Over 1 million road accidents occur each year in the UK. The majority of these incidents are only minor and people walk away unharmed. However, some are far more serious and result in injuries being sustained and in some cases, even fatalities. In such situations a personal injury claim for compensation can be made.

Whenever you get behind the wheel of a car or ride a motorbike, you have a duty of care to yourself and other road users.  Unfortunately, sometimes people do not act responsibly behind the wheel and cause an injury to themselves and or others. You can make a road accident claim as a passenger, driver, cyclist or even a pedestrian as long as someone else is at fault for the incident and your injuries.

What to do if you Are Involved in a Road Accident

If you sustain an injury whilst involved in a road accident, I understand that the chances of you being able to think about what to do in the case you make a claim are remote, but if you can, try to do the following:

Exchange driver details ­– It is essential that you talk to the other driver(s) involved and take down their details, such as phone number and address. You will need to contact them if an injury claim is made and they were at fault or are a witness. If the other driver is at fault, avoid getting into a blame game conversation as you could say something you may regret and this could possibly adversely affect your personal injury claim.

Talk to witnesses – Witnesses are key to any personal injury claim as they can give an impartial view of what happened. If a witness can confirm your version of events then be sure to speak to them at the time of the accident if possible and take down their details. If you aren’t in a fit state to talk to witnesses, try and get someone else to talk to them or find them at a later date.

Seek medical attention – Your health is the most important thing, so make sure that you seek medical attention at the first possible moment. Not only will a doctor be able to treat you, they will also write up a report that states what injuries you have sustained and how they will impact your life. This acts as a vital piece of evidence in any claim as it informs people as to exactly what is wrong with you.

Find a personal injury solicitor – Once you have gathered some initial evidence to support your claim, you will need to find a personal injury solicitor who can manage the case. Try to find a solicitor who either specialises in road accident claims or has successfully handled a similar case before as this will give you a far better chance of having a successful claim.

In the meantime, if you would like a quick compensation estimate then it is suggested that you use an injury compensation calculator. This will provide you with a rough estimate for your injuries based on the average pay-out amounts of previous claims. However, your solicitor will be able to give you a more accurate figure once you meet with them.

Injury Claim Specialists is one of the UK’s leading personal injury advice websites. We pride ourselves on offering easy to understand, plain English injury claims advice on a wide range of different injury related topics. There are also a number of extremely useful tools such as the Compensation Calculator, which can give you a compensation estimate in less than a second, and the Injury Claims Guide is at hand to answer all of your personal injury related questions.