Steps to Take Immediately After a Car Accident in Philadelphia
1. Call 911, especially if you feel any pain.
2. Do not discuss the accident with anyone other than the police.
3. Document the accident scene, weather/traffic conditions, traffic signals, etc.
4. Seek medical treatment.
See below for full explanations.
Immediately After the Accident
1. Call 911. If you feel any pain symptoms, it is critical that you call 911 and ask for an ambulance.
After the accident, it’s important to call 911 and ask for an ambulance if you feel any pain at all. Be sure to tell the 911 operator that you are injured. If you’re injured but don’t report that you are, this can create unnecessary hurdles later on. When it comes time to make an insurance claim against the at-fault party, the defense will probably argue that you weren’t that seriously injured. This can be confounded by a pre-existing injury.
For example, a Philadelphia resident gets into a car accident that’s the other driver’s fault. The accident results in serious neck injuries. However, the individual previously injured his neck about 5 years ago in a work accident. He doesn’t tell the 911 operator or the police that he feels any pain in his neck. Two weeks later, he goes to the doctor complaining of neck pain. An MRI reveals significant pathology including severely herniated discs. The fact that he didn’t report any neck pain to the 911 operator or the police at the accident scene, as well as the failure to seek medical treatment for 2 weeks will give the defense a plausible argument that the neck pain was just a flare up of the old injury.
2. Do not discuss the accident with anyone other than the police.
With the exception of police, you should not speak to anyone about how the accident happened or who is at fault. Fault isn’t always clear in a car accident. Sometimes, both drivers can share fault. If you admit any facts that show you could bear some liability, your financial recovery may be negatively affected.
For example, a Philadelphia resident is walking to work in Center City. She gets hit by a car while walking in an intersection. While she is walking in the intersection, the signal for pedestrian traffic turns yellow. The driver of the car that hit her isn’t paying attention to pedestrian traffic and strikes her. Moments before the accident, the pedestrian was looking down at her phone to see what time it was. The pedestrian mentions this to a witness, that moments before the accident, she had checked her phone for the time. The driver overhears this and later argues that the pedestrian was distracted by her phone at the time of the accident and therefore, she bears some fault for having caused the accident.
3. Document the accident scene, weather/traffic conditions, traffic signals, etc.
Because fault isn’t always clear and because a driver who initially admits fault can change their mind later, it’s important to document the details, such as weather or traffic conditions, the presence of any traffic signals, the exact location of the accident (example: SW corner of 16th and Walnut Street). If possible, take pictures or video.
Writing down the details or taking pictures/video can be helpful when proving fault. This is true even if the accident seems like a no-brainer in terms of who caused the accident. A driver who admits fault at the accident scene can come back later and say that they didn’t cause the accident.
For example, Driver A is stopped at a red light which has just turned green. Driver A starts to proceed into the intersection. Driver B, coming from a different direction, runs the red light and t-bones Driver A. At the scene of the accident, Driver B admits fault and says that the light was red when they proceeded through the intersection. Later on, Driver B says they were mistaken and that the light was actually still yellow. Driver A took video footage of the position of the cars in the intersection. The positioning of the cars in the intersection, coupled with Driver B’s statements admitting fault at the intersection can help prove that Driver B ran the red light and later lied about it.
4. Seek medical treatment.
Oftentimes, the victim in a Philadelphia car accident will forego immediate medical treatment whether due to embarrassment or being busy. This is a mistake. If you’re injured, seek medical treatment immediately. Waiting too long often causes problems, like the one discussed in the example above.
PRACTICAL TIP: You can save yourself stress by giving your car insurance info to your medical providers. Under PA law, if you have car insurance, your insurance company must pay your medical bills under a coverage called PIP (Personal Injury Protection), which is required on every car insurance policy issued in PA. The minimum coverage amount is $5,000. PIP is a no-fault based coverage. This means you can make a claim for medical bills via PIP, regardless of fault.
Visit our Philadelphia Car Accident Law Library for more info or call our office for a FREE consultation. (215) 985-0777