5 Legal Steps You Should Take After a Taxi Accident

Accidents are a part of life and we cannot avoid them even after doing our best. Even if we are sober and careful on the road, someone else might not. Therefore, you have to mentally prepare yourself to face unforeseen events. If you have to drive to or from work or for other purposes, it means that you are at risk of an accident. Therefore, you should get yourself an insurance plan.

But an insurance plan won’t be of any help at the accident site. Because you will have to deal with the other party directly. That is why you will need an attorney who can appear there. If not, he can at least guide you by phone. This will be of great help to you.

So if you are looking for an attorney who has experience in dealing with road accidents, you can learn more about traffic and road accidents and the things that you will encounter.

But still, despite getting yourself an insurance plan and a good attorney, you should know certain things. They will help you out in making the best deal when you encounter such a situation.

So here is a guide, just follow the steps and keep yourself calm.

1 – Calling for help (to your attorney)

The first thing that you will experience after an accident is a mental break. Your brain will stop working as you will be in a tense situation. This happens to people who are experiencing an accident for the first time. They won’t be able to think properly. Therefore, a lot of habitual drivers make use of such situations and put all the blame on you.

That is why the very first thing that you need to do is to get back to your senses. Lock your car, take a deep breath and look around. You have your phone and you can call someone for help. This is your choice to first call someone who can guide you to do something or you can simply call the police.

After you calm yourself, you should look at the attitude of the other driver. Now you are back, so you can assess his intentions through his attitude. If he is angry and furious, you should keep your car locked and call for the police. If the other driver looks calm and wants to talk to you, you should go out. Try to sort out the things through insurance. Because not everyone likes to fight. If he is not putting all the blame on you, there is a good chance to negotiate.

2 – Take photos of the accident and secure the scene

Now you are back to your senses, there is a chance for you to keep things in your favor. Therefore, you should look for injuries and damages. If it was your fault, you should talk about the damage and try your best to compensate for the damage to the property of the other driver. However, despite being at fault, you should not immediately apologize and get all the blame on yourself. Because in such a case, the other party might try to make it a deal and get more from you.

Therefore, be sensible and look for the damages. You can take pictures and try your best to preserve the accident space. In this way, you can tell the police or the insurance company for the right countermeasures.

3 – Do not cause any disturbance to others

Even if you are in an accident, you should not disturb others. Therefore, you should move your vehicle to the side while you are waiting for help to arrive. You should take pictures of the damages and the situation and then clear the road. And do not worry about the insurance company because this is also in their manual.

You should also know that things are different at night. Therefore, if you had an accident at night time and you are in the middle of the road, turn on hazard lights. This will be helpful for the coming traffic. They will be able to get a sign beforehand. Thus, they will know that there is an accident and they have to be careful. Furthermore, it will also provide them with a safe way to move on their way.

4 – Report your accident

This depends on the severity of the accident. If the accident is of minor level and both parties just got a few scratches on their car, you can settle it among yourselves. However, if the accident was serious, you need to report it to the law enforcement agencies. This is especially important when people are also injured and the damage to cars is also serious.

You can use the police report to get the maximum out of your insurance plan. You need a report of the accident in case of a serious accident. Therefore, calling the police will be your best way in such a situation. They will handle the situation, make options for you and will also help you out.

5 – Get the contact information of the other driver

Another important thing to do at this moment is to get the contact information of the other driver. It is highly likely that you will forget to get the contact information at such a time. Thus, it will be difficult for you to deal with the matter afterward. Although the information content varies from state to state. But the least that you should get is the mobile phone number and insurance information.

Some of the information that would be useful later on include;

1. Name and contact information
2. Model of the car of other driver and its making
3. In case there is a witness and is willing to give a statement, you need his contact information as well.
4. The name, contact information and badge number of the officer. This is in case you called the law enforcement agency at the accident site.