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Good Advice for Victims of Minor Car Accidents

With minor car accidents, there’s always good and bad advice that comes with handling the wreck, and while it’s easy to spot the bad advice, a lot of the good advice sounds like it’s a lot of work.

What you’ll find here is good advice that does require some effort, but on the whole, it is not hard to complete. Some of these items seem intimidating, but after you understand a little bit about what they serve and how easy they are to complete, it can be a huge weight off your shoulders.

Always File a Crash Report, Even for Minor Car Accidents

Filing a crash report is not this huge to-do that people think it is, and you don’t need an officer on the scene. When you’re dealing with a minor wreck, it’s very likely that Cincinnati PD won’t respond unless the other driver seems drunk or aggressive. What you can do then is to file a crash report through a local office.

Although Cincinnati only allows reporting crimes online, going into a local department and filing a report doesn’t usually take more than five minutes. Ideally, you’ll have all the information from the crash, including the other driver’s info and insurance information. This report serves as a formal document of the crash, and you’re not snitching on anyone or providing a statement that could result in some terrible outcome. What you’re doing is outlining what happened, where the wreck took place, and who was involved.

Having this report can help if the other driver decides to sue you, our if you need to open a claim against them. It will be a big help if you end up requiring a Cincinnati, OH car wreck attorney.

Always Report Minor Car Accidents to Your Insurance Company

Now, not every minor car accident results in a claim. Many people don’t mind a scrape or a scratch and would rather look at the damage than pay their $500 deductible. But you should still report the crash to your insurance. You can report a wreck to your provider for auto insurance without opening a claim.

You will need to be very strict with your insurance provider that you’re not looking to file a claim. For example, you might call and only say, “I was in a minor accident on January 1st in over-the-Rhine, but I don’t want to open any claim at this time.”

The “at-this-time” statement is important because if you’re going to do anything later, you want to have that opportunity open. What informing your insurance company does is it protects you in the sense of not knowing whether the other person will open a claim. While your car may be relatively fine, their car may not. You don’t want to get a call from your insurance provider asking why you didn’t inform them of your recent crash.

Get a Check-Up

It seems overkill, but honestly, just schedule a check-up with your doctor in a week or two at a time that’s convenient for you. The result is that you’ll have documentation that you did your part to ensure that everything was okay. But there might not be something that’s “okay,” and you may need medical attention for something that you didn’t know happened during the wreck.

Consider a Defensive Driving Course Near You

If you’re experiencing any anxiety or are worried that you could have taken some action, then consider a course. Defensive driving courses can even help you to save some money on your insurance rates. These classes help you learn how to evaluate the road and identify future crashes. The result is safer drivers on the road, and that’s never a bad thing. Creating safer roads for everyone can help reduce the chance of future accidents.

Think About Talking to a Local Car Accident Attorney in Cincinnati

When you have a minor wreck, it might seem as though nothing is really a big deal. But, if you need any medical attention or care or have basic property damage, it might be necessary. The small things that happen during a minor accident can unveil big problems. For example, if the other driver did not have enough insurance or had no insurance at all, that could be a big problem. It might mean that you need someone to legally handle your claim, past the extent of your insurance company.

Contact Young, Reverman & Mazzei. We’re a local Cincinnati, OH car accident law firm. Our team handles crash large and small because we understand that both require help to obtain financial compensation.

Jay A. Bolotin is a partner at the injury law firm of Young, Reverman & Bolotin. Serving the people of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, Jay dedicates his career to helping clients in the tri-state area obtain financial compensation after suffering serious injuries. He focuses his practice on cases involving car accidents, trucking accidents, dog bites and animal attacks, and other types of personal injury incidents.

Years of Experience: More than 25 years
Registration Status:: Active
Bar Admissions: Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Cincinati Bar Association