How to Handle an Auto Accident

Hi, my name is Joyce Novotny-Prettiman, I’m an attorney at QuatriniRafferty and I’m here today for a legal tip for your Tuesday. What I would like to talk about is how important it is if you’re in a motor vehicle accident to get information at the scene, if you are able to do so. It’s always a very stressful situation when you’re in an automobile collision and so hopefully these tips will help you get the basic information you need in case you need it later. If the police are called to the scene of a collision they usually will take care of gathering this information, but if it’s not you’re left to do that on your own and if it’s not something you do every day it can be something that gets complicated rather quickly. So first of all, make sure that you identify the other driver.

If you have a smart phone and you can use your phone to take pictures, it will make the process a little bit easier, but you can always get out the pen and pencil. You want to know the name, the exact name of the other driver, their address, and their phone number. Again if you can take a picture of their driver license, that’s great. So you want to make sure to identify the driver, you also want to get the insurance information on the vehicle. Many people will have an insurance card with them and again, you can either take a photo of that or write down the name of the insurance company and the policy number, those are the most important things. If you can get a picture of the other vehicle, that’s great as well, including the license plate.

Another thing that’s important to get at the scene of the accident is the name of any witnesses and their phone number. These folks are people that you can call on later if you need to get any additional information or any help in regard to identifying things that happened, people that were at the scene, and how an incident accrued. We’re happy to help you at any time with any questions you have when you’re hurt in an auto accident, so please give us a call here at QuatriniRafferty.