Different Types of Car Accidents and How to Handle them Legally

Ten million car accidents occur every single year, according to statistics. At the same time, car accident injury claims are known as some of the highest-paying injury claims throughout the world.

Given this, everyone should know how to handle a car accident – no matter its type – in a legally-correct manner. Namely, they should know what to do to ensure a proper claim with the right amount of awarded damages.

While an experienced car accident attorney will tell you what to do after filing the injury claim, we'll now tell you what you should do in the minutes right after the accident!

Single-Vehicle Accidents

The most common type of car accident is the one that involves a single car and, most of the time, a negligent driver. Such accidents are usually caused by distractions - animals on the road or their mobile phones or someone else in the vehicle.

What usually happens in single-vehicle accidents is the vehicle hitting various objects on the road – road markings, poles, curbs, and so on.

How do you handle this legally?

First of all, if you're not to blame for the accident – due to negligence, then you should take pictures of what you think caused it. Maybe it was a pothole or an animal that jumped right in front of you.

Evidence is crucial in such cases. This also means that you should not move your vehicle until the authorities arrive unless it blocks traffic.

Multi-Vehicle Accidents

Naturally, some accidents involve more than one or two cars. There have been instances where a handbrake that was not pulled caused a vehicle to go down a hill and hit up to ten other parked cars.

This type of accident can be extremely catastrophic, especially if it happens on a highway or at high-speeds. As such, many more factors have to be taken into account when handling such an accident.

How to handle this legally?

Obviously, you should call the authorities first, if you can do so. Then, depending on the damages, you should not move your vehicle and check on the other driver's condition.

If both of you are ok, you should begin to exchange information and take pictures to document the accident better and not make room for assumptions.

In such accidents, insurance companies will usually take care of the damages, and if there's no one to directly blame for the accident, there won't be a court case.

Head-On and Rear-End Accidents

Such accidents usually come with a clear, guilty driver. Unlike the basic multi-vehicle accidents, road conditions or any other natural or external factor cannot really cause a full head-on or rear-end accident.

A driver may be drunk, speeding, or be having a seizure – everything driver-related could cause this type of accident.

How to handle this legally?

Usually, with such accidents, the drivers are left incapacitated in their cars. Drunk drivers may pass out – as well as those that are not drunk but felt more of the impact.

However, if conscious, the same thing as above should be done. Namely – call the authorities first and check on the other people and vehicles involved in the accident. Head-on collisions usually affect the engine and may cause explosions. In such circumstances, quick reactions can prevent a driver from being charged with murder.

The Bottom Line

Most accidents can be handled entirely legally if you simply avoid running from the accident scene. Believe it or not, this is the main thing most drivers think of when getting in an accident – how to get away.

Remaining calm, documenting the accident, and interacting with the other driver will make the injury claim, settlement talks, and court case much easier.

References and Sources

https://www.urymoskow.com/articles/10-things-you-need-to-do-after-a-car-accident/

https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/types-of-car-accidents-that-can-occur-25345