Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists Information
No matter how careful you are when you are behind the wheel of your vehicle, there is very little you can do to control the actions of the other drivers who are on the road with you. Unfortunately, plenty of those drivers do not have the liability insurance the law requires them to have. This means that if you are unlucky enough to be in an accident with one of them, there will be no insurance company with which you can file a third-party claim for your personal injuries and property damage. Further, the uninsured driver likely will not have enough personal assets to compensate you adequately for your damages. If you ever find yourself in an accident with a driver who does not have insurance, take these steps to make sure your rights are protected:
Look and Feel Around to Figure Out Whether You Are Injured and, If So, How Severe Your Injuries Are
Once you have come to a complete stop and given the dust a second to settle, you need to check yourself for injuries. Look around your vehicle for blood, and scan your body for bumps, bruises, lumps, burns, cuts or any other abnormalities. If you see any of these, you have injuries that need to be treated as soon as possible. Even if you do not have any outwardly observable indicators of injury, any pain you feel is a sign you need to have a professional check you out.
Talk to As Many Other People Who Saw the Accident As You Can
Any experienced accident injury lawyer in Los Angeles will tell you that witnesses are an extremely important piece of your case. You should do your best to talk to everyone else who was involved in the accident to find out how they believe it happened, who they believe is at fault and whether there were any external factors that contributed to it. If there are any independent witnesses who may have seen the accident or what happened afterward but were not directly involved, you should talk to them too. When you file your injury claim, your car wreck lawyer will want to know what all these people are going to say if they are called to give sworn statements about the occurrence.
Be Proactive in Documenting the Scene of the Accident and Collecting Evidence
Pictures and videos are great evidence, and you need to take as many of them as you can while you are at the scene of the accident. Without compelling visual evidence of the damage to your vehicle, damage to the other vehicles involved in the accident, the area of the roadway where the accident took place and the physical condition of the other people who were involved, your Los Angeles personal injury lawyer could face a more difficult path to getting you the compensation you are owed. Take pictures and videos early and often to make your car attorney’s job easier.
Call 911 and Request That Emergency Personnel Be Sent to the Scene of the Accident
Calling for emergency personnel to come to the scene, help you out and document the accident properly is essential. When you call, ask for the police and an ambulance. Getting treatment from emergency medical personnel at the scene of the accident will help you identify all of your injuries quickly, and it will make it much more difficult for your insurance company to argue that not all of them happened as a result of the wreck.
Have a Licensed Medical Professional Examine You and Start Treating Your Injuries Quickly
From the moment you realize you are or could be injured, recovering from all of your injuries as completely as you can should be your top priority. Your traffic accident injury lawyer in Los Angeles wants you to return to your pre-accident level of health, and can help you find the best doctors in the area for your specific injuries. A car wreck attorney will also probably have experience with the doctors the insurance company will hire to give the opinions it wants about your injuries’ lack of severity or lack of causal connection to the accident. This will allow your car injury compensation lawyer to cross-examine the insurance company’s hired doctor effectively.
Have Your Los Angeles Auto Injury Attorney Assist You in Making a Claim with Your Car Insurance Company for Your Injuries and Property Damage
In an accident with an uninsured driver, you will need to file an uninsured motorist claim with your own car insurance company. Uninsured motorist coverage is typically an optional form of coverage, but it is an investment you will be glad you made. Instead of proving your injuries and damages to someone else’s insurance company, you will have to prove them to your own insurance company. Having a car accident compensation lawyer help you file the claim will make everything go more smoothly. If you think they will roll over and pay you whatever you want simply because you are their customer, though, you are wrong. You will need to have evidence to prove all of your injuries and damages to them, and they will likely take you and your car accident attorney to task over every penny you allege they owe you.
Hire an Auto Accident Lawyer Who Will Fight for Your Rights
Do not assume your insurance company will play nice with you and your car wreck lawyer. They love it when you pay your premiums to them, but they are less enthusiastic about the idea of having to pay out a claim to you. Hiring an auto accident lawyer in Los Angeles will reduce the chances of your insurer trying to take advantage of you. The insurance company’s claim adjusters and defense attorneys will know your lawyer has the experience necessary to determine what your claim is really worth and the tenacity to fight tooth and nail on your behalf.