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Over the course of the last decade, I've published in excess of 700 articles in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, workers' compensation and insurance disputes, generally. If you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to contact me to discuss the details of your case and learn how I can help.

What Are Those Important First Steps After Being Involved In A Serious Maryland Car Accident?

While I attorney Eric T. Kirk have often said that anyone who’s sustains injury, or significant property or loss or damage in a motor vehicle accident would label such an event as “serious”, some motor vehicle accidents have more significant consequences than others. I would suggest that in any serious car accident in Maryland, the chances of meaningful and lasting personal injury are higher. I would also suggest that there may be an increased likelihood of litigation, as the insurance company for the at-fault party may be more inclined to deny the claim outright, or offer insufficient compensation by way of settlement.

If you’ve been involved in a serious, significant Maryland car accident, there are steps that you can take to protect your interests. While it is undeniably true that the chances of suffering and incapacitating or debilitating injury or greater in a serious car accident than in a less significant one, if the physical condition of the driver and/or the occupants of an involved vehicle are able, I suggest:

What Are Those Important First Steps After Being Involved In A Serious Maryland Car Accident

A thorough pictorial documentation of both the vehicles involved in the accident the scene of the accident. By “scene of  the accident”, I mean a complete photographic or video record of the positions of the vehicles after the loss, as well as the layout of the involved street or streets, including all traffic control devices.  Again, assuming the physical capacity of the involved individual to conduct such efforts, I recommend a thorough canvas of the area immediately around the accident. A search for witnesses must be done contemporaneously.  A search for the presence of surveillance devices- whether municipal, governmental or private -can be conducted in the days or weeks after an accident, although promptness is always encouraged and sometimes mandatory.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but certainly the police should be summonsed to the scene of any serious motor vehicle accident. Police may be able to obtain and record certain information regarding the participants and collect identifying information. Police also might issue citations or otherwise make a determination of fault which can be useful in negotiations with an insurance company.

Obviously, an individual who has sustained debilitating injury in such an accident lacks the physical capacity to perform this tasks. That individual, or their friends or family members and trusted ones may choose to immediately employ seasoned personal injury counsel. This proactive early move can, in appropriate circumstances, lead to the collection and preservation of evidence and other measures that increase the likelihood of a financial recovery.