I always think of Leasehackr’s as a collection of really bright people who do a ton of research so I’m coming here for some suggestions. We’re a bit shaken up still and want to make sure I’m doing everything right.
My wife and I were pulling out of a parking lot with a traffic light intersection when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit our car. She managed to accelerate enough that the impact was on the rear driver side wheel so thankfully it didnt hit her door directly.
The cops came, we took pictures, exchanged info. The driver turned out to be drunk and was arrested by the police. Our back wheel was bent so the car got towed to a shop.
My wife is in a bit of pain, not enough for an ambulance, but enough to make us go to an urgent care (we’re heading there shortly).
I’ve filed my claim with Geico (other driver also has geico), have police report number, and photos/videos of the incident.
Is there anything else we need to do or you recommend us do? I’ve never been in this situation before and want to make sure we cover all our bases here.
Thanks guys. We’re heading to urgent care to get checked out. Had never heard of that term before but will look that up tomorrow and find a good local one.
The official Name of an ACL is a Personal Injury Lawyer, if you don’t get a direct reference there’s a local AM station of has a slew of them, PM me if you need the website.
One of the worst mistakes I made in my life (by far) was getting rear-ended by a diesel at a stoplight (red – no braking on his part) and feeling I was okay and not retaining a lawyer. An ambulance transported me to the hospital (I did not call them, others on the scene did). I suppose I wanted to will my way into good health. But I was young as well. I now have problems that will stay with me forever. And being this honest/nice young woman, I did not even make the company pay my medical bills (dumb, I know, but I have always been that way). I do not care how okay you think you are; get a lawyer – problems can show up later.
I am glad you and your wife are “okay.” However, you will only honestly know after examination and time.
This is not medical advice, but I would make sure imaging work is done to rule out fractures/broken bones. Take detailed notes of your symptoms and complaints as well as when they start.
To add to this, don’t do anything heroic. Still sore, that’s a reason to miss work. Feeling foggy, document and follow ups it’s primary care. Hit your head, definitely reasonable to have imaging to check for anything that isn’t presenting.
A good lawyer will walk you through the steps.
A drunk hit you, their insurance will want to settle, there is typically zero sympathy for drunk drivers in court.
If he didn’t do anything wrong it’s fine. Generally I’ll ask clients to stop posting about their accident and recovery process on social media (but I don’t ask them to delete anything.) I’ve yet to come across a case where the insurance company pointed to an online post asking for help on what to do after an accident against someone. Generally defense attorneys are overworked and aren’t going to go digging for things like that.
That is true…have a family member who manages a claims department for Insurance. Heard some fun stories about the private investigators they hire and the things they dig up, obviously more on the insurance scam side.
Yep. The number of clients I have who want to claim life changing disabilities and then they have pics from Disney World or Universal Studios Orlando two months later is insane. Insurance sends me those and I let the client know they should settle and work on getting them whatever I can. Makes my life easier on a lot of stuff tbh
I highly recommend everyone get a dash cam though. Had one defendant claim my client reversed into her at full speed on the police report, to her insurance and all the way up until it was assigned to me on and I saw the client had a model 3. Client didn’t know how to access her dash cam cam footage so I got it from her car and sure enough the defendant never stops and runs right into my stopped client. Policy tender no more questions asked.
I learned from a past accident you should always get an ambulance if the accident was at all serious. When we were rear ended when I was 15 I likely had so much adrenaline that I didn’t feel the pain that would come for the next 6 months at the time. During the lawsuit they brought up the fact that I didn’t take an ambulance several times. I still have the same back pain occasionally and the small settlement I got is long gone.
Of course the liars, I mean lawyers, claimed I wasn’t hurt bc I continued playing sports and riding my 4 wheeler after the accident, you know normal stuff a teenager would do.
)