When we consider serious auto accidents, side-swipe crashes are hardly the first type that springs to mind. Although side-swipe collisions typically result in modest car damage, they account for roughly 3% of fatal collisions. Nevertheless, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) claims that there are close to a quarter-million of them annually, causing around 27,000 injuries and 2,500 fatalities.
A Huntington car accident lawyer could assist you in obtaining compensation if you were one of the hundreds of people hurt in a side-swipe accident.
How to Deal with a Sideswipe Accident?
After an accident, you’re probably not thinking about Sideswipe accidents you should take to safeguard your rights. Some of those actions are perhaps outside your current range of motion.
However, you should make sure that you or someone acting on your behalf takes the following actions as quickly as possible after your accident:
- Seek medical assistance — Sideswipe accidents wounded significantly or at all, have yourself examined. If your doctor discovers an injury and recommends a treatment plan, abide by it. An insurance company may assert that you don’t have severe injuries if you don’t go to the doctor or follow up on your treatment.
- Do not leave the scene — In most cases, the law mandates you to remain where the accident occurred. Law enforcement officers or emergency medical personnel should give you the all-clear before leaving the scene.
- Ensure the police are contacted — Ensure that the accident is reported and that law enforcement is contacted. They will arrive on the scene and issue various reports or citations in most situations.
- Assemble Your Records — Take pictures of the scene if you can, and save any dashcam video you may have. Send someone to the accident scene as soon as possible after the collision if you cannot handle it alone. Make notes or a phone recording of your impressions.
- Contact Information — Most states mandate the transmission of specific data between the parties involved in an accident, such as names, contact information, and insurance information. Additionally, you should obtain the names and contact details of any potential witnesses.
- Refrain from using social media — Anything you post on Facebook could be used against you in an insurance claim, as you’ve probably seen in every crime movie. Don’t discuss your case or the cases of the other drivers. Deleting all references to the incident from your social media accounts is essential.
