What to do if you are involved in an automobile accident involving an injury:

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1. Try to remain as calm as possible. Auto accidents are traumatic events, especially if you are injured.

2. Call the police. Do not accept any excuse for them not writing a report. I cannot tell you how many times people say one thing at the accident scene, and then say something else once they leave the scene. Having the police come and make a record will help you prove who was at fault in the accident. Having any complaints of injury documented on the police report also helps to document the fact that your injury indeed came from the accident. Dallas area police are sometimes reluctant to report on accidents, but you need the information on their reports to protect your rights.

3. Gather witness information. Sometimes witnesses stop and volunteer their information. Many times, in the Dallas area, they don't. If there is an injury involved, many times it is difficult to think about witnesses, but you must protect yourself. Look around the accident scene, ask for the names, addresses and phone numbers of people who may have seen or heard the accident, or the admissions of liability after the accident that the other drivers may make. If the witness overhears the other driver admitting they were at fault, that is admissible in court. Get that person's information so your lawyer can use it to convince the insurance company to settle your case.

4. Take pictures of the accident scene if possible. Obviously, if you have suffered an injury, you will very likely be unable to take pictures. Call a friend, spouse, or relative to come to the scene as soon as possible to document the positions of the vehicles, where the debris is located, and the conditions of the vehicles. Insurance companies deny countless injury claims based on injured people's inability to prove the severity of the impact. If you cannot prove that the impact was more than a fender-bender, the