Should I call the police following a collision?

YES! Witnesses often leave the scene of a collision once they find out that no one was hurt. As such it will often come down to your word against the other driver as to the cause of the collision. Each driver blames the other in which case the Court won't know who to believe if a law suit is necessary. Calling the police insures that an independant, credibile witness comes to the scene, takes down statments, collects evidence, and maps the scene. This information will become invaluable should a suit be necessary. Most people don't know that skid marks can disappear in hours along with evidence such as critical pieces of the car. Getting an accurate diagram prevents this loss. Recently I had a case in which a collision occured after the plaintiff pulled out onto a highway and was rearended. The defendant told the police that she was unable to slow down in time. Only months later did the defendant change her story to "the other car pulled out suddenly and I was unable to stop." After the plaintiff sued for damages to his car, the defendant sued for damages to her car. Were it not for the presence of the police, her story might have prevailed and she would have recovered money for an accident she caused.

Bottom line...call the police to report any collision. It will pay dividends down the road and protect you from a suit.

Just injured, now what?

You have just gotten out of the car following a crash. Your dazed and confused. What do you do now? We all know the basics; call the police, provide insurance information, get teh personal information of the other driver. But what about your body? What about your health?

Many people will feel fine after a collision; just a little sore. Soft tissue injuries (sprains, strains, whiplash) will not become apparent for 24-36 hours after a collision. Just because you feel ok does not mean that you are ok. Everyone, regardless of how they feel should immediatley go for a checkup. First, contact your auto insurance company and report a claim. They will give you a claim number. Then if you are already feeling bad, go the hospital for evaluation. When you arrive, give them your claim number so that you don't have to pay out of pocket (assuming that you are like most people and have medical coverage on your policy). Hospitals only look for the most glaring of injuries so you will want to follow up and make an appointment with your general family doctor following a trip to the hospital. This takes a few days which is why you start off at the hospital. The reason to see a doctor immediatley is two fold. First, you want to make sure you are ok and that you have the greatest chance of making a full recovery. The sooner you see a doctor the better. Second, to persue a personal injury action, the insurance company for the driver at fault will expect to see that you saw a doctor right away. The longer it takes you to see a doctor, the less likely you were in pain and thus the less likely they will give you reasonable compensation.

The bottom line is that you want to know that you are ok and you want to get better. To do that...see a doctor immediately.