Car accidents happen whether we expect them or not. That is why they are called accidents.
Unfortunately, we cannot stop these incidents from occurring in our daily lives, nor should we fear danger every time we get into the driver’s seat and head out onto the road, but we should know what kinds of things happen when an accident occurs.
The most obvious things we know are damage, either to your vehicle, you, or possibly your emotional state. This is just the first series of things to expect, then it gets more intricate.
After the initial accident, the incident becomes a car accident case because you will need to take the expected steps to resolve the matter.
This could be for financial reasons like a settlement or insurance claim, or it is to get justice for someone causing you harm.
Once you are involved in a car accident and it becomes a legal case you want to know what to expect and what not to, so here is what you will experience in a motor vehicle accident case.
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What You Should Expect
Talking to Legal Representation
As the phrase goes, you are going to want to “lawyer up.” This is going to help make the experience a lot easier and smoother for finding resolution and is something you should expect.
If you check out what car accident lawyers say you can at the very minimum expect to get an evaluation and at-most get representation in court, if it came to that.
Legal help just means discussing the possible proceedings with them to get an opinion and know what to do and is important following an accident. If you need more specialized help, for instance, if you have sustained a more serious personal injury in a car accident, you could head to these lawyers here.
Providing Evidence
A car accident is just like any other crime scene being that it is filled with evidence of the events. Parts from the car, DNA and forensics, eyewitnesses, and accounts of the event from your behalf as well as other involved parties are part of the process to expect.
You will need to provide evidence to back up your claims or to help your lawyer and emergency services understand what went down.
Evidence is collected and processed by different parties, like the police or insurance companies, but it is an expected aspect all the same.
Speaking with Emergency Services
As mentioned prior, you are going to be talking to the emergency services. Firefighters, ambulance workers, police, and possibly forensics teams are going to need some information from you.
It could be that you or someone is hurt which is an obvious need for them to be there, but in simpler terms, they may just want to speak to you about what happened.
Whatever it is they want you should be cooperative in talking or dealing with them because they are there to help and you should expect this part of your case.
What You Should Not Expect
Immediate or Quick Resolution
Moving onto what you should not expect are some things that get fluffed up from watching too many court dramas and TV shows. The first is important as many people believe there will be an immediate resolution.
This is not true as an accident case could take months to resolve depending on a lot of factors. Things like the cooperation of offender or claimant, or difficulty compiling evidence will slow down the proceedings.
Going in hoping it will be over with fast is not a good attitude because it is not realistic.
Immediate resolution should not be expected and is only going to cause you to get impatient when you should understand how important it is to take time to collect all the information before making a big decision.
Guaranteed Settlement
When you think of a car accident you picture getting a hefty settlement to help cover costs of damage to your car, insurance coverage, or medical bills.
While settlements are not rare by any means, you should temper your expectations a little.
A guaranteed settlement would be likely in an at-fault collision where the offender has little room to argue, but people are stubborn and rarely go down without a fight.
With that in mind, you should not assume that you will be getting a guaranteed settlement or that it will be as much as you hoped.
Being realistic is again a very useful approach to this kind of situation and keeps you from getting your heart broken on the chance that the case is resolved with minimal financial compensation.
It is not to say that you will not get a settlement or that it will not be what you expected, but knowing it could be less or harder to achieve is better than getting your hopes up too much.
Court Appearance
Another problem from TV shows and movies is giving everyone the impression that any case they are involved in a legal matter will end up in a courtroom.
This is not true for many auto accident cases as well because they vary in how much it matters if you go before a judge. In many car accident cases, it will get resolved out of court because both parties just want to get it over with.
An out-of-court settlement is also not a guarantee and there will be negotiating with the help of lawyers to get a proper settlement (which could be less than you hoped for as stated) but a court appearance could be out of the question.
Small fender benders would not get you before the judge in most cases but a major accident like a head-on collision could be depending on the attitude of the offender and their stance.
Car accidents invoke ideas of heated courtroom exchanges or large sums of money being rewarded to someone.
While these ideas have definitely been inflated in the minds of many when it comes to legal cases, it is good to think about what would and would not happen if you were ever involved in a car accident.
These expectations of what will and will not happen in all likelihood help you get a grounded approach if, and hopefully it does not happen, you find yourself on the bad end of a personal injury.