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We help individuals who are injured in accidents, such as car accidents and slip and fall accidents, in Philadelphia, PA and the surrounding suburbs.
Throughout our combined years of experience as personal injury lawyers, we often see clients do things or not do things that affect the value and outcome of their case. This article will discuss three mistakes injured people make after their car, truck or pedestrian accidents in Philadelphia, PA.
Related: What to Do After a Car Accident in Philadelphia – By a Philly Car Accident Lawyer
Not Seeking Medical Care After an Accident
After a car accident, one of the biggest mistakes an injured driver, passenger or pedestrian can make is not seeking medical care. When emergency personnel arrives on the accident scene, injured victims may decline medical treatment for various reasons. They may not want to be late for work, or they have an important job interview that they don’t want to miss. Other times, they may feel that they are not seriously hurt immediately after the accident. They may have some pains and aches, but decline to be treated because they think they are not hurt. However, what they don’t realize is that the pain will most likely get worse after a few hours or a few days. The pain may be masked by adrenaline. Once the adrenaline wears off, pain will start to set in.
Other times, injured victims may wait weeks to go see a doctor, only to find out that they have serious injuries such as herniated discs in their neck or back. Even though injuries may clearly result from the car accident, waiting to get medical treatment may create problems in the case later on. The at-fault driver’s lawyer (defense counsel) may argue that the injuries were from another accident or may argue that any resulting pain and suffering were caused by the failure to get prompt medical treatment. Therefore, it is important to seek medical treatment after the accident.
Not Calling the Police
After a car accident, injured motorists need to call the police. Sometimes, a driver may ask the other driver not to call the police. Agreeing to this is a mistake. If the injured driver files a lawsuit against the at-fault driver, the at-fault driver may deny fault even though he admitted fault at the scene of the accident. If there are no eye witnesses, it would be the injured driver’s word against the at-fault driver’s word. If the victim called the police after the accident, the police would have filled out a police report and the other driver’s admission of fault would be in the police report. Therefore, a police report is important to help establish liability in a Philadelphia car accident lawsuit.
Not Telling Your Lawyer About Prior Accidents/Injuries
Another mistake injured victims may make is not telling their lawyers about their prior accidents and injuries. They may think that if they had a prior accident or injury to the same body part, they will not be able to financially recover for their injuries and damages. However, this is not true. Injured victims may still recover if they injured the same body part in a prior accident or if the accident aggravated a preexisting condition.
For instance, a car accident victim suffers a back injury as a result of an intersection accident in Center City, Philadelphia. She has severe pain in her back and needs extensive physical therapy for 1 year. In addition, she needs several epidural shots to alleviate the pain. Ten years prior to this accident, the victim was in another car accident and also injured her back. However, she only had physical therapy for 3 months and did not feel any pain or discomfort after her course of treatment. She did not have any back pain/discomfort or any treatment for her back until the recent accident.
In such a situation, the victim is still able to recover for her back injury despite the fact that she suffered a back injury in the prior accident. She was asymptomatic for 10 years prior to the accident, and she did not receive any medical treatment for her back in that period.
If she sues the at-fault driver in the recent accident and does not tell her lawyer about her prior accident/injury, it will do more harm than good. If defense counsel finds out about the victim’s first accident before the victim’s lawyer, the victim’s credibility will become an issue in the lawsuit. Even though her prior accident should have little impact on her present lawsuit, it will now have a significant impact because she hid it from her lawyer. Everything the victim claims to suffer from may be questioned. Therefore, it is important to tell your car accident lawyer about any prior accidents or injuries.
Help After a Philadelphia Car, Truck or Pedestrian Accident
Our injury and accident lawyers work hard to get you fair compensation for injuries suffered in a car, truck or pedestrian accident. For more information, call for your FREE consultation. (866) 641-0806
**This website does not provide legal advice. Every case is unique and it is crucial to get a qualified, expert legal opinion prior to making any decisions about your case. See the full disclaimer at the bottom of this page.
