After Your North Carolina Car Accident – the Importance of Writing Things Down

June 6, 2011, by Michael A. DeMayo

Whether some dingbat rear ended you in a Bank of America parking lot in Downtown Raleigh or a truck violently sideswiped your minivan on I-95, you are likely reeling and overwhelmed from your North Carolina car accident.

It’s all too easy for accident victims – in their daze, panic, and frustration – to act impulsively and emotionally. This can be problematic, not only because it can worsen your situation (is it really going to help matters if you scream at the police officer who has come to provide assistance?) but also because, in your rage, confusion, and frustration, you may neglect to record critical elements that could later be extremely useful when it comes time to trying to get compensated for your injuries, vehicle damage, and other fees and costs.

Write it down!

Since accidents are so vivid when they happen, we mistakenly believe that we will “remember them forever.” But the science shows that this simply doesn’t happen. Our memories warp, change, and degrade over time – even minutes or hours after something happens, you may misremember how it occurred, where it occurred, how long it took to occur, and so forth – by surprisingly wide margins.

For instance, an emotionally vivid and disorientating experience may actually seem to take longer than it does in real time. The same thing goes for witness testimonies. For instance, a passenger in your car might have great witness testimony that would support your North Carolina car accident claim. But she is also subject to this “misremembering” bias.

Courts even tend to devalue testimony that’s remembered way after the fact because of the misremembering bias.

So what should you do in the wake of your crash?

First of all, take down all possible relevant information, including the vehicle VIN numbers, license numbers of any drivers involved, insurance information, phone numbers, pictures of the accident, pictures of your injury, police reports, et cetera, et cetera. If you are too hurt to get this information, ask someone at the scene or in your car to get the info for you. Write down witness statements. Take video of the post-crash scene on your cell phone. And continue to keep this written record as you do things like talk to attorneys and then discuss your situation with insurance companies.

The more meticulous you are about how you track the post accident, the easier it will be for your North Carolina car accident law firm to provide the kind of decisive, action oriented leadership you want to get money for your injury/damages and reclaim control over your life.

More Web Resources:

Write it down after an accident

Human memory is inaccurate