What happens to your body after you’ve been hit by a vehicle?
When you’re hit by a car or truck, it’s your body versus a metal cage. Even if you both were going only a few miles per hour, you could still sustain some serious bodily damage. However, when you factor in that the vehicle will probably be going a great deal faster than you, the consequences could be deadly.
Depending on the circumstances around your accident, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to have:
- A concussion or other traumatic brain injury
- Spinal injury
- Internal bleeding or organ injury
- Broken bones
- Other scarier health issues like a collapsed lung, dismemberment, or death
But, what’s most frightening about injuries from a pedestrian accident is that you could feel relatively fine immediately after your accident. This is because of the freshness of your new injuries and the adrenaline coursing through your veins. Adrenaline tells your body to release endorphins, which are your body’s natural painkillers. Your body psychs you up into believing you’re okay, even if you’re not.
This is why it’s so important for you to have the emergency medic and an ER doctor examine you after your accident. What has just happened to your body? You truly have no idea. Only doctors and other medical professionals can say for sure what has been injured and how badly.
What should you do after a pedestrian accident?
If you’ve been in a pedestrian accident, here’s what you need to do:
- Make sure you’re in a safe spot. The very first thing you want to do after you’ve been injured in an accident is to make sure you’re in a safe spot. Make sure you’re not in the road at all. The reason why this is the very first thing you should do—even before calling 9-1-1—is because you can be injured even more severely if a vehicle comes upon your accident, doesn’t see you, and hits you. You don’t want to be in two significant accidents in one day.
- Call 9-1-1. Now that you’re certain you won’t be hit again, call 9-1-1. This will send the nearest medically-trained professional to you. This could mean the ambulance shows up, but often it’s a fire truck. Regardless of who arrives first, both emergency workers are qualified to examine you, assess your injuries, and recommend how you should proceed. When the police arrive, talk to the officer to create an accident report.
- If you are able, start taking pictures of the accident. Take pictures of the accident from every angle possible. If there are skid marks, be sure to include those in your shots. Make sure to get pictures of your injuries. Also, get pictures of the damage to the vehicle that struck you, its license plate, and the insurance card and driver’s license of the driver.
The point is that you want to take enough pictures to easily show someone else exactly what happened. After all, this might be what your lawyer needs to do if you end up in a trial. The difference between showing your story and telling your story could result in significantly more money for you.
However, if you are in pain, try not to move. While you wait for help, do your very best to avoid moving. What matters most right now is your health, so don’t worry about taking pictures. By staying still, you may help minimize your injuries. For example, when you move, your muscles pull. This is exactly what you’d want to avoid if you have a broken bone or dislocation. Also, when you avoid moving, you ensure that you’re not going to accidentally do something to worsen your already-bad injury.
- Go to the hospital. You may feel like you’ve received sound advice and adequate treatment by the emergency medical professional, but it’s still important for you to go to the hospital. Only the hospital can order imaging to ensure you don’t have brain damage, a spinal cord injury, and internal bleeding. Plus, if you think you have any broken bones, they can verify what’s broken and start planning the best way to set it so it can heal.
Make sure to tell the doctor about every part of your body that hurts. He or she will keep detailed notes about everything you say. It may not seem very important now, but what you tell the doctor in the emergency room could greatly impact the outcome of your case.
Then, when your doctor recommends a course of action, you need to make sure to completely follow your doctor’s orders. Attend all the follow-up appointments and see any recommended specialists.
- Keep a journal about life after your accident. You can write about how your life is different post-accident. Or, if you’re not much of a journaling-type, you can simply keep organized notes about doctors visits and any emails, phone calls, or texts about your case.
- Do not speak to the insurance adjuster or accept a settlement until you have spoken with a qualified California pedestrian accident attorney. They might seem kind and friendly when they call but beware. Insurance adjusters are really trying to fish for any information that might weaken your case. Remember, they work for the insurance company. And, the insurance company is doing their very best to pay you as little money as possible. That’s why you should never accept a settlement from the insurance company until you’ve spoken with a lawyer.
- Stay off social media until your case is closed. Don’t notify people about your accident. Don’t post pictures of you or your accident. Don’t talk about your accident. Otherwise, the photos you post on social media might be used by the other side to argue your injuries aren’t quite as serious as you claim.
- Call a qualified California pedestrian accident attorney. If you’ve been injured in an accident, you’re going to need help. You’ve got doctors to help you heal and, if you want to make sure you receive enough money to cover all the bills from your accident, you’ll want help from a pedestrian accident attorney.
Why do you need a pedestrian accident attorney?
Maybe you’re wondering, “Oh, come on. Can’t I just represent myself?” Yes, you absolutely could, but you won’t get nearly as good of an outcome as if you had a pedestrian accident attorney representing you. Here’s why.
The insurance company of the driver is doing their very best right now to minimize (and maybe eliminate) how much money they have to pay for the accident. In fact, they have a whole team of lawyers dedicated to making sure you don’t see a dime of their company’s money.
But, maybe you’re hung up on having to pay a lawyer a percentage of your settlement. That’s understandable. After all, you were the one who was hit by the car, not your lawyer. Shouldn’t you be able to keep all that money? Well, here’s the thing: Let’s say you represent yourself and receive $10,000 in your settlement. Without a lawyer, that would be all yours.
But, if an experienced lawyer represents you, you could finish with a settlement for $100,000. Even if you paid thirty percent to your lawyer, that would still leave you with $70,000. That looks a whole lot better than if you represented yourself and just received $10,000, doesn’t it?
This larger dollar amount is partly due to the lawyer’s knowledge of the law and party due to his or her experience. When you interview pedestrian accident attorneys, you want to find out about their experience. A qualified attorney will not only be familiar with the laws that will best work for your situation, but he or she will also have ideas of how much money to request for damages such as pain and suffering, future medical expenses, and other items that you might not have considered. This will result in more money in your pocket.
What types of cases do our California pedestrian accident attorneys handle?
At the Law Offices of John C. Ye, we handle a variety of pedestrian accident cases including:
- Pedestrian accidents due to distracted or impaired driving
- Pedestrian accidents due to malfunctioning or missing signs
- Pedestrian accidents involving any vehicle (including buses, trains, motorcycles, or commercial trucks)
- Pedestrian accidents involving rideshare vehicles (like Uber or Lyft)
- Pedestrian accidents resulting in brain injuries or death
Right now, if you or your loved one has been involved in a pedestrian accident case, it can start to feel overwhelming. There’s lost work, pain, injury, suffering, and a quickly-growing mountain of bills. At the Law Offices of John C. Ye, we don’t want to be another one of your headaches. We’re here to help. Please give us a call and let us help you.
