What to Do Right After a Car Accident in Pennsylvania: 12 Steps to Protect Your Claim

If you have been involved in a car crash in Pennsylvania, or especially Lancaster County, you are likely a bit shaken up and unsure what to do next. Importantly – what you do in the first hour following a crash can significantly affect your health AND your ability to recover compensation.

1. Get safe and help those who need it if you are able.

So … check yourself and your passengers for injuries. Then check on others who may have been injured. If anyone is injured, call 911 for help.

Once you've checked for injuries and called for assistance, move any vehicle that could be hit by passing traffic to a safer location if you can do that safely.

Checklist:

• Check yourself and others for injuries;

• Call 911 if anyone appears to be injured or appears likely to have been injured;

• Turn on the hazard lights or 4 way flashers

• Move vehicles which can be safely moved out of the roadway

Best practice is to report any crash to the police. This is true even where the accident seems minor and unlikely to have caused injuries.

2. If police are involved you will want to get a copy of the police report.

This is important because it

1. documents the scene;

2. identifies drivers and witnesses;

3. may include preliminary faulty observations and

4. insurance companies rely on police reports in evaluating claims and cases.

Ask the officer on the scene for any incident or report number that will be tied to the crash and record that information where you will remember it later. You can then use that to simplify the process of getting the report when it is finished.

3. Get medical attention immediately even if you feel fine in the moments and minutes after an accident.

A huge mistake that hurts cases and claims is declining medical help at the scene and in the emergency department. Accept an ambulance ride if it is suggested.

Common injuries that often have little impact immediately after a crash but drive compensation include whiplash, concussions, soft tissue injuries and internal bleeding. In my own case, I was up and walking around at the scene of the crash and it wasn’t until someone slapped a pressure cuff on me that I learned I was bleeding out internally at the scene because my liver had been severely lacerated.

Getting evaluated and beginning treatment immediately after the crash protects you from the insurance company claiming the injury wasn’t serious.

If a trip to the emergency department is not necessary or practical, follow up with urgent care AND your primary treating physician within 24 to 48 hours of the crash.

4. Confirm and document who was driving each of the other cars involved, if any.

This will protect you later if liability is challenged.

5. Document the scene thoroughly if you are physically able.

In my case, I was not because – hospital / surgery / ICU. If you can't do it, have someone else handle it.

What to document with pictures:

• Visible injuries. Take a lot of pictures. Go digital. Take pictures on different dates and throughout your healing process. Don’t forget to document physical or other therapies.

• All vehicles involved. Take pictures of any damaged areas. Include both the vehicle you were in and any other vehicle involved. Take pictures from multiple angles. This is not a time to skimp. Take more pictures than you think you need. Let your attorney narrow down the filed later.

• License plates.

• Debris, skid marks and other evidence of the crash - busted telephone pole, damaged buildings or traffic signs.

• Traffic signals and traffic signs controlling the roadways involved; bonus points for including shots that show any relationship between the location of the signs and where impacts occurred.

• Weather conditions

Also … document the weather conditions as they existed at the time of the crash through the newspaper or online resources. Print out and save that information.

6. What else to document if you are able?

• Driver’ s license information

• Insurance information

• Contact information for witnesses

7. Be careful what you say.

You’ve just been in an accident. You may be in shock. That WILL impact your thinking.

• Do not admit fault. You could be wrong or misunderstanding what happened.

• Do not guess or speculate about what happened. Being wrong could unnecessarily impact your recovery. So could being right.

• Do not downplay your injuries! What? Are YOU the doctor. Accept all treatment offered. You are NOT qualified to make those decisions.

8. Let your insurance company know there was a crash.

Be cautious. You may have first party benefits that YOUR insurance company has to pay even if you were not at fault or it may be necessary to utilize the uninsured or underinsured provisions of your own insurance policies. It is sufficient to report the fact of the accident and leave it at that. From then on you can focus on your treatment and recovery.

Your own insurance company has an interest in obtaining information that will HURT your claim and reduce the amount it will have to pay out.

Your own insurance company may attempt to obtain a statement from you on a recorded line. The other parties’ insurance companies may also try to record you. You are entitled to decline and refer them to your attorney even if you have not hired one when they ask to record you. Consider doing that.

9. Be aware when discussing the crash that states have varying laws on who your own negligence can effect your ability to recover money.

Even partial fault can reduce your compensation proportionally.

10. Do not accept a quick settlement offer.

Insurance companies often contact injured people quickly with an early settlement offer in an attempt to resolve the claim cheaply and before you speak to an attorney.

11. Follow through will all treatment recommendations and avoid cancelling or rescheduling appointments.

This will increase the value of your case significantly. Not following through with treatment recommendations will significantly decrease the value of your case.

12. Contact an attorney as soon after the accident as you are able or have someone do that on your behalf.

This can help you preserve evidence, deal with the insurance companies, understand the value of your claim and ensure deadlines are not missed.

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