Steps to Take After a Motorcycle Accident
A motorcycle accident can have devastating consequences. If you were injured in an accident with a car driver, it might be difficult to figure out what your next move should be. If the accident wasn’t your fault, then you may deserve compensation for your injuries, to pay for your medical expenses, to make up for your pain and suffering, and to reimburse your lost wages. If you’re considering a personal injury claim, here are the steps that you need to take.
See a Doctor
After an accident, your priority should be your health. Even if you chose not to seek transportation to the hospital at the time of the accident, you still need to check in with a doctor as soon as possible. Even if you feel fine, it could be the case that your adrenaline has kicked in and it is masking injuries that are not immediately apparent. Some injuries will not manifest right away. In other cases, your adrenaline rush might prevent you from feeling the impact of the injury.
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Once at the doctor’s office or hospital, you need to keep records of any symptoms, diagnosis or injuries that you sustained during the accident. If possible, it would be helpful for you to have a close loved one with you while you are meeting with emergency medical professionals. They might be able to observe things about you that are abnormal that you do not even notice yourself. For example, they may notice that you have asked a question or stated something repeatedly, and that is not something you do often. This could be a stress response, it could be simple confusion, or it might signify a concussion or other type of traumatic brain injury.
Keep in mind that your medical records will be used as evidence if you file a claim against the other driver. Because of that, you want to make sure you report all of the symptoms and injuries that you are observing. You may be tempted to gloss over certain things because you want to get on with your day or you do not think those things are a big deal. But it is important that you give all of the needed information to your doctors and nurses so that they can make decisions based on the best information.
Contact the Insurance Company
First and foremost, you need to contact your own insurance company. Even if the other driver is exclusively at fault for what happened, you may want to make a claim against your insurance company to get your motorcycle repaired or to get a new one. You may also need to initiate claims for medical benefits payments or for uninsured or underinsured coverage if the other driver was uninsured or did not have enough insurance to cover your losses.
If you have the insurance information of the other driver, then you need to contact the other driver’s insurance company to make sure they have opened a claim. They insurance company will have a representative, called an insurance adjuster, who will be responsible for handling your claim. They will conduct an investigation to determine who was at fault and whether you did anything to contribute to the crash. The main way they do that is by taking recorded statements of the parties involved in the crash as well as witnesses to the crash.
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One of the problems with the insurance company taking the statement is that some adjusters may try to appear friendly and get you to say or agree to things that are harmful to your case. Perhaps they will probe whether you could have done something differently that would have avoided the collision in the first place. They may get you to downplay the severity of your injuries. Either way, it is important to be prepared for this call. We personally do not let our clients make statements to the insurance company. Instead, we provide all of the information the adjuster needs to determine fault and to evaluate our client’s injuries.
Some insurance adjusters may attempt to settle a claim very quickly, perhaps while you are still in the hospital or in the days after the crash. Be careful about this. It oftentimes takes time after a bad crash for you to fully comprehend all of the consequences that you’ll be facing from the crash and your injuries. You may find, for example, that your primary concern on the day of the crash is a broken leg. But over time, you realize that your thinking is foggy, you are overly fatigued, your memory is impaired, and you are suffering from a number of telltale signs of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This may not be evident in the immediate aftermath of the crash. It may take time for you to appreciate these symptoms or to see how disruptive these symptoms are in your life. Trying to claim a TBI in this situation could be complicated if you made a statement to the adjuster while you were in the hospital emergency room that your only injury was a broken leg.
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It is for this and other reasons that it might be best, especially in cases with serious injuries, to not communicate with the insurance company or its adjuster before you speak with a lawyer. When you do report the accident, you need to be careful about what you say. The adjuster may try to use your details against you. For instance, if you sound apologetic, they may use this to pin fault on you. Once you have a lawyer, he or she will be able to guide you through the negotiations process.
Call a Lawyer
Before you file a personal injury claim, you should talk with a lawyer. He or she will be able to determine whether you have a case and can help you build a defense. Do not try to file a lawsuit on your own. Most that attempt to file a lawsuit without legal trouble do not receive as much money as those that have a lawyer. A lawyer will have the experience necessary to negotiate with insurance companies.
Often, the injuries sustained from a motorcycle accident are serious. You must receive medical attention and file a claim as soon as possible if you want to receive compensation for your injuries. To find out more about how to file a claim, contact and set up a consultation with a motorcycle accident lawyer from MartinWren, P.C. as soon as possible.
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