6 Crucial Steps to Follow After a Car Accident in New York

It is crucial to take the following actions if you are involved in a car accident anywhere in New York:

Injuries:

Stop, take a deep breath, and look over yourself and any passengers for signs of visible injuries. If there are any, seek medical help right once. *tip* Do not worry about medical bills as every accident that happens on a New York roadway medical bills are covered and should not cost you anything. This includes ambulance, hospital visits, therapy visits, MRI’s, CT Scans, etc… As always contact a personal injury lawyer to protect these rights because if and when the insurance can stop paying for them, they certainly will.

Call the police:

Call 911 to report the car accident to the police. They will aid in controlling the situation, looking into the car accident, and compiling a Police Accident Report (sometimes they may refuse to). If so, contact a personal injury lawyer before filing a MV-104 to protect your rights and liability.

In New York, you need take the following actions to report a car accident to the police:

Call 911 to report the car accident, seek medical aid (a ambulance), and request a police response if there are any injuries or if the vehicles have sustained significant damage.
Give details: When the police show up, give them your name, address, and insurance details. Also, address their questions and give a short description of how the car accident happened.

A report should be, but won’t always be created by the NYPD after gathering information from all parties involved. If they do create a police accident report, then get a copy of the report so you have it for your records *tip* if accident happened inside of NYC then any precent in NYC can give you the report.

Contact your insurance provider: As soon as you can after the accident, notify your insurance provider of the car accident. *tip* Do not give a recorded statement to even your insurance company until you speak to a personal injury lawyer, two reasons why: 1- the other person in the accident sues you their lawyer will get this statement and use it against you and 2- your insurance company is not your friend, they work to make a profit for themselves they owe you no fiduciary duty, unlike a lawyer who owes you several fiduciary duties. One important one is, they can lie to you while your lawyer cannot lie to you.

It’s crucial to remain at the accident scene until the police show up and to give a short statement of how the car accident happened. *tip* Criminal charges may be brought against someone who gives the police a false or misleading statement or if a party fleas from the accident scene.

Trade information:

Obtain the other driver’s and any witnesses’ names, addresses, and insurance details. Make note of the make, model, and license plate number of the other involved vehicles involved.

Take Pictures:

Taking pictures of the accident scene is crucial for protecting your legal rights and interests. Here are some tips on how to document the scene:

Use your cell phone to take pictures of the damage to all involved vehicles, the area as a whole, and any other important details like road signs, skid marks, or debris. *tip* get a photo if the driver’s license of the other drivers involved.

Seek eyewitness accounts: If there were any witnesses, try to get their names, phone numbers, and a brief statement about what they saw.

It is important to act quickly when documenting the scene of a car accident. The information you gather can be and likely will be crucial in a lawsuit or insurance dispute.

Report the accident:

Contact your insurance company as soon as possible and provide them with the information you have gathered. Do not admit fault or make any statements that could be interpreted as admitting fault. *tip* It is best practice to contact a personal injury lawyer ASAP and discuss with him or her about if you should even be talking to your insurance company or the other drivers’ insurance company likely you shouldn’t be.

For your convenience, here is a list of some of the more popular car insurance companies in New York and their phone numbers:

State Farm: 1-800-STATE-FARM (1-800-782-8332)
Allstate: 1-800-ALLSTATE (1-800-255-7828)
GEICO: 1-800-861-8380
Progressive: 1-800-PROGRESSIVE (1-800-776-4737)
Farmers: 1-800-FARMERS (1-800-327-6377)
Nationwide: 1-877-669-6877

*Before calling you should seriously consider contacting a personal injury lawyer to protect all your rights.

Seek legal assistance:

If the accident resulted in significant damage or any injury, consider seeking the assistance of a personal injury lawyer who can help you navigate the insurance and legal process. Most personal injury lawyers will offer a free consultation (we do!), some even by telephone (we do!). Most personal injury lawyers do not even charge any upfront fee’s and only get paid if you get paid.

To make sure that you are protected from any lawsuits or insurance disputes, it is crucial to maintain your composure and follow these instructions.

If you are unsure about any of the above or have questions, do not hesitate to contact our friendly personal injury firm. No questions is too small or silly for us to answer. We gladly offer a free telephone consultation to help you. Most importantly, stay safe!