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What to Do After You’ve Been In a Traffic Accident this Holiday Season

Danny Glover — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 19:35:45 GMT

What are Damages? How Do You Recover? Are There Time Limits? What to Do After You’ve Been In a Traffic Accident this Holiday Season

Check on Everyone Involved
Call the Police
Exchange Information
Take Pictures

On scene it is important to protect your safety and, if possible, others involved in a wreck – Danny Glover

The holiday season is here. With it comes hours of interstate travel to see loved ones, celebrations with special food and drinks, and time spent shopping for the perfect gifts for everybody in your life.

Because of the increased number of holiday travelers on the roadways, the number of traffic accidents tends to be higher during the holiday season than during other times of the year. A 2013 study published by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles confirms this, showing multiple accidents leading to injuries and fatalities over the holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

Being involved in a serious car accident can disrupt your life. You might sustain damage to your vehicle or a physical injury that limits your ability to work. In many cases, motorists suffer from both. Although it can be easy to panic when you are involved in a car accident, it is critical that you remain calm and think clearly. The moments immediately following a car accident are critical and can determine whether a victim makes a full recovery.

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Focus on your own health and safety. Once you have received adequate medical care for your injury, consider having an experienced car accident attorney review the accident and explain your legal options to recover compensation for your expenses, such as medical bills and physical therapy, lost wages due to time spent out of work, and other related expenses.

If you are involved in a car accident this holiday season or at any time, take the following steps to ensure that you remain safe and have the evidence you will need if you choose to file a personal injury claim.

Check on Other Parties Involved in the Collision

Check on all other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians who were involved in the accident. If anybody is hurt, call for emergency medical services right away.

Call the Police

Regardless of whether anybody is hurt, the next step is to call local law enforcement to have a police officer come to the scene. He or she will file an official police report, which you will need to use as evidence to support your personal injury claim if you choose to file one. Take down the officer’s contact information and badge number to reach him or her if you need to at any point in the claims process.

Take Photos of the Damage

While waiting for police to arrive, use your cell phone to take photographs to convey the accident scene and the damage that resulted from the collision. Take photos of the cars, of your accident, and of the scene surrounding the accident to show how it happened and your injuries.

Help Others in Need First
Be Careful
Cell Phone Pictures are OK
Take LOTS of Pictures
Take Pictures from Different Angles and Distances

Exchange Contact Information with Other Motorists

Exchange contact information and insurance policy information with all other parties involved in the accident. You will need to contact their insurance provider and they might need to contact yours in the months following the accident.

Be sure to take down contact information for any witnesses to the accident as well. When you file a personal injury claim, a witness’ testimony can be an important piece of evidence to support your claim. This is one of the most important steps to take after a car accident.

Pull Off the Road

Move your vehicle off the road when it is safe to do so. Pulling off the road takes you out of the flow of traffic, allowing other drivers to reach their destinations. It also protects your car from another collision. If it is not safe to move your car, leave it where it stands until a wrecker arrives to remove it.

Seek Medical Attention

If you don’t need emergency medical care, seek a medical examination as soon as possible following your accident. Even if you do not feel like you are injured or your injury seems to be minor, it is important that you have a doctor evaluate you. Many injuries appear minor at first, then become more serious if they are left untreated. Others, like traumatic brain injuries, do not have visible symptoms and can easily be overlooked. Your doctor will give you a diagnosis and the correct treatment for your injury. The record of your doctor visit and subsequent treatment will be an important piece of evidence for your personal injury claim.

Contact an Experienced Car Accident Attorney

Once you have received medical treatment for your injury, take advantage of a free consultation with a personal injury attorney to understand your legal options. Do not wait to take this step. Under North Carolina law, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim is three years from the date of your accident. This means that after your accident, you have three years to file a personal injury claim and seek compensation for your damages. Once the time has passed, you are no longer eligible for compensation through a personal injury claim.

Your attorney will use the evidence you have collected to support your claim. This includes the information you gathered at the scene of the accident, the official police report, photos, and your medical records and documentation of your treatment.

Personal Injury Attorneys in Eastern North Carolina

If you have been involved in a car accident in the Outer Banks or elsewhere in eastern North Carolina, you need to work with an experienced personal injury attorney to determine your eligibility to pursue a personal injury claim. Contact our personal injury attorneys at Glover Law Firm today to schedule a legal consultation with us. During your consultation, we will go over the details of your case and advise you of your legal options. If you decide to pursue a personal injury claim, we are here to represent your interests and advocate for you as you seek the money you deserve for your losses.

