Faced A Car Crash in St. Louis: How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help?
No one drives a car to face an accident. But when you are driving on the streets of St. Louis, you cannot throw caution to the wind. This city in Missouri is known for its road crashes that cause property damage, injuries, and even death.
In 2021, close to 178 people lost their lives and over 14,000 people got injured because of traffic crashes. In both St. Louis County and the city, the crashes have been high, which has made the accident victims suffer manifold.
In February 2024, KSDK News reported on a multi-car crash in St. Louis that left many people injured and two people dead. A car had struck several pedestrians and vehicles right at the Olive and North 18th Streets intersection. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department reported that the incident took place a few blocks away from the Enterprise Center, where people were leaving from the Drake and J. Cole concert.
You might face a car crash in St. Louis and not know how to manage the situation. A personal injury lawyer can be of help. In this article, we will discuss things to do after an accident and how to seek legal aid.
Stay Calm and Note All You Must
Even though it is difficult, staying calm during a crisis always helps. Therefore, take the time to catch a few breaths and notice everything around you. Make a mental note of all that you see, take pictures, and try to think about what led to the crash. Move your car to one side so that it doesn’t pose an obstacle to the ongoing traffic.
If you want, you can speak to the people around to gather input about the accident, just in case it can be of help to you. After that, address your physical wounds so that you are in a position to move on and take the next steps to resolve your car accident.
Get in Touch with a Lawyer
Once you feel that the accident happened because of the other person’s negligence and you stand a chance to get compensated for it, you might want to file a lawsuit. For this, it is essential to get in touch with one of the best St. Louis personal injury lawyers.
Most lawyers will listen to your case over a free consultation and decide whether you are eligible to file a legal claim. Once you do and they take up the case, they will guide you through the entire legal process in such a way that you maximize your chances of receiving the settlement payout and use it to cover all the damages and losses that you have endured.
Help in Gathering Evidence
A personal injury lawyer knows that the best way to develop a strong case that will ensure the verdict is in the victim’s favor is to collect the right evidence. Once they go through the facts that you share, they can help you gather further evidence to build a substantial case that will prove that the other party was accountable for the crash.
TorHoerman Law states that car accident victims in St. Louis can submit accident scene pictures, images of the damaged vehicle, injury details, medical documents, medicine bills, and details gathered from witnesses to the lawyer. They will incorporate it with the legal case in such a way that the court grants compensation to the victim so that they can use it to cover the losses that they have faced.
Pay Attention to Your Words
What you share and say after a car crash in St. Louis is of paramount importance. And it is here that you must listen to what your lawyer has to tell you. They will guide you well and will let you know all that you must share, if at all. When the police enquire, share the basic details, but don’t give out any details that they haven’t asked for.
Additionally, you should not speak with the insurance adjusters. You might feel that your insurance company might have your best interests, but that is far from the truth. The real objective of the insurers is to collect the premiums by paying the fewest and smallest claims possible. This is the reason you should never admit any fault.
Speaking With the At-Fault Party’s Lawyer
The at-fault party would look for ways to shift the blame or make you comment that you, too, were negligent to reduce the compensation amount that they need to pay. Hence, your lawyer should be speaking to the at-fault party’s legal team instead of you. It’s because you might fall for manipulative tricks, but your lawyer will know how to manage the situation and ensure the verdict is in your favor.
In conclusion, no one willingly wants to be a part of an accident. Since the streets of St. Louis are known for car crashes, you need to be extra careful when you drive and adhere to traffic rules. Additionally, in case you face an accident, contacting a personal injury lawyer is a wise decision, as they can help you receive your claim and manage the legal case as well.
