to report an accident may result in a license or registration suspension.

You only have one year after a wreck to file a personal injury lawsuit. Maryville car accident lawyer Mark Hartsoe has the experience to represent you in seeking compensation and can develop a strategy for your situation. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form for a free consultation with a motor vehicle collision lawyer. Mark Hartsoe represents injured people throughout East Tennessee, including in Knox, Blount, Monroe, Loudon, Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke, Campbell, Hamblen, Greene, Anderson, Cumberland, and Fentress Counties.