Prevent Distracted Driving to Save a Life this Halloween

Danny Glover — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 13:35:53 GMT

On Halloween, children roam neighborhoods, moving from house to house and block to block collecting candy and other treats. Children do not always know to cross at the corner and may surprise drivers by darting across streets. As a driver, you need to be alert on Halloween and every other day of the year. A child can enter the road in the brief second you have your eyes diverted from the road. Statistically, children are more likely to be struck by cars and killed on Halloween than any other day of the year.

It is important as a parent to discuss Halloween safety with your child before he or she goes out to trick or treat. There are many steps you and your child can take to minimize his or her chance of being injured in a car accident or on a neighbor’s property. Parents typically accompany younger children when they go trick-or-treating. Older children and adolescents can keep themselves safe without parental supervision by making sure they obey traffic laws and make themselves visible at all times.

No matter how well you prepare your child for Halloween night, there is always the chance that he or she can be involved in an accident. If your child is injured because of a distracted driver’s negligence, seek prompt medical attention for his or her injury. Getting immediate medical care is key to making a full, timely recovery. Once your child has received medical treatment, consult with a personal injury attorney to determine whether compensation may be available from the at-fault driver to cover the medical bills and other expenses. Work with an experienced car accident attorney to determine whether this is an appropriate course of action for your family. If so, your attorney can file your claim and work to get you the money you need to cover your expenses related to the injury.

Texting and Driving

When drivers stop focusing on the road ahead, they have slower reactions to changes in traffic conditions in front of them. Text messaging while driving is one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. North Carolina makes it illegal for drivers to send text messages from a moving vehicle. Studies have shown that distracted drivers are more dangerous than drunk drivers.

Distracted driving is not limited to text messaging, however. Using a cell phone to make phone calls, navigate, browse the internet, and use social media are all other ways a driver can put others at risk. Drivers can become distracted by eating or drinking behind the wheel, applying makeup, adjusting the car radio or on-board navigation system, or managing children or pets in the car.

Protect Yourself and Others

Protect yourself, your passengers, and those with whom you share the road by pledging not to use your phone while you are driving. If you need to use your smart phone to navigate, plug in your destination and start the navigation system before you begin to drive.

If you are driving with a passenger, have him or her handle navigation duties. Opt to use a hands-free headset for phone calls. This type of headset allows you to keep your hands on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road while you use your cell phone. If you do not have a headset, ignore all text messages and phone calls until you find a place where you can safely pull off the road and park.

If you can not trust yourself to ignore your phone while you are driving, turn its sound off before you leave home so you are not tempted to respond to its notifications. Another way you can prevent yourself from using your phone is making it inaccessible while you drive by storing it in the back seat or glove compartment.

Protect Children on Halloween

It can be easy for a child to be struck by a car if he or she is walking along the edge of the road at night wearing a dark Halloween costume. Make your child’s costume more visible by adding reflective tape to the outfit and candy bag or giving him or her a reflective pendant on a necklace to wear on Halloween night. Discourage black or dark-colored costumes that can be difficult to see. In addition, give your trick-or-treaters a flashlight or glow sticks to make them more visible in the darkness. If you are accompanying a young child, carry the flashlight and hold his or her hand at all times when crossing the street.

As a driver, be extra vigilant on the roads this Halloween. Drive more slowly than you normally would and stay alert for children crossing the street. Remember to have your headlights on 30 minutes before sundown and keep them on any time you drive at night. Do not keep your radio so loud that you miss the sound of footsteps approaching or people talking in vicinity of the car.

Elizabeth City Personal Injury Attorneys

If you or your child has been injured in a collision with a distracted driver on Halloween, you could be entitled to seek monetary compensation for your losses. These losses can include medical bills, lost wages due to time spent out of work (if you are the injury victim or your adolescent has a job), and the need for disability aids like a motorized scooter during recovery. Make the personal injury claim process easier by working with an experienced Elizabeth City accident lawyer. Glover Law Firm can help you get the money you need by providing quality legal advice and representation for your claim. We can explain every step of the personal injury claim process to you and determine the most effective way to handle your claim and get you the money you deserve. Do not wait to begin working on your claim with our firm – contact us today at 252-299-5300 to schedule your free legal consultation with us.