While there is no good time to have an accident, suffering an accident while you’re on vacation has got to be just about the worst. You’re far from your regular support network, and the trip you’ve looked forward to and saved for is ruined. When and if you’re able to return home, you’ll arrive in disastrous shape mentally and physically.
With decades of experience helping people injured in Tallahassee accidents, we’ve seen this scenario far too many times, and it is truly an awful experience. However, there are numerous things our team can do to help in the short-term and long-run when a client is injured in an accident while on vacation. Here are a few of the things we’ve learned about overcoming the legal and logistical challenges.
The First Steps are Crucial
Regardless of what happened, who you think may have caused the accident, and whether anyone seems to be seriously injured, it is vitally important to ensure everyone’s safety and to document the scene of the accident. It often takes months of investigation and analysis to determine whose actions caused the accident. It can also take months or even longer to determine the full effects of the accident on the minds and bodies of those involved. So, it is important to be prepared to do whatever it will take to ensure legal and medical recovery.
Call 911 and ask for police and other first responders as needed. The police can record evidence and prepare a report that will be extremely valuable later for insurance and legal purposes. Trained first responders can also help keep everyone safe at the scene. Regardless of whether they record injuries, everyone in your group should get a thorough medical exam and explain to doctors that you were in an accident. The rush of adrenaline from an accident while on vacation can mask pain and other injury symptoms.
Even if you were clearly not at fault for causing the accident, you might get blamed for it by lawyers representing insurance companies and others involved. To protect yourself, it is wise to gather and preserve as much evidence as soon as possible. Take photos with your phone and record your impressions at the scene. No detail is too small. Noting skid marks, signs, vehicle damage, and the positions of traffic and security cameras can now aid tremendously in determining what happened and who is liable. A local attorney can help with the documentation and with obtaining a subpoena to get footage from security and traffic cameras. A local attorney can also help locate and contact witnesses.
Legal Action Takes Time
While it is vital to take certain steps right away to protect your legal rights and financial interests, it will be some time before you use the information you’ve collected and saved. Although an insurance company may try to pressure you into accepting a settlement quickly, the legal process should not be rushed because it is important to have all the information before reaching decisions. Insurance companies try to hurry people into accepting a settlement that is far less than it should be, and accident victims who don’t have the right legal advice often accept these inadequate settlements before they understand the full value of their losses.
The length of the legal process can pose a severe challenge when you live far away from the scene of the accident. In most cases, legal action will need to take place in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred. You will need to become familiar with the legal procedures of Tallahassee courts. Pleadings will need to be filed in local court and the discovery process could involve local depositions.
The Florida statute of limitations allows two years between the time of an injury and the filing of a lawsuit, and during the period before and after filing, there is likely to be quite a bit of legal action that needs to be dealt with on a local level. This can be tough to manage remotely unless you work with a knowledgeable attorney you can trust. When you establish a good working relationship with an experienced accident lawyer soon after the accident, you can rely on your legal team to manage the legal requirements locally.
Coordinating Care Can Be a Challenge
Although you may feel more comfortable waiting to see your regular doctors back at home, it is important to obtain a medical exam and necessary treatment locally as soon as possible after the accident. If you wait, you could not only put yourself at risk of further harm, but you also give the insurance company justification for denying your claim. They will argue that your injuries stem from something that occurred later, or that your injuries from the accident must not have been severe, or you would have seen a doctor sooner.
So you need to start with local care, but when your condition permits you to return home, you will need to continue receiving follow-up care with a medical team in your home region. Maintaining continuity with treatment plans and keeping records coordinated will require serious effort on your part. If your attorney is familiar with the difficulties that arise when someone is injured while on vacation in the Tallahassee area, then your attorney should be able to help you keep your medical treatment and records together and on track.
Searcy Denney in Tallahassee Can Guide You to Recovery if You Were in an Accident While Traveling
Whether you were hurt in a car or truck accident, slip and fall incident, animal attack, or other accident in the Tallahassee area, our team can help you find the right medical care and take the steps necessary to preserve your legal right to recover full compensation for your losses. We understand the difficulties you face and are prepared to provide assistance and manage the legal process on your behalf so that you can focus on recovering.
Your injuries may ruin your vacation, but we work to ensure that you have the resources you need to help keep the injuries from ruining your life. If you were in an accident in the Tallahassee area, we invite you to contact us for a free consultation and case evaluation where we can explain the assistance our team can provide. Just call 888-549-7011 or contact us online today.
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