A car accident is a traumatic experience, and you are likely to have a lot on your mind in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Once you leave the accident scene and attend to your pressing medical needs, you may be wondering what you can do to ensure that your car accident claim moves smoothly. 

The truth is that there are many things you can do following an accident that will assist you and your attorney. These actions include:

• Inform your insurer. Even if you do not believe that you were at fault, it is best practice to tell your insurer of the incident as soon as possible. Failure to do so could result in the denial of a later claim.
• Get a copy of the police report. If police came to the accident scene, there is usually a report. This report contains a lot of helpful information, including the personal information of the involved drivers, insurance details, and a summary of what transpired. The report may also include whether any traffic tickets were issued.
• Write down property damage repairs. Keep track of what repairs were required to your car and any other damage to your property, such as trailers or objects you were transporting.
• Create a log of your medical treatment and health consequences. Many accident victims quickly forget the amount of pain they were in or how the accident affected their life. It’s important to jot down a few notes each day on how you are feeling and what you are able to physically and mentally do. Missing work or life events are important details to record.
• Check your social media privacy settings. Adverse parties will be looking for any statements you make online about the accident as well as how quickly you recover. It’s best to not comment online about your accident at all.

Call a Will County Auto Accident Lawyer

One of the most important things you can do is to contact an attorney to review your case. We find that many accident victims do not understand what compensation they are entitled to. Moreover, many accident victims underestimate the amount of compensation other, similar cases have received in the past.

By now, all drivers should be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. According to the Illinois State Police, distracted driving is present in more than one million car accidents every year in North America. The economic impact of these accidents reaches nearly $40 billion annually, some experts estimate. 

Distracted Driving is Likely a Factor in Your Accident

If you have been involved in a car accident, it is possible that the person at fault was distracted in the moments leading up to the accident. While there are many potential distractions, driving safety advocates have drawn attention to cellphone use. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

According to one study, members of some professions are more likely to get into a car accident. The results suggest that working a profession that requires more education does not make someone a safer driver. 

Here are the professions with the greatest rates of car accidents, ranked from highest to lowest:

1. Doctors
2. Lawyers
3. Architects
4. Real estate brokers
5. Enlisted military personnel
6. Social workers
7. Manual laborers
8. Analysts
9. Engineers
10. Consultants

Experts say that professions that involve a lot of driving – like real estate agents and social workers – may increase the likelihood of accidents. Also, workers in demanding professions with long hours may be surviving on less sleep. Drowsiness is a huge risk factor for car accidents.

If you are injured in a car accident, you can seek compensation from another driver if he or she is at fault. What if the driver at fault is not a person but a computer? Accidents involving self-driving cars may be a problem of the future, but that future is near. Companies are already testing driverless vehicles in some states, and the Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would allow such vehicles here. Researchers are considering the legal ramifications of when accidents involving self-driving cars become more common.

Perfect Drivers?

A national study claims that 90 percent of all vehicle accidents are caused by human error. Scientists are developing self-driving cars because computers will not commit those errors. A computer cannot drive drunk or experience road rage. Developers can program the car to not drive at unsafe speeds. However, computer-controlled vehicles are not flawless drivers:

Did you know that 24 hours of sustained wakefulness has the same impairment on your driving skills as having a 0.10 percent blood alcohol content? While there are not the same laws in place for drowsy driving as there are for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, both are risky actions that can cause accidents with serious injuries.

Statistics

Studies show drowsy driving accidents most frequently: