If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident and it wasn’t your fault, you may be able to claim personal injury compensation. To bolster your chances of doing so, here are some essential things you ought to do immediately after the accident providing, of course, you were not totally incapacitated.
Please take careful note of the following points as they will significantly impact the success of any compensation claim you may make.
Get the contact information of the people involved
If you are able, the first thing you should do after being involved in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles (or anywhere else for that matter) is to make sure that everyone involved in the incident is safely out of harm’s way. See the notes below about summoning medical aid.
Once any accident victims are safe, your next priority should be to gather everyone’s personal information. By everyone one, we mean those physical caught up in the accident and anyone else who witnessed what took place.
Get their names, their addresses, and their phone numbers. You should also make a note of the insurance details of anyone physically involved. Another crucial thing that will help is knowing the license numbers of the drivers. Be sure to note them down too.
Other things you should do to support any claim you might later raise include taking photos of the vehicles with your cell, and jotting down vehicle details such as license plates, makes, and models.
It’s also a good idea to write down a description of the vehicles. Ensure that you carefully cross-refer your notes so that, in the case of multiple parties involved, you know who belonged to which vehicle, and who the witnesses were.
If necessary, call an ambulance
If you or anyone else requires medical attention, summon the medics being sure to give them a clear description of your location. Do not move injured people yourself. You could do more harm than Air Ambulance. However, you should make sure the area is safe from other traffic.
Call the police
The next thing to do is to phone the police. If you haven’t got your cell with you, borrow someone else’s or use a public phone if there is one nearby. Ask them to get to the scene of the accident as soon as possible. A police report should be filed as a matter of course, but it is essential in case the property damage is over $500.
A police report is vital when it comes to trying to obtain compensation for damage to your motorcycle, or clothing. It will also help with any physical injuries, although these are not always evident until sometime later. Being able to refer to a police report during the compensation claim process will help to clarify and substantiate things.
Don’t forget to make a note of the police officers’ names and badge numbers.
Take notes of your surrounding
When you are making notes of what happened, remember to jot down what happened, the time and date it transpired, how it all unfolded, and the exact location. Photos will help if you are able to take some. Take pictures of any intersection and mile markers.
What were the road, weather and light conditions? Were there any speed limits in force in the area? In which direction were the vehicles involved traveling? This is all useful information, so make sure to record it.
Question any witnesses
Any witnesses of the accident can really help when it comes to making compensation claims. If you can, you should talk to them and write down or use your cell to record anything they have to say. It’s always best to gather any information immediately, while events are still fresh in people’s minds.
Although we’ve already made the point above, make doubly sure that you’ve got their contact details as you or your solicitors might want to talk to them in due course.
Never take the blame
Very often, the first thing that people say to one another after an accident is, sorry. Don’t be tempted. Although you do not mean it in that way (you may just be being polite), it could be construed as an admission of blame.
It’s not always immediately apparent as to why an accident happened. Often, people remember pertinent points hours or days after the event. Saying sorry, especially when things might be unclear, could easily throw a spanner in the works later when you launch your claim for personal injury compensation.
Advise your insurers
Last but by no means least, advise your insurance company what has happened and be prepared to let them have a copy of all the information you have gathered.
Launching your personal injury compensation claim
At 800,000, the state of California is home to more motorcycles than any other US state. In the past decade, the motorcycle accident rate has gone up by more than 100%. If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident and you were not to blame, you need to contact a top-rated motorcycle accident attorney to get the compensation you deserve