Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto Accident Attorney in the event you have been seriously injured in a Auto Accident in the Palm Springs area or anywhere in Southern California.
While some of these tips may be too late for you if your Auto Accident in Palm Springs was some hours or days ago, as a Auto Accident lawyer in Palm Springs, we provide these tips in the hope they may yet be useful for you in connection with your Palm Springs Auto Accident and for any future Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs 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 Palm Springs 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 a Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs or wherever it occurred and of your vehicle, if one was involved. As your Palm Springs Auto 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 Auto Accident lawyer in Palm Springs and other areas of California, nothing is more important to you and your case than obtaining proper medical treatment promptly.
Seventh, call a good Palm Springs Auto Accident lawyer as soon as you have had your initial medical treatment so your Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto Accident lawyer can save you from making mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle that results from an accident. Your Palm Springs attorney can also advise you in connection with how to obtain vehicle repairs, a car rental, medical treatment on a lien, etc. An experienced Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs accident to your insurance company. However, before you do so, it is good advice to retain a Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs 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 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 Palm Springs Auto 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 Palm Springs Auto Accident, truck, bicycle, car, big rig, motorcycle, or pedestrian accident or a dog bite in Palm Springs, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the resources and knowledge to be your Palm Springs Auto Accident lawyer and your Palm Springs Auto Accident attorney and will see that you are properly represented to obtain the compensation you deserve for your accident.
2009 Auto Accident Driving News from Palm Springs, California - Since July 1, 2008, when it became unlawful to hold cell phones in California while driving, as reported by the Palm Springs Law Offices of Sebastian Gibson, the California Highway Patrol has issued more than 40,000 citations to motorists.
While adult drivers may use hands-free phones, teen drivers under the age of 18 may not use cell phones or hands-free phones to talk or text while driving.
Beginning January 1, 2009, it became a violation of the vehicle code in California for motorists of any age to use texting or any type of wireless communication device to read, write or send text-based communications while driving. This new law was passed to close the gap in the law which previously failed to disallow text communications by adults while driving.
A separate law in California prohibits drivers of all ages from surfing the internet from driving, or using any electronic device with a screen such as a television or video monitor, where the driver can see it.
The fines for cell phone usage or texting is $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent citations. However, even for the first violation of the cell phone or texting laws, administrative and court costs, depending on the county, may push the total penalty upward of $100.
Whether you have been injured in an auto or car accident in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, or anywhere in Southern California, you need an experienced personal injury attorney that will stand up to auto insurance company adjusters and lawyers to obtain the compensation and settlement the law in California entitles you to receive.
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