What Are th Most Common Mistakes Victims Make After Accidents in Florida?

In an accident, you are the victim. Nobody expects you to do anything, other than get yourself medical help, and protect yourself as best that you can. However, there are some mistakes that people make right after an accident that can, in some cases, threaten their ability to file a lawsuit, or which can sometimes let a business or person liable for your accident, off the hook completely.

Here are some mistakes commonly made by accident victims at the scene of the accident, or shortly afterward.

Not telling anybody – In a car accident, it is likely that the police will come to investigate; this is especially true if the cars are disabled. But in slip and fall accidents, it does happen that people fall, and if they are able to get up and walk away, that’s exactly what they do—they never tell the business or any of its employees, about the fall or the accident.

This is a big mistake. Although you can still legally sue and recover compensation even if you didn’t report an accident, it is much harder. Reporting the accident lets the business investigate the fall, and creates a record of the fall, verifying that it actually did happen, at the time and location that it happened.

Saying too much – After an accident, you have adrenaline pumping inside of you, and given the accident was traumatic, you may not even know exactly how the accident happened. Yet many accident victims will assume, estimate, guess or approximate the facts and circumstances of the accident after it happens.

No matter who asks you a question, if you aren’t sure of the answer, don’t answer the question. For example, you can say you fell on something wet, but that’s different from saying “I fell on ice cream that you left on the floor.”

You should also avoid taking blame. Legally, you don’t know who the law holds responsible for a given accident. Try to refrain from saying things like “I should have seen that puddle.” If you truly should have seen something you fell on, the facts of the case will bear that out—there is no need for you to say that, especially because, once again, given the immediacy of an accident and your adrenaline, you may not actually be in any condition to say what you could have or should have done.

Settling too early – Don’t be surprised if the other side contacts you shortly after the accident, to try to settle the case. Their offer may even seem pretty generous, or they may offer to pay for a doctor’s visit or two. But it is an offer that is often well below what you actually deserve; they are trying to get you to settle and then waive away your rights to collect anything further.

There is one way that you can avoid making any of these mistakes: Getting a qualified personal injury attorney. If you are in a fall, and are injured, call the Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys at Rosen Injury Law today.

Source:

ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/fall-prevention/toolkit/incident-reports.html