Accidents Happen

It’s difficult to understate the prevalence of driving in Southern California. So much so that last April, the nonprofit newsroom CalMatters published a report claiming “court records and driving histories reveal a state so concerned with people having access to motor vehicles for work and life that it allows deadly drivers to share our roads despite the cost.” According to their assessment of DMV records, “Nearly 40% of drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter since 2019 have a valid license.”

So it should go without saying that accidents are going to happen. And when they do, drivers need to know the steps to protect themselves in the aftermath.

At the Accident Site

Be mindful of your physical wellbeing. “A lot of times injuries don’t develop until days or weeks or even months later,” says Emanuel Abrishami, personal injury lawyer for One Law Group in Beverly Hills.

Concurrently, he says: “Be careful as to what you are saying to the person who hit your car. The defendant’s insurance carrier and attorneys will weaponize anything you say. Do not be modest and say you are fine if you are truly not doing fine, because the defendant will weaponize those statements later on and dispute your injuries.”

You should also think carefully about on-the-spot offers to settle liability. If you make such an agreement and medical bills come later, you may be paying them yourself. 

“Watch out for strong-arming,” Abrishami adds. “Sometimes people will want to give you a nominal amount hoping it will make you go away. But a case can be worth more than 10 times what the defendant or their insurance carrier offers on the spot.”

If you are able, start gathering information at the crash scene with your cell phone camera, says Abrishami. Beyond the vehicles and people involved, photograph the surroundings—they can give clues to other possible defendants. He gives an example of a road or construction crew that had failed to make the road at the construction site safe. “That entity can be liable,” he says, “for the dangerous condition of a public property or creating a roadway defect.”

Beyond gathering information from the accident site, Neyleen S. Ortiz-Beljajev, an attorney at Beljajev Law Group in Seal Beach, urges clients with physical injuries to keep a written and photographic record of their trauma.

“Write everything that happened down, write your sensory images—what did you see and hear and feel as the accident happened? It’s amazing how quickly the brain, as it heals, forgets traumatic incidents.” 

Dealing with Insurance

Reporting the incident to your insurance company is a natural next step, but it can be a good idea to talk to a lawyer first.

“Even before you talk to your own insurance company,” says Eric Bonholtzer, an injury attorney at Bonholtzer Law in Pasadena. “The insurance adjusters are very savvy and have been known to manipulate clients into saying things that aren’t true.” 

He describes a scenario at the accident scene in which the at-fault party calls their insurer and puts the other driver on the phone. The driver who’s been hit may start giving details of the accident that complicate damage claims down the road.

And especially before you talk to the other party’s insurance company. A California law that kicked in last year doubles the minimum liability limits for bodily injury in a car accident to $30,000, and triples the per-person insurance coverage limits on property damage to a minimum of $15,000. As a result, lawyers say drivers should consider purchasing uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

“Reckless drivers, not surprisingly, act recklessly in other ways,” says Ortiz-Beljajev. “Often they are the ones causing massive catastrophic injuries in big accidents, and those are the ones who typically don’t have adequate insurance coverage.”

Finally, though tensions can run high at the scene of a collision, Ortiz-Beljajev tells her clients to be compassionate—to themselves and others. 

“I would say the biggest mistake people make is simply being rude,” says Ortiz-Beljajev. “It’s so important to be a decent human. Take a moment to ask how the other person is doing. That really goes a long way. Accidents happen, and a little kindness can completely change the course of how things unfold.”