Mistakes to Avoid After a Loudoun County Car Accident

The time immediately following an accident is naturally stressful and it may be difficult to think straight, however it is important to be aware from the moment the accident occurs, of the potential mistakes that can be made which might prevent a successful injury claim. Consult a Loudoun County car accident attorney, to ensure a proper approach to a car accident claim.

Failing to Seek Medical Attention

One mistake in a Loudoun County accident situation, is not seeking medical treatment as soon as possible. If a person does not seek medical treatment right away, their injuries could get worse. If they get worse overtime, they may not be able to treat them properly. When they finally seek treatment months later for a bad tear, severe sprain, or some other serious injuries, it would be hard for the doctor to relate that to the person’s car accident because so much time passed.

If a person is unable to relate their injuries to the car accident, they face the hurdle of causation. Causation is a defense raised by the defendant who is going to say that any injuries the person is suffering now were caused by something other than the car accident. If they were as severe as the person claims months after the accident, they would have seen a medical professional much earlier. That presents a problem because the injured person must have their own doctors support the fact that an injury they have months later is from a car accident. If there are any injuries even though they are small, a person should go to a doctor or a hospital to make sure that the injuries are resolved and taken care of in a quick manner.

Reasons for Refusal

Some people refuse medical treatment at the scene because they do not want to be bothered with it. If they are not in dire pain, they figure the pain will go away in a day or two and they do not need to go to the hospital because to get from the scene of the accident to a hospital, their car must be towed or taken away from the scene by someone else. They have to go to the emergency room in an ambulance and then wait in an emergency room for a couple of hours while the doctors sort through the paperwork.

Rather than suffer the headache of going through that, they would rather not be bothered. It is a disservice because they really should be checked up by a doctor as fast as they can.

Admitting Fault at the Scene

It is a mistake to admit guilt if the person is not at fault. A person should not lie and say they are not at fault. But there is nothing to be gained by admitting fault. Even if a person is at fault, they shouldn’t admit it at the car scene because someone can use that against them. However, if they are one percent at fault for the accident, they will not be able to pursue a lawsuit against someone. That is also problematic.

If a person is at fault for the accident, they cannot recover for their injuries. This is the rule of contributory of negligence, which applies in Loudoun County and throughout Virginia. If they are at fault, they cannot recover for their injury. The only people who would admit fault at the scene would be people who have caused an accident.

If a person caused an accident and they are injured because of it, admitting fault adds to their problems because they will not be able to recover. That is because of contributory negligence, which states that if someone is one percent at fault for an accident, they cannot recover.

Giving a Recorded Statement

Giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company can be a mistake because the insurance company’s main interest is to minimize the amount of payments they have to make for insurance claims. They want to get the individual to say things in a general or vague manner and then use those things out of context to hurt the other driver’s case. They ask their questions in a way to make the other driver look like they are negligent or that their injuries are minimized.

They have been trained to do that by their insurance company and by the lawyers that work for the company. They ask the questions in a certain way that minimize the damages the insured person has or to cloud the picture of how the accident happened so as to make their own person not fully responsible for the accident.

If they can get the injured person to admit that they are one percent at fault for the accident, and the person making the recorded statement doesn’t know about the laws of contributory negligence, their case could be sunk before they even start.