After a crash in Spokane, call 911 immediately, gather vehicle and scene photos, exchange driver information, and see a physician right away. Washington’s pure comparative fault rules protect your right to compensation even if you are partially at fault. Protect your claim by consulting an attorney at (509) 283-8808.
Becoming involved in a car accident can have life-changing consequences, especially if you suffer serious injuries or your loved one is killed.
Protecting your rights requires decisive action, and working with a Spokane car accident lawyer ensures you understand your rights, navigate the legal system, and build compelling arguments to give you the best chance of a successful outcome.
Here are the steps you should take.
Call 911 or Report the Accident to the Police
If anyone was hurt in your accident, you should call 911 immediately. If the injuries are not severe enough to require an ambulance, you should still contact the police to report the crash.
You can report a crash online with the Washington State Patrol, or submit an online report to the Spokane police if you are filing a non-emergency report.
The police can investigate the crash and prepare a report, which you can in turn use to help you build your claim.
Take Photos and Gather Evidence From the Scene of the Accident
It is important to document evidence from the crash scene if you can do so safely. This can include taking pictures of surrounding areas, the damaged vehicles, and debris in the road.
The more evidence you can collect from the scene without compromising your health, the easier it will be to later prove fault. Securing key physical details after a car crash preserves proof before skid marks fade or vehicles get moved away.
Exchange Contact Information With the Other Driver
In Washington state, you can take legal action against another driver who causes a crash to occur.
You will need to make sure that you know who the driver is, or who the drivers are if there are multiple people involved in your crash. That’s why you should exchange names, addresses, and insurance information at the scene of the accident.
Washington has put contributory fault rules in place that create a pure comparative negligence system. Under the state’s system, applying pure comparative negligence, if another party bears any responsibility for the accident that hurt you, you can recover partial compensation.
So, for example, if a defendant was 60% responsible for hurting you and you were 40% responsible for the accident, you could pursue a claim for 60% of your damages.
Obtain the Contact Details of Witnesses
Sometimes, there is a dispute about fault after a crash. You will want to be able to prove the defendant is to blame in these circumstances so you can recover the compensation you deserve, which plays an essential part in securing a fair settlement.
Eyewitnesses to the scene can help you to prove what happened, so obtain the contact details of anyone who saw the crash occur. Independent witness accounts confirm driver behavior and show how specific evidence helps establish liability when insurance adjusters dispute what occurred.
Alert Your Insurance Company to the Accident
You should be able to pursue a claim for both bodily injury and property damage from the at-fault driver. However, if you were partly at fault or if the other driver is uninsured or underinsured, you may need to rely on your own insurer to pay for at least some of your losses.
That’s why reporting the accident promptly is key. You should not hesitate to alert the insurance company to even more minor accidents as you may not be immediately aware of how serious your injuries are or how extensive your property damage was. You want to make sure you have coverage if you need it. If you need guidance reviewing your insurance policy limits or managing statements to adjusters, you can contact us online or call (509) 283-8808 to discuss your situation.
Get Prompt Medical Help ASAP
As soon as possible after the accident, you need to get medical help. This is critical because getting appropriate treatment could potentially prevent injuries from becoming more serious due to being untreated. You can also make sure that your doctor is documenting the severity of your injuries so you can prove that they happened in the immediate aftermath of an accident.
Don’t ever try to downplay the injuries you suffered, and don’t hesitate to mention any potential symptoms to your medical care provider even if they seem relatively minor. Latent conditions like the symptoms of whiplash after a car crash may not show up until days after the initial collision. The shock and adrenaline of a crash could mask the severity of the pain you are feeling, and you need to make sure that your doctor conducts a very thorough exam.
Documentation of your injuries is also important in case the defendant tries to argue that they did not occur because of the crash. The more evidence you have about how your injuries happened and how severe they are, the greater the chance you’ll be fully compensated for your losses, especially when navigating complex treatment protocols for serious injuries.
Reach Out to an Experienced Attorney for Help
Finally, it is important to reach out to an experienced attorney. There are strict timelines for pursuing a claim after a car accident, and evidence can often be lost very quickly if things happen like security camera footage being recorded over.
At Monge & Associates, we begin working to build a case from day one. We can take care of key tasks like obtaining camera footage and interviewing witnesses. We’ll also work to ensure that we have your medical records, police reports from an accident investigation, and other evidence that could bolster your claim later.
Monge & Associates will also help you in communicating with the insurance company so you can start settlement negotiations off on your terms and make sound arguments that help to maximize your chances of compensation.
And since insurers often try to trip you up or get you to make contradictory statements about your case or statements downplaying your injuries, we help you in your interactions with the insurance company.
Our team not only helps with out-of-court negotiations, but we also make sure every case is trial-ready and we’ll file the appropriate paperwork with the court to move your claim forward if no settlement can be reached, thoroughly assessing all available legal options.
Contact a Spokane Car Accident Lawyer Today
Monge & Associates can help with every step in the aftermath of a car accident. We do not charge legal fees unless we win, and our trial-ready advocates bring over $1 billion recovered for accident victims nationwide since 1993, backed by our Big Settlement Guarantee and 30-day Client Satisfaction Guarantee. You can focus on recovering while our Spokane personal injury lawyers navigate the legal system on your behalf.
Give us a call at (509) 283-8808 or reach out online today to schedule a free confidential consultation with our team at 707 W Main Ave Ste 35, Spokane, WA 99201.