Car wrecks can be overwhelming for those involved. In addition to these wrecks causing serious injuries, they take a toll on you long after the wreck, too. That's why it's important that you know exactly what to do in case you ever find that you've been in a car wreck. And our team is committed to helping people throughout the State of Texas know what steps to take after one.
Steps to Take After a Car Wreck in Texas
Here at The Button Law Firm, we handle car crashes throughout the state of Texas. If you were injured in a car crash, and you need an attorney, or just want to call us to ask us questions, because you may want help being guided through the process, reach out to us here.
The three most important things that you need to know after you've been in a car crash is number one, what to do at the scene. We have a guide for this, our five step guide. But the main points that you need to remember is: take photos of everything. Of the scene, of your vehicle, all the way around of the other driver's vehicle, and all the cars still at the scene, including any physical damage, like skid marks, or property damage, car parts left on the road. It's vital for your case.
The other thing you want to remember to do is take statements from witnesses. If there are any witnesses, don't wait for a police report or rely on a police report for the witnesses to be included. Get their full name, their email and their phone number, potentially address, and also ask them what they saw, and make sure to write that down for yourself so if you need that in a claim, you can provide that to the attorney.
The last thing that you want to make sure to do is call the police. Always call the police when you're at the scene. Police may not come out there; they may just tell you to exchange information, but we can always request that 911 phone call with dispatch that you did request the police and that you were involved in crash and that you may have been injured. It's always important to call the police take photos, the scene and get witness statements.
The next thing that you always need to do is you need to seek medical treatment. Seeking medical treatment within 24 to 72 hours is vitally important. Every now and then there may be circumstances where your injuries may not show up for several days, sometimes even some weeks depending on the type of injury it is. But generally within 24 to 72 hours, you'll start to feel some sort of pain or loss of consciousness in your head, such as a concussion, that you need to go to the ER, Urgent Care, your PCP, or some other specialist.
The last thing you want to do is contact your insurance company to file a property damage claim, especially if your car is totaled, or it was towed away from the scene, you're going to want to get a property damage claim started sooner than later.
The types of cases that we handle, when involved in a car crash, we handle a wide variety. It could be an intersection crash, meaning somebody was turning left and somebody was going straight. It can also be a head on collision, especially on country roads. It could be being hit by a DWI driver or a DUI driver, somebody that was impaired. It could be a truck wreck, meaning you were hit by an 18 wheeler or some business vehicle, like a commercial vehicle. It could also be you were a pedestrian, you were riding a bicycle and you got hit. Those are all types of cases that we handle, including rollover cases, we also handle the t-bone crashes, I mean any way that you can imagine being hit by somebody else, and it wasn't your fault.
The most important thing to remember when you've been involved in a car wreck is from the date of the crash; in Texas, you have two years to file a claim. That's an important date to remember. And you never want to wait until the absolute deadline of two years to contact an attorney. The sooner the better. Because routinely, we get called the day before statute of limitations, and it's just too late for us to be able to file a lawsuit in order to preserve your statute of limitations. So always contact a lawyer sooner than later if you couldn't resolve yourself. The exception to that is if it's a minor's case. So if a child was injured, and they're under 18 years old, you want to make sure that you remember, the parent's claim for that child is still two years for the medical bills. But the kid's claim is two years after they turn 18, so when they're 20. But don't forget the parents claim for a minors medical bills is still two years. Statute of limitations is a complex area. Make sure to reach out to a lawyer so you know your timelines, whether or not you need to hire right away.
Car crash cases in Texas and it all comes down to insurance claims. And we've been there and done that with nearly every insurance company that you can think of, whether it's also State Farm, Farmers, Geico, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, you name it, we've been up against them, and we've been successful in resolving claims.
When to Contact an Attorney for Your Car Wreck Claim
Now the things you need to make sure to remember, is when you're going to call a lawyer, you always want to know whether you sought medical treatment, who you've been to, because you're going to be left with some unpaid bills, or your health insurance is going to wonder who's going to reimburse you at the end of the day--subrogation insurance. Property damage claims, are they going to get handled? Are they not? It's a frustrating time to be in after a car crash, when you're dealing with insurance companies--your own insurance company and the other at fault drivers insurance company. Giving us a call will help put your mind at ease, and it'll give you peace of mind moving forward that you know what you need to do, who you need to talk to and if we can help you resolve your claim quicker and easier, we'd be happy to do that for you.