Personal Injury Lawyer

How To Really Mess Up Your Auto Accident Case

When an auto accident happens that is not your fault, you have decisions to make. The better you do on those decisions, the better (and easier) your case can go. The opposite is obviously true, too. Here are some GREAT ways to mess up your accident case:

1. After the accident, don’t bother calling the police to the scene, as they are way too busy to come, investigate what happened, and interview the drivers and witnesses. No one ever changes their story the next day about how the accident happened, nor changes their mind on accepting responsibility, so it is always okay to trust the other driver who caused the accident.


2. Don’t bother with going to the emergency department right after the accident, even if the paramedics at the scene recommend you do so. What do they know anyway? You are more than qualified to take care of your own medical needs, especially your injuries from trauma. Just go home and lay down for a while.


3. When you wake up the next morning, in significant pain, wait as long as you can to call your doctor (see #2). Your pain may just magically go away in a few days, and you wouldn’t want anyone to think you were a big baby.


4. If you do finally get around to making an appointment with your doctor, be sure to not tell him or her about ALL of your injuries and symptoms. Any qualified doctor should be able to figure out or guess what’s bothering you, right? And be sure to give your doctor a slightly different version of what happened in the accident, too.


5. When your doctor prescribes x-rays, medication, therapy, or wants you to return for follow-up exams, wait a long time before following those instructions or returning so that your medical records have long gaps in between treatments (see #2). See if you can also get your records to have the word “non-compliant” appear in them.


6. Seek advice from your family, friends, co-workers, tow truck drivers, or even someone you just met about what to do after an accident, rather than a lawyer experienced in accident cases. After all, everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who was in an accident, and they would know better.

After an accident, please give me a call at 480 833-1113. I would be happy to help you make the right decisions, even if you don’t need to hire an attorney.