Car accidents happen pretty much every day, and if you are involved in one, the experience can be quite devastating. If you are a victim of a car accident that is not your fault, it is important that you pursue the responsible for compensation for your damages.

What you do hours and days following the car accident is critical to the outcome of your personal injury claim. Here are important steps you need to take as soon as you can if you are involved in a car accident.

Check Yourself For Injuries

Depending on the severity of the impact, a car accident can leave you with a range of injuries. While some injuries like broken limbs and cuts may be apparent, some like whiplash and internal injuries may take a while to manifest. It is important that you check yourself and passengers for any injuries sustained in the accident. If you or your passengers need immediate care, be sure to call the emergency team to the accident scene.

Call The Police

It is important that you call the police after the accident. In fact, Alabama law requires that you report any car accident that results in an injury, death or property damage in excess of $500. This ensures that the police (who are trained to investigate car accidents) will review the circumstances that lead to the accident so they can compile an unbiased report that you can use when litigating your case.

Collect Evidence

Once you have established that everyone is okay, you need to go ahead and collect crucial evidence that will be important for litigating your personal injury claim. It is important that you take as many photos as possible of the accident scene, the damage to the vehicles, any skids on the road as well as the weather conditions on the road at the time of the accident.

A car accident can leave you with serious injuries and property damage. Find out how you can protect your rights if you are involved in a car accident that is not your fault.