When you are in an accident on a side street, it is easy enough to pull over and wait for help from the police. When you are on a fast-moving highway, the stakes are much higher, and the risk that you will be hurt is even higher. Knowing what to do after a highway accident is critical.
If you were in an accident like this, and someone else is to blame, be sure you get all of the legal help you need to manage the fallout from such accidents. At BDIW, we help clients with all types of car accidents on highways. Reach out to our Oklahoma City car accident attorney for a free consultation to ensure your rights are protected.
What to Do Right After a Highway Accident
When you are in a highway accident, not only do you need to think about your safety and medical needs right now, but also what may happen in the following moments as people continue to move past you at a high rate of speed. Always stop and, when possible, move the vehicle to the side of the road. Get out of the way of traffic if you can to prevent additional collisions.
Then, call 911 for immediate medical and police help. If you can safely get out of your car and move off to the side of the road, do so to help minimize additional risk to you if someone should strike your non-moving vehicle. If you cannot safely get out, or you are hurt, wait for the police to arrive at the scene.
Always call the police and get medical care. Doing so will help protect you going forward, including getting you the care you need but also ensuring that the scene is well documented. You want to be sure the responsible party is identified and all evidence is preserved.
Seek Medical Care
It is also critical to get medical care, so be sure to go to the hospital to be checked out even if you feel fine. Doing this ensures you do not have internal injuries, broken bones, or any brain damage that can develop over time and may not be instantly noticeable, including conditions like concussions and whiplash. If you do have injuries, the hospital will help to document them, minimizing your risk of complications later.
Our Team Is Here To Assist You Every Step Of The Way.
SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY TODAYWhat to Do After You Receive Medical Care
After a car accident on a highway, you likely will have injuries that require medical care. This means you need to focus on your recovery. Keep the following in mind:
- Go to the doctor to document your needs.
- Go to the follow-up appointments.
- If your doctor recommends seeing a specialist, do so.
- Get the care recommended to you by a licensed professional.
- Complete your recovery and rehab the best possible.
- Document all of the medical care you receive.
- Talk to your doctor about alternative and other recommended treatments that may help you.
All of these steps should be your priority. They allow you to focus on healing, and ultimately, that is critical to recovering from this accident. We encourage you not to wait for this type of care.
Let Our Highway Accident Car Accident Attorneys Help You
As you focus on your recovery from your injuries, contact our car accident attorney. Allow us to get involved as soon as possible. That is going to ensure you get the level of care you need from the legal perspective.
We Find the Evidence
A good starting point for our legal team is to gather all evidence from the accident to learn who is at fault. This includes the police report, but it also means gathering information from witnesses, cameras that may be along the area, and even vehicle data. We also want to learn as much as we can about the other driver, including if they were intoxicated or distracted in some way, which can help us determine the following:
- Why the accident occurred
- Were there any extenuating circumstances that may contribute to punitive damages
- Was someone else, like the owner of the car, the company employing the driver, or another party also at fault?
- We can conduct an accident reconstruction investigation with an expert
This information allows our car accident attorneys to determine who to see financial compensation from, and it ultimately allows us to work to achieve the best outcome possible in your case. A consultation with BDIW Law is free of charge. Schedule one today to learn more.
We Determine Your Losses
Your highway accident can also involve serious injuries that lead to costly medical bills, and a big part of what we do is to ensure you get compensation for all of your losses. To do that, we need to understand how you were hurt, how that impacted you physically and emotionally, and what it means for your future. Some of the factors we need to take into consideration during this process include:
- Medical bills, including emergency medical care you received, hospital stays, specialist care, and rehabilitation
- Lost time at work, including any losses in your compensation and benefits due to injury and medical care
- Pain and suffering for the accident itself and your recovery in the months to come
- Loss of earning capacity if you sustain long-term or permanent injuries that make it hard or impossible for you to work
- Property damage, including to your car and anything else that was damaged during the accident
Once we have all of this information, we can then pursue compensation for you. This may be done by filing a claim with your insurance company, but it may also require going to court if the insurance company will not settle fairly with you. We will remain by your side throughout this process.
Expect Reliable Legal Representation Throughout the Claim Process
Once you know what to do after a highway accident, you may not be sure you did everything right when your incident occurred. In that moment, what is most important is to get the care you need. Then, allow our team to go to work for you to get the evidence, prove the losses, and secure the compensation owed to you with a free consultation with BDIW Law.
