California Motorcycle Lawyer - Accident Checklist SITEMAP
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California Motorcycle Lawyer - Accident Checklist SITEMAP
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The Motorcycle Accident Checklist WHAT TO DO IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE Your response IMMEDIATELY after an accident may prove crucial in preserving the evidence essential to your lawsuit. Wherever possible, assuming that you have not been rendered unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, get the following information. If you are conscious, but cannot do it yourself, then ask someone present to gather the information for you. Get the make, model and year of the other vehicles(s) and check the vehicle registration. Take down the vehicle owner's name and address, if it is a person or corporation or entity different from the driver. If it is a company vehicle, write down the name and address of the company. If it is a leased or rented vehicle, write down the name, address and telephone number of the rental company. Give the other driver(s) your Name, Address, Drivers License Number and Insurance Information. Look around Immediately and identify any and all possible witnesses to the Accident. Ask for their names, addresses, telephone numbers (both home and work), and where they work. If they do not want to get involved, take down their car license plate number and State. Listen carefully to what the other driver(s) say about the events leading up to the accident, e.g., "I didn't see you.," and write it down. Note who else may have overheard the "admission." ["Admissions" can generally be introduced in evidence against a party to litigation under the "admissions" exception to the hearsay rule] Call the Police, or have someone else call the Police immediately. The police officer will generally interview all drivers and take witness statements from all witnesses still present. Tell the Police the facts, but "JUST THE FACTS." The police may also collect vital physical evidence and make important skid or debris measurements useful in "reconstructing" the point of impact and vehicle speeds upon which the auto driver's liability will often turn. Ask the police officer to find out where the other driver was going. If the driver was on an errand for his or her employer, "in the course and scope of his or her employment," you may find you have another good "potential defendant," possibly with much higher policy limits than the driver. WHAT NOT TO DO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT DO NOT sign any writings by the other driver purporting to summarize the facts of the accident. DO NOT get into an argument with the other driver(s) about what happened. DO NOT punch out the driver(s) of the other vehicle(s). (Their countersuit against you for "battery" might wash out your suit against them.) DO NOT have your bike repaired. Not until you have an attorney who can have the bike inspected, photographed, and provide the Insurer or Defense Attorney notice and an opportunity to inspect the bike. WHAT TO DO IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT, OR, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE Follow through on ALL medical care, treatment, and therapy recommended by you physician(s). Find an appropriate attorney to represent you right from the start. Click on the "WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN ATTORNEY" button, below. Even the first 24 to 48 hours can be crucial in terms of initiating an appropriate investigation of the accident scene, involved vehicles, and to obtain witness statements. You may contact Mr. Henke by e-mail or toll free by telephone from anywhere in the United States. Mr. Henke does not charge motorcyclists for their initial consultations. Click the "Contact Me" button below. WHAT NOT TO DO IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT PRIOR TO RETAINING AN ATTORNEY TO REPRESENT YOU DO NOT permit ANYONE to interrogate you about the events of the accident, particularly the other party's attorney, representatives of the other party's insurance company, or even representatives of your own insurance company. If your insurance policy requires that you report your accident within a time certain, this is another reason to obtain an attorney immediately and have your attorney report the accident. In the alternative, you may contact your insurer, advise its representative that you were involved in an accident on such and such a date, provide the representative the name of driver of the other vehicle, his address, telephone number and insurance information, and then tell the representative that you expect to retain counsel immediately and that all other questions will be answered by your attorney. Once you have an attorney, if you are contacted by an insurance representative, or anyone else for that matter, refer the caller to your attorney. While you are still in the process of searching for an attorney, take down their number, and tell them that as soon as you have retained counsel you will have your attorney contact them. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING prepared by yours or the other side's insurance company, or anyone else, until it is first reviewed by your attorney. DO NOT SIGN any writings purporting to summarize the events of the accident. Insurance companies may send you other documents, e.g., "General Releases For Medical Records" that an attorney would never permit you to sign. It is only the relevant medical records that the insurer should be permitted to obtain, and that should be strictly limited and controlled by your attorney, permitting only the physician-specific or hospital admission-specific medical record authorizations. The major dangers associated with communications with other parties, their attorneys, their insurance representatives and your insurance representatives can all be avoided by immediately obtaining appropriately qualified counsel to represent you. |
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