Common Mistakes to Avoid Following a Car Accident

Common Mistakes to Avoid Following a Car Accident

While you may have the right to compensation after a Toledo car accident, your actions and inactions can negatively or positively affect your chances of a fair outcome. 

So, while it’s important to understand what to do to better your odds of a fair outcome, it is also important to know what to avoid. This guide highlights common mistakes car accident victims make after an accident and how they affect their claims.

Not Seeking Medical Attention

You do not have to be in pain to have injuries. In some cases, the adrenalin produced at impact masks the pain for up to half an hour. At other times, you could have suffered injuries that have delayed symptom onset, such as concussions, internal tissue injuries, and whiplash. 

There is almost no chance of recovering compensation if you never sought treatment for your injuries. Also, if you wait too long to seek medical intervention, the opposing side could use the delay to claim your injuries are unrelated to the accident or claim treatment gaps were to blame for your injury’s deterioration, all of which can compromise your case.

Not Filing a Police Report

Ohio law requires drivers to file a police report for accidents resulting in death, injury, or property damage worth over $1,000. The report acts as the official accident report, without which the opposing side can claim it never happened. 

In most cases, police will come to the scene following a 911 call and use the information and evidence from the scene to compile a report. If the police do not come to the scene, report the accident to the closest police station. 

Leaving the Scene

Leaving an accident scene is illegal in Ohio, irrespective of who was at fault, and doing so could see you facing criminal charges as it is considered a hit-and-run. 

The severity of the resulting penalties depends on the circumstances of a case and can go up to five years in prison if someone dies in the accident. Also, the other party can use your leaving the scene to deny fault and even turn the tables against you. The best time to go is after the police give you the green light. 

While you should not leave the scene, you can move the vehicles from the road if they are still drivable. But you may want to capture some images using your phone before moving for evidence.

Not Hiring a Lawyer

The at-fault party’s insurer may even convince you not to hire a lawyer by acting friendly. The goal is always having you navigate a case alone, allowing them unchallenged control over the outcomes of your case.  

You do not have to have lots of money to involve a lawyer. Almost every Toledo car accident lawyer works on a contingency fee basis, meaning you do not pay if they don’t win your case. 

Other Mistakes

Other mistakes to avoid include oversharing details about your injuries and accident with the defendant’s insurer or social media. Any correspondence between you and the at-fault insurer should go through a lawyer because what you say can be used against you. 

The same goes for social media. “Everything you say can be used against you, even unrelated posts. For example, they can use photos of you at a party to claim your injuries were not as significant as you claim,” says Toledo car accident lawyer Charles Boyk. Like correspondence with the opposing side’s insurer, let your lawyer vet your social media posts or stay off until you settle your case.