Car Accident in Tampa

If you have been in a car accident, you may be in a lot of pain. You might be wondering what you can do and how you are going to make things work financially. There are steps you can take following your car accident. Here is some information that you will want to know.

First Steps After a Car Accident

The first thing that you should do after getting involved in an auto accident is make sure that the officials are notified, and the police are notified. If you need medical care you should avail yourself (i.e. taking an ambulance to the emergency room for example if needed). You should take photographs of the vehicle involved in the accident, and get the name and information of the other driver Also, you should also get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses as well as take photographs of the scene of the accident, all vehicles, and anything else that may be relevant to the accident.

Being Injured in a Car Accident

What is important to know if you’ve been involved in an accident is, first, you want to take down information about the accident, find out if there were any witnesses, take photographs of the vehicles if you have a camera available to you. If not, take pictures on your cellphone. You will want to get the names and addresses and phone numbers of the witnesses that are available. Prompt medical attention and cooperation with the police officers is needed when investigating the accident. One of the things that is important to understand is that in Florida, anything you say, or the other driver says to the police officer while they are investigating the accident will not be admissible in court because of what we call the police report privilege.

Winning a Car Accident Lawsuit

Oftentimes when people come into our office after a car accident we basically ask four questions:

• Who is at fault for the accident?
• Does the opposite driver, what we consider the at fault driver, have bodily injury coverage?
• If not, do you have uninsured motorist coverage?
• And lastly what was the amount of property damage involved in the accident?

Oftentimes an insurance company, and sometimes a jury, will look at the amount of property damage to a vehicle in determining whether someone was injured or how badly that person was injured in the accident.

If you have been involved in a car accident, contact Contact Morgenstern & Herd representation.