In the first six months of 2022, 3,434 Americans were fatally struck by a vehicle. Sadly, this was an 18% increase from the previous year.
When you are hit by a car as a pedestrian, your body is unprotected and can sustain serious injuries. These injuries can end up costing you a lot of money. That’s why knowing what to do after you’ve been struck by a smooth criminal. You should do several things, from checking for injuries to filing a personal injury lawsuit.
So if you’d like to learn more about handling a pedestrian accident, keep reading. We’re giving you six steps you should take.
- Check for Injuries
The first thing you should (and probably can) do once you’ve been hit by a car is check yourself for any injuries. Your injuries will significantly depend on how you were hit, for example, if the driver was speeding.
If the accident has been minor, you may not know the extent of your injuries and should still take care moving around the accident scene. If you can move, you should move to a safer area. If you can’t move, you must wait for the ambulance to arrive so the paramedics can check you for injuries.
- Contact the Police
The next step in a pedestrian accident is to notify the authorities, such as the police before anyone leaves the scene. Parties involved in the accident need to inform the authorities so they can file a police report. This report will help you with evidence in your case when you file a lawsuit for compensation.
If you’re not severely injured, you can call 911 yourself. Otherwise, someone else at the accident may have already called if the accident was severe. If you have someone with you at the scene, they can help you with this step so you can ensure the proper authorities get notified and arrive on the scene.
- Get the Driver’s Details
Next, you need to get the other party’s information. You can also provide them with your details so they can contact you if necessary, but you want to ensure you exchange the following information before anyone leaves the scene:
- Full name
- Contact information (ask for two contact numbers just in case)
- License plate number
- Driver’s license details
- Insurance details
- Vehicle details (make, model, and type)
- Location of the accident
If you don’t get this information, you risk the offending party leaving the scene and having no way to claim compensation against them.
- Collect Scene Evidence
Thankfully nowadays, almost everyone has a camera. This means you can easily take photos of the accident scene to gather as much evidence of wrongdoing as possible. If there were any witnesses, get their account of the events. This could help you later if you decide to seek compensation.
You want to ensure you gather photos of anything that can help your case. For example:
- Turning signal devices
- Crosswalks
- Sidewalks
- Your injuries
- The car that struck you
- Skid marks
- Traffic lights
The more evidence you can gather to show you weren’t at fault, the stronger your personal injury lawsuit case will be. Additionally, you can enlist the help of others at the scene if you cannot gather evidence due to your injuries. You want to prove that the other party involved was negligent or reckless with their driving.
- Get Medical Treatment
Once you’ve completed all the previous steps, you must get medical attention. Of course, this is especially vital if you’ve sustained severe injuries, but it’s also important if the accident has been minor. You never know what injuries could be masked and might only be noticed in a few days, like, for example, internal bleeding.
Depending on the severity of the injuries, you may need to be transported to a hospital. If the pedestrian accident wasn’t your fault, you could potentially claim back your medical bills from the other party or their insurance.
- Keep Relevant Documents
On claiming medical bills, you want to keep every document related to your case, even if it’s a copy. This includes the police report, medical bills, transport or ambulance fees, etc.
It’s in your best interest to keep these documents because the bills associated with the accident can get extremely high depending on how severe it was and the injuries sustained. You want to ensure you can seek compensation after the fact.
- Hire a Personal Injury Attorney
Finally, you want to hire an attorney if you wish to file a lawsuit to claim compensation. Their services are not only helpful for winning a settlement, but they can also protect your rights. You want to ensure you speak to a lawyer as soon as possible after the incident.
When choosing an attorney, you want to ensure they have handled personal injury cases before. Don’t be shy to ask for their case history. If they’ve won cases, this is an excellent sign to choose that law firm. To find the right personal injury lawyer, ask friends and family for anyone whose services they’d recommend. You may be able to claim compensation for the following:
- Medical bills for doctor and hospital visits
- Lost wages if you’ve had to take time off work
- Pain and suffering due to your injuries
With a skilled personal injury attorney, you can receive a settlement of between $5,000 and $500,000, depending on your injuries. For this reason, you don’t want to skip this step. For example, you can go to alphaaccidentlawyers.com if you need to hire an attorney.
Seek Compensation for Your Pedestrian Accident Today
When you’ve been involved in a pedestrian accident, you need to know what to do to have the best outcome should you file a lawsuit. Other steps include checking for injuries, swapping information and contact details, calling the authorities, taking photos, and gathering evidence. If you can gather strong evidence, your lawyer will have a higher chance of success with your court case.
We hope you’ve found this article helpful and informative. Our site has hundreds more, so be sure to look around.