The words calm and accident don’t naturally go together. Anxiety and accident, and anger and accident seem a better fit. But while those may be your instinctive emotions following a collision, these are not the ones to give your energy to.
Remaining calm in stressful situations is a goal we all need to work toward. This response can be a phenomenal tool to the better observation of the environment, greater clarity in steps next taken, and a more solid guarantee for being fully compensated.
However, if you live in Georgia Brock Manini Jury Lawyer is ready to help you ensure the best outcome possible.
Call Your Attorney
Your job is to comfort yourself sensibly, not worry about how to fight the insurance agencies or sue the person responsible. Leave all these extras to your personal injury lawyer. If you live in Winter Haven, Lakeland, or Tampa, the Brooks Law Group is ready and awaiting your call to spring into action on your behalf.
With over twenty years of experience with trials and battling insurance companies, these lawyers are certain they will emerge victorious with your case and so offer a free consultation and subsequent non-payment unless your case is won.
Be it a car accident, a rideshare collision, a motorcycle accident, or a wrongful death suit, you know who to call for prompt and efficient representation.
Work Smartly
Immediately after a crash, depending on the severity, it is likely you will be disoriented. Take some time for the confusion to dissipate. Once your mind is functioning more clearly, get to work. Whip out your smartphone and begin photo or video documentation of the scene.
Get footage of everything. The damage, your injuries, witnesses, and the other person’s vehicle. Should the driver at fault get angry at you for taking pictures or video, stop. Your safety is paramount. Recommence in the presence of the officer. This footage will be critical to substantiating your claims should this case make its way to court.
If the other driver or drivers involved are more remorseful and are willing to provide their insurance details, retrieve that information. Verify as much of that information as you can against their drivers’ license.
Contact Your Insurance Agency
This is assuming you have up-to-date coverage and have decided to go it alone, without the help of an attorney. Claims can take a long time to get sorted, so the sooner you make contact, the better for you. They will cover all the steps required to submit a claim. If you know it will be difficult to remember it all, jot down some points.
You should also feel free to re-contact them to get any clarity you need on the course of action to take. Having an estimate of the value of your car would be useful to the company when deciding how much to pay or if it would be more economical to repair or simply replace the vehicle.
A word of advice is never to accept the first deal offered to you. It is in the very nature of insurance companies to low-ball you initially. If they are convinced of your inexperience, that is something they will gladly take advantage of.
You may end up going back and forth a few times until a suitable offer is given. Remember, if at any point you feel overwhelmed by the process, it is not too late to call upon the aid of a professional. Nothing is final until you sign on that dotted line.
Take Some Deep Breaths
You might be wondering how exactly you can remain calm in such a situation. The key is to breathe deeply and purposefully. The more you do this, the more oxygen you supply to your brain which will help it perform better. Deep breaths are also proven to help reduce anxiety and even anger.
Short and shallow breathing is associated with reinforcement of the fight or flight mechanism we all have. This will provoke the release of adrenaline, stimulating your system for action. What you want is the opposite. Long deep breaths interrupt this mechanism allowing you to effectively calm yourself.
Turn On Some Music
Music therapy is a real thing. Put on some music you like, unless what you like are heavy metal and hard rock. You want tunes that soothe and help you relax. Pull out your headphones and allow yourself to be momentarily transported out of your current troubling situation. If you can close your eyes and block out the environmental imageries and sounds, even better.
Music is a tool that can penetrate deeply into the spirit of a person and transform them. Although everything within you may be screaming to move, to scream, refute those, and choose to go a more peaceful route.
The clearer you make your faculties, and the calmer you get your body, the more you will be able to act with purpose and direction. This will be priceless when faced with a difficult situation like an accident.
