What Do I Do After a Car Accident?

I’m Jim Hurley and I’m here with John Cooper, my partner, and we’re with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, The Car Crash Experts.

Oftentimes, people will ask us, “What do I do after I get into a car wreck?” so John and I wanted to chat about that a little bit.

John, what’s the first thing you should do after you get into a car wreck?

Well, the first thing to do is to make sure you and everyone else is safe, and it can be tricky. You know, you’ve had this accident, you’re out on the highway, obviously making sure everyone’s safe is the most important thing, but after the immediate shock of it ends, you need to think about what evidence has to be collected, you need to know who that other person was who hit you, what their insurance is, take pictures, get the names of witnesses, and that can be a lot easier if the police come to the scene and are going to do some crash investigation, because they can document that for you, although don’t just leave it to the police.

You need to make sure, if you’re able, to to collect some of that information at the scene so that we have it right away in the beginning of the case.

And John, oftentimes people ask, “Well, what happens if I’m hurt?” You mentioned the police, I’ll often say if you want an ambulance to the emergency room, and many times people don’t want to use an ambulance to the emergency room, but they’re still hurt, what should people do when they’re hurt from a car wreck?

Yeah, so if you’re hurt and there’s any chance that you need emergency care, even though it’s not any, you know, it’s scary, go ahead and get in the ambulance and get a family member or someone to help deal with the car and figure out what’s going to happen with that later. Get the care you need, but if you were sort of so filled of adrenaline, as often happens, and you don’t really know if you’re hurt enough to want to go get treated at that moment, tell the police officer, “I think I’m hurt, but I think I’m okay, I don’t want an ambulance, I’ll go to the doctor myself,” and then you can get a family member or friend to take you to the emergency room later that day. But do get the care you need as soon as possible; you want to get checked out and make sure you don’t need a surgery or something more than you think you do.

Yeah, and I would add to that, it’s unbelievably important to get the medical care and the medical treatments you need, because oftentimes people just don’t want to do it, they think they’ll be okay, and then three or six months down the road they have some real health issues and then it’s very difficult from a legal standpoint to help them out.

And then if someone’s hurt in a wreck, oftentimes people will call us and say, “Well, do I need a lawyer? Why do I need a lawyer?” What are your thoughts on that, John?

Yeah, so, we like it the sooner you can call us, the better, and that way we can begin giving you good advice right from the start. By hiring an attorney, you make sure that you know what to expect when you’re dealing with the insurance companies, and it can take a lot of the hassle and scare out of it, because you have us in your corner to know what the right answers are for dealing with insurance companies.

So, there’s no obligation to call an attorney, call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, we’ll talk to you, and without any obligation, point you in the right direction. We’ll even tell you if it’s not a case that we think we can do much good for you and that you’re better off handling on your own. So, nine times out of ten though, of course, you’re much better off with an attorney, you’ll get more money, so the third thing you should do after securing the evidence of the scene and getting your treatment is call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers.

We have a convenient, easy to remember number, Jim, what is that? 757-333-3333. We’re local lawyers here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, the Peninsula, we’re here working on car wreck cases every day. Thanks so much; appreciate your listening to this video.