Your phone can be a dangerous distraction when driving. If it is discovered that you were on the phone just before a crash happened, it could harm your ability to seek compensation.
Nevertheless, your phone can be very useful immediately after a crash. Let’s look at some examples.
Calling for assistance
In anything but the most minor of collisions, you should call 911. This does two things. It allows the police to come and document the scene and collect details from the parties involved. The officers’ report can be critical to the claim you later put in.
Secondly, that call can get you medical attention if needed. It is usually best to get an evaluation because some serious injuries are not obvious to the untrained eye. The medical report will also be critical in linking your injuries to the crash..
Next, you should use your phone to call your family or a friend. Ideally, one of them can drive you home if you are uninjured or meet you at the hospital. If you are supposed to be somewhere, such as at work, you might want to let someone know you won’t make it.
Collecting evidence
Your phone can be used to collect evidence at the crash scene. It can take photos or video that show the resting position of the vehicles involved, weather and road conditions and damage and injuries. You can snap a photo of the other party’s details to save having to write them down, and also potentially record some audio of what is said by those involved and bystanders who saw the crash happen. You can also voice record your own thoughts to help in later recounting what occurred.
You should then use your phone to let your insurer know you’ve been in a crash. Finally, if you get legal guidance, you can use the information you collected to build your compensation claim.