The most common questions I get asked about relate to auto accidents. There is a great deal of confusion out there as to what steps a person should take when they get into an accident. This and next month’s column focus on many of those questions and attempts to provide some answers. Please cut these two columns out and place them in your glove compartment where you can find them. After your next auto accident, you will be glad that you did.

Q. I was hit the other day by a driver who ran a red light. Fortunately, there was not much damage done to my vehicle and I was not hurt but I could have been. I didn’t call the police about the accident should I have?

A. Anytime there is property damage and/or you think one of the parties to the accident was or could have been hurt, you should call the police. Also, even if you feel alright, that does not mean you have not been hurt. Many people can tell you about slipped disks and other spinal injuries they suffered in an accident that they did not discover until days later. In short, almost always call the police for a report.

Q. Why is this so important?

A. If no police report is prepared of the accident, it is a shouting match as to what happened. The police report will be the only objective evidence of what occurred to cause the collision. Though many parts of a police report are inadmissible at trial, an insurance adjuster is much less likely to pay a justifiable claim without this piece of independent evidence. Besides that important issue, a police investigation may record witnesses and may also keep the parties honest as to what occurred. Finally, if you try to file a claim regarding an auto accident and it was not a big enough deal for you to call the police than why should the jury think it was a big enough deal to award you your damages?

Q. What if I had been injured in the accident. What should I have done?

A. You should immediately seek medical care. Notice I didn’t say to just seek medical care. It should be done immediately because insurance companies more often than not use any delay in treatment as an excuse to not pay the claim. Also, you should report everything that hurts, no matter how slight, to the nurse or doctor and make sure they write it down in their chart. More often than not, insurance companies refuse to pay claims on injuries not reported to and recorded by a medical provider. The insurance company will get copies of all of your medical records and will look for what you are claiming medical bills for and what injuries are recorded in your records.

Q. Should I be taken away in an ambulance?

A. Obviously, if you were taken away in an ambulance, an adjuster might take the case more seriously. On the other hand, our ambulance system should be reserved for the most severely injured, so if you can have someone drive you to medical care, and it makes sense to do so, you should not burden E.M.S.

Q. What kind of information should I collect at the scene?

A. You should write down the name, address, telephone number, license plate, car model/year and date of birth for the other driver. You need the name of the other drivers’ insurance company, his policy number, and the contact phone number for his insurance company. Also, you want the name of the police officer, his badge number, and a report or incident number, if one is available. Finally, you want to record the names, addresses, phone numbers and date of birth for any witnesses.

Q. I need all of that information?

A. Yes. I could explain why for each one but simply put; you will probably need all of that information and will be at a disadvantage without it. Without explaining why on all of them, the reason the date of birth is important for witnesses is because their contact information could be false or the witness could move. Without a date of birth, you will almost never find them. Many of the accidents I handle as a lawyer, involve witnesses that can not be found because they have moved and without a date of birth, they almost can never be found. A social security number will work too but more often than not people do not want to share that information, as a last resort, at least get witnesses’ driver’s license numbers.

Q. Should I discuss what happened with the officer?

A. Of course. You should tell her everything that happened in your own words and you should not try to use legal jargon. You should pay particular attention to what the other driver says about the event and make notes immediately after the scene, quoting whenever possible.

Q. Is there anything I should do different if I am in a serious accident?

A. There are many things you should do different in a serious accident. The most important of which is to immediately contact an attorney. Almost every time there are serious injuries from an auto accident, which means serious medical bills, there will be a fight with an insurance company, no matter who was at fault. In order to increase your chances of being treated fairly in the process, you need to get a lawyer. The insurance company has one before the auto accident even occurs.

Q. How should I handle the insurance company before I get a lawyer and what else should I do when I am in an auto accident?

A. These questions and others will be answered in next weeks column.