Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer Sebastian Gibson provides these 2010 tips to you to assist you, and to show you why it will be to your advantage to retain a Orange County Motorcycle Accident Attorney in the event you have been seriously injured in a Motorcycle Accident in the Orange County area or anywhere in Southern California.
While some of these tips may be too late for you if your Motorcycle Accident in Orange County was some hours or days ago, as a Motorcycle Accident lawyer in Orange County, we provide these tips in the hope they may yet be useful for you in connection with your Orange County Motorcycle Accident and for any future Motorcycle Accidents you may have.
First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone else is hurt. If so, taking steps to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do until help arrives. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight. As your Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer, it is much easier to obtain the compensation you deserve if we don’t also have to deal with claims that your accident turned into a brawl or was the result of road rage.
Second, make sure any other drivers and passengers in your Orange County Motorcycle Accident are safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic and can safely get out of the way, walk to where it is safe. If you aren’t dizzy and can help others without risk to yourselves or risking injury to them, help them. If your vehicle is a hazard to others and you have warning devices such as triangles or flares you can safely place in the road, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from any danger. Let the Orange County police or other emergency personnel investigate the scene with all the vehicles in place and let them move the vehicles at a later point.
Third, if no one else already has, call the local police or the California Highway Patrol or 911. Accident reports are extremely helpful if they will prepare one. Let the Orange County police know you are injured immediately. Answer all the questions honestly but if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical attention and answer only what you are certain about. Statements you make will later appear in the police report and if you make a mistake, it is unlikely a later statement will be believed over your initial statements as your best recollection is usually immediately after an accident.
Fourth, obtain the other driver’s information including their name, address, driver’s license, make and model of their vehicle, license plate number, insurance company and policy number. If there are witnesses, obtain their information as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write them down as well. The police will likely separate you once they arrive so try to obtain this information while you can. Although we can obtain a copy of the police report as your Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyers, it often takes a week to 10 days or longer for the report to be completed.
Fifth, if you have a camera or a cell phone with a camera built in, take some photos of the vehicles, the scene of the accident and the others involved. If you failed to do so immediately after the accident, take some now of the scene of the accident in Orange County or wherever it occurred and of your vehicle, if one was involved. As your Orange County Motorcycle Accident attorneys, we can obtain additional photographs or police photographs, if any, later.
Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic if you have coverage. Take your valuables out of your vehicle and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes your symptoms to go unnoticed by you until a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission before going anywhere for medical treatment, call them first to find out where you can go for treatment that is covered by them. As a Motorcycle Accident lawyer in Orange County and other areas of California, nothing is more important to you and your case than obtaining proper medical treatment promptly.
Seventh, call a good Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer as soon as you have had your initial medical treatment so your Orange County Motorcycle Accident attorney can gather important evidence and prevent the other party’s insurance company from taking advantage of you by obtaining things such as a recorded statement from you. A good Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer can save you from making mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle that results from an accident. Your Orange County attorney can also advise you in connection with how to obtain vehicle repairs, a car rental, medical treatment on a lien, etc. An experienced Orange County Motorcycle Accident attorney can almost always obtain higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens that have to be repaid. Most lawyers will also advance the costs of obtaining police reports, and medical records that are crucial to a good settlement.
Eighth, report the Orange County accident to your insurance company. However, before you do so, it is good advice to retain a Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer first as even your own insurance company will want to take a recorded statement. If the other driver did not have insurance, remember, your own insurance company will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your attorney can provide you with the form.
Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident in Orange County or with their insurance company when they want to offer you a paltry amount before your injuries have been checked out or treated. Neither of these scenarios work to your advantage. Private individuals rarely want to pay you for anything more than your car repairs. And if you agree to not involve the police, the other driver may change his or her story and blame you later when the police are no longer willing to investigate the accident. Insurance companies offering a quick settlement are usually taking advantage of you at a time when you can least afford it.
Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without attempting to fight it if you weren’t at fault and don’t accept a small payment from the other driver for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the entire cost of repairs. As your Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer, we can usually persuade the insurance company to pay for additional repairs beyond the initial estimate if the body shop finds additional damage from your accident once the repairs have begun.
If you’ve had a Orange County Motorcycle Accident, auto, bicycle, car, big rig truck, motorcycle, or pedestrian accident or a dog bite in Orange County, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the resources and knowledge to be your Orange County Motorcycle Accident lawyer and your Orange County Motorcycle Accident attorney and will see that you are properly represented to obtain the compensation you deserve for your accident.
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