The possibility of a car crash is the risk people accept for the convenience of on-demand personal transportation. People never know when they might encounter an unsafe driver who does something truly dangerous, and there is no way to totally avoid this risk when driving.
Unfortunately, people sometimes make the wrong choices after a crash, which makes it more difficult to hold an at-fault party accountable for the collision they caused. Kentucky drivers who are aware of the most common mistakes that injury victims make right after a crash will have an easier time avoiding these errors and strengthening their chances of obtaining appropriate compensation following a wreck caused by another driver.
They move their vehicles before preserving evidence
Kentucky state law does require that drivers move their vehicles quickly after a crash. However, people can generally take the few seconds it requires to take photos or video of the scene before doing so. Those images or video clips will capture details that could play a major role in the collision reconstruction process. They can help prove a driver’s claim that the other motorist was at fault for the wreck.
They agree to settle the matter privately
People who cause crashes often panic and try to appeal to someone else’s sense of sympathy. They may insist that they won’t be able to afford insurance after another citation or that they will lose their job because driving is part of what they do for work. Even when those claims are true, the decision to forgo filing a police report leaves someone at the mercy of the other driver. If they don’t follow through with their promise of compensation, the person who didn’t cause the crash will have a very difficult time holding them accountable.
They go home without seeing a doctor
The higher the speeds of the vehicles involved in the wreck and the worse the damage to the vehicles, the greater the possibility of serious injury. Many crash-related injuries are invisible at first or generate delayed symptoms. Stable fractures, incomplete spinal cord injuries, internal bleeding and brain injuries are all easy for people to overlook when checking themselves after a wreck. The delay in diagnosis that occurs will make it more difficult for them to get compensation from insurance or take the matter to court later.
Knowing what mistakes to avoid can help people who need and deserve compensation after a Kentucky car crash. Seeking legal guidance as proactively as possible is also helpful in this regard.
