What Should I do if I've Been Involved in an Automobile Accident in Florida?

The very first thing that you should do after an automobile accident is tend to anyone else in the accident that was injured and in need of any medical assistance. Under Florida law, you have a duty to remain at the scene of an accident and if there are injuries involved you can be charged with a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, for failing to remain at the scene of an accident. Once medical attention is given to those in need, you should then focus on gathering whatever evidence you have available to you at the scene to document things such as damage to the vehicle, any evidence on the roadway such as debris or skid marks, contact information for any witnesses to the accident and any other details that you think might be helpful later on, such as insurance coverage information on the other driver.

Many times the police department will issue a case number only, and until the full report is ready 7 to 10 days later, you will not know who the other driver's insurance company is. Without that information, you will not be able to get the other driver's insurance company to begin looking at your vehicle. This will delay the whole process. If you are able to exchange insurance information with the other driver at the scene, that would make things much easier. Some police agencies will give you an exchange of information with the other drivers insurance information, others won't. It is just a matter of luck as to which agency responds to your accident and whether they provide a more detailed short form police report/exchange of information or whether they will just simply issue you a card with the case number on it, telling you to wait 7 to 10 days to get any information at all. Finally, right after an automobile accident, if you are injured, you should seek immediate medical attention. This is critical because the more serious the injury is, the more difficult it will be to persuade the insurance adjuster that it was related to a particular accident, if the injured party did not seek any medical attention immediately after the accident.

For more information please visit us online at http://www.robertgluck.com/ or http://www.robertglucklaw.com/

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