You probably have enough on your plate trying to get around for your job without thinking about traffic accidents, but as Bay Area personal injury attorneys Dan Rose Law so expertly point out, the unexpected can happen at any time and it’s in your best interests to stay prepared.
Furthermore, a quick look at some of the gore videos and gruesome freak accidents on shock sites such as Hoodsite or USA CRIME and its easy to see how these tragedies can happen to anyone at any given time and place.
So, let’s say you get in a car accident while you’re travelling for work. What should you do? That’s exactly the question we’ll be taking a look at today, while also providing some tips for keeping yourself protected while you’re out on the road.
Post-Accident: First Steps & Following Considerations
In those first moments following an accident, it’s important to keep your cool and take action quickly. If you’re injured, you’ll need to assess the extent of those injuries and tend to them in whatever way you can before you can do anything else (if you’re bleeding, for instance, you’ll need to apply pressure to your wound, etc.). You’ll also want to make sure that you call both the police and an ambulance to the scene so that everything can be handled accordingly.
The cause for summoning medical services is obvious—to help you tend to your injuries. You’ll want to be as detailed as you can when describing your injuries so that the medical professionals can provide you with care and properly document them for future reference. Having police on the scene will ensure that there’s an official report of the accident, with a third party evaluation of what witnesses saw, how events played out, etc.
If your injuries are so severe that you need to be taken off the scene, then there’s not much else you can do. If you’re able to remain at the scene, however, you’ll be doing yourself some good by gathering as much information as possible. Taking photographs, getting statements from witnesses—all of these things will aid you when it comes time to inform your others of what has happened.
Now, you may be wondering if, in the course of being injured while on work travel, you’re going to be able to receive any compensation for your injuries. This is a complex question, but one that we’ll try to address in as much detail as possible here. Generally speaking, it’s going to depend on the context within which the car accident took place.
If your accident occurred while you were just on the way to work or headed home from work, for instance, that doesn’t usually fall under the umbrella of what qualifies as compensable. Travel on a business trip, however, or travel that occurs during part of your regular work day, may be considered compensable in many scenarios. You’ll want to work with a professional to explore your options in the aftermath of your accident.
Finally, you’ll also want to be sure to take proper care of yourself in the days and months after a car accident, even if it is a work-related one. The emotional and physical trauma you’ll have sustained due to your injuries is a serious matter, and you’ll be doing yourself a favor by following sound medical advice!
