Are You Hurting Your Own Auto Accident Case?
An auto accident can many times be the precipitating event that leads to a stressful time in your life as you strive to recover and cope with bills. Because this time can so often be hard for someone experiencing it, there's a chance you could be hurting your own case without realizing. Here's how.
Ignoring Medical Care
Even if an ambulance showed up in the minutes following the accident, you may have shrugged off emergency personnel and declined a trip to the ER. However, even if you think you're just mentally exhausted from the events of the day, it's vital that you receive medical care.
Why should you get medical care if you don't think it's necessary? For one thing, some head injuries, such as concussions, are sometimes not immediately apparent to someone without medical training. In fact, if you do have a concussion, you may find that symptoms arrive and worsen over time. Not only that, but being in an accident can mean that some internal bleeding is a risk. Even if you aren't bleeding internally or have any head injuries, being able to deliver a professional medical report detailing your condition can be vital when trying to prove what transpired.
In addition to a professional examination, you also have to take what the doctor says seriously. If they ask you not to do yard work, don't decide later that you feel well enough to rake and bag dead leaves. This can delay your recovery, but more insidiously, this could cause trouble for you legally. Insurance companies and other lawyers can retain investigators to look into your activities; they might speak to neighbors or co-workers don't realize that they're saying anything negative and end up spilling the beans about the time you spent playing ball with the kids or lifting heavy boxes of paper at work.
Withholding Embarrassing Life Details
You didn't ask for or expect your auto accident. Nevertheless, dealing with its fallout can mean that you need to discuss personal information with people you don't know very well. You may be still trying to work out a past alcohol problem or not want to talk about past reckless mistakes that resulted in injuries. It's possible that you decide on your own to withhold such information from everyone. This can be a bad decision.
Without all pertinent information, your auto accident attorney is unable to defend you in a complete way. The lawyer representing your adversary could bring up past problems and use those embarrassing details in open court to discredit you and everything you hope to prove about the accident. Give your lawyer the information first so they can best protect you.
Don't ruin your case by doing the things above. Ensure communication with your attorney remains productive so you prevail.
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