What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida

    ORLANDO, FL, June 26, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Suppose you have just had a Florida car accident. Even if uninjured, you probably will be upset and distraught. It is in your best interest, though, to act as calmly as possible. Your behavior after the accident can affect your emotional and financial well-being, and possibly who is held responsible. This checklist aims to help you prepare for an accident.

The priority is to get medical attention if needed. Your life and health are always most important. Even in a fender-bender you can suffer personal injury, and it may not be immediately apparent. A later medical checkup is always a good idea. Assume for now, though, that you are uninjured. Here are some things you should and should not do:

- Stop your vehicle, get off the road or turn on emergency flashers, and turn off your ignition. You have a legal obligation to provide the other party certain information and to render assistance in case of injury. Criminal penalties can be imposed for a "hit and run" accident, especially where injury is involved.

- Do not admit responsibility to anyone. Avoid provoking a quarrel with the other driver, no matter how angry you are. Ask if the other party or any passengers in his car or yours were injured, and summon help if needed.

- Check the other driver's license and registration. If he has a suspended license, or no license at all, he should not be on the road. If the photograph or other personal information on his license seems incorrect, the license could be forged.

Insurance Information

- Exchange insurance information. Ask to see his insurance card and write down the following, and be sure to give him the same information for yourself:

1. The other driver's name, address, and phone number.
2. His license number and vehicle identification number.
3. The name and address of the car owner, if it is not the driver.
4. The name of his insurance company and his policy number.
5. The phone number of his claims department.

- Get the make, model, year, and license plate number of the other vehicle. Jot down anything that seems odd; defective vehicles are often a cause of accidents.

- Get names and contact information for any passengers in the other vehicle.
- Try to line up witnesses. Get contact information or written statements if possible.

Police Report

- Cooperate with the police who make a report. Write down contact information for the officers who show up so you can get a copy of their report.
- Note down important facts about conditions at the scene of the accident. Draw a diagram of the collision scene. No matter how flustered you may be, the sooner you write down all relevant evidence the less likely you are to forget something.
- Take photos of the general location and of damage to your vehicle or theirs.
- When you get home, file an accident report with your insurance company.

Being prepared for a car accident is the best way to protect your financial well-being in case it happens. Even an apparently simple case can become complicated, to say nothing of the intricacies of dealing with insurance companies and in determining such things as economic and non-economic damages. You might consider retaining legal advice as a way of making things simpler for yourself.

If you are interested in the services of experienced Florida auto injury attorneys, you are invited to visit the website of the Law Firm of Best & Anderson, P.A. (www.bestandanderson.com), with offices in Crystal River, Kissimmee, and Orlando.

# # #