California Auto Accident Lawyer

If You Are In a Car Accident

If you are involved in a car accident, do not leave the scene, even if you are uninjured. If you do, you could be charged with a crime for hit and run, whether or not the car accident was your fault. Instead, your first priority should be to attend to yourself and others.

• Seek medical treatment promptly for your injuries from the auto accident. If you are in immediate medical distress, call 911 and request an ambulance. Give the exact location of the car accident. Say whether you need a fire truck. Stay on the telephone until the operator tells you to hang up. If you do not have a cell phone, flag down a passing car and ask the driver to help.
• Seek medical treatment for the auto accident injuries of others. Your duty to help other car accident injury victims varies by state. In California, you must give reasonable assistance to any injured person on the scene. You should give first aid, if you know how, or take an injured person to a hospital. Do not try to move a car accident injury victim who is badly hurt, as you may cause further injury. Do try to move someone who remains in harm's way.
• Warn other drivers. Place flares on the road (if there are no flammable materials nearby), turn on the car's hazard lights and lift the engine hood. 

After attending to the immediate needs of yourself and others but while still at the scene, take down notes about the car accident. These will prove useful to your car accident lawyer and your insurance company later on. Begin by exchanging license and vehicle registration information with all other drivers. Write down as much other information as you can, including:

• The other driver's name, address, date of birth, telephone number, driver's license number, license expiration date and insurer.
• The other car's vehicle identification number, make, year, model, license plate number and expiration date.
• If the other driver is not the car's owner, the name, address, telephone number and insurer of the registered owner (such as a rental car agency).
• For any passengers in the other car, their names, addresses, dates of birth, drivers' license numbers and telephone numbers.
• For any witnesses to the car accident, their names, addresses and telephone numbers. Ask car accident witnesses to stay to talk to the police. If the car accident witnesses must leave, ask them what they saw and write it down.
• Identity of car accident witnesses who left the auto accident scene before you could speak with them. If they drive off, take down their license plate numbers.
• The name and badge number of the police officer who reports to the car accident scene. Ask the officer where and when you can get a copy of the car accident report.
• Without placing yourself in danger, a quick diagram of the auto accident, showing the positions of all cars before, during and after the car accident. Pace off skid marks, noting their distance. Mark crosswalks, stop signs, traffic lights and street lights. If you have a camera, take photos. Note weather and road conditions. Estimate each car's speed. Note whether streetlights were on. Write down the time, date and place of the car accident.

Cooperate with law officers investigating the scene. But do not admit to any liability or blame. Anything you say to the police may be used against you later.

It is important to contact an experienced lawyer as soon as possible after the car accident injury. The attorney can review your car accident injury case with you and explain your rights and options. An experienced auto accident lawyer can help you obtain full compensation for all damages you are entitled to recover.

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