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10 Tips to Follow After a Car Accident

Throughout our blog series on distracted driving, we have highlighted behavior that contributes to distracted driving as well as many of its repercussions. As we highlighted in our first blog, “The Rising Cost of Distracted Driving: Facts and Stats,” distracted driving is now the third cause of road fatalities—at any given daylight moment across the U.S., approximately 600,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA), there are more than 2 million injuries from motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. every day. No matter how defensively you drive, there are times when an accident can’t be avoided.

Here are 10 tips to follow when you find yourself involved in an accident:

  1. Stay as calm as possible: Your natural instincts will kick in, sending adrenalin into high gear as you grapple with emotions ranging from fear to shock. The calmer you can be as you sort through what’s happened, the better you can assess the situation.
  2. If you’re not able to get out of the car, or it’s unsafe to try, call 911 and wait for help to arrive.
  3. If it’s safe to get out of the car, set up flashing lights or cones around the collision site.
  4. If the collision is minor and you are unhurt, move your car out of the way of traffic. However, be careful to not leave the scene—in some states it is illegal to move your car.
  5. Check for injuries of all parties involved. If there are any, or if you begin feeling unwell, call 911 and wait for help to arrive.
  6. Be aware of the direction the car was coming from, weather conditions and the time and place of the accident.
  7. If you need help to determine who is at fault, you may be able to get the police to come to the scene to mediate. In some areas, the police will not come if no one is hurt. In that case, be sure to write down as much information as possible:
    • Get the license plates numbers for all drivers involved
    • Ask for driver’s license and insurance information
    • If there are witnesses, ask for contact information
    • Take pictures
  8. If you are too hurt to gather this information, seek medical attention immediately by calling 911.
  9. Even if you think you are at fault, do not admit guilt. You could be wrong.
  10. Be alert to any pain, numbness or discomfort in the days following the accident—some symptoms are masked at the time of the accident.

At Nager, Romaine & Schneiberg Co., L.P.A., we understand the devastating effects of being injured in an auto accident in Cleveland caused by a distracted driver. We hope this blog series has been useful in understanding the far-reaching effects of distracted driving.

The distracted driving accident attorneys in Cleveland at NRS are driven to helping you obtain the car crash compensation you deserve as the result of injuries, property damage or even the death of an immediate family member. Our attorneys can help if you were involved in a car accident, motorcycle accident or truck accident in Cleveland or throughout the state of Ohio, even if you were partly at fault.

If you or a family member has been injured in an auto accident, see our Cleveland car accident page for immediate steps to take and then call an auto accident attorney in Cleveland from NRS toll-free at 1.855.GOT.HURT (1.855.468.4878) or contact us by filling out our No-Risk Consultation form.


Disclaimer: The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this Post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
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