The first, and most important, thing you should do if you’ve been involved in the car accident is call 911. This will allow you to seek medical treatment and have the police arrive to the scene and file an accident report. If you are seriously injured, you should let EMT treat you and transport you to the hospital as soon as possible. If you are not seriously injured, it can be beneficial to document the position of the cars and property damage with your cell phone. When the police arrive, get the names and addresses of any potential witness as well as a copy of the police report and FR-10 report to file with your insurance company. Be sure to report your accident to your insurance company within fifteen days from the accident.
You see many personal injury commercials on television that advise you to call an attorney immediately following an accident, such as while you are still at the scene of the accident. There is nothing a lawyer can do for you while you are at the scene of the accident. The lawyer is not going to come to the accident site and document the accident for you. It is not necessary to call an attorney at the scene of the accident and, in fact, it can look bad on your part if you do so. In short, seek appropriate medical treatment, call the police to report the accident and follow up with an attorney when you are in a stable situation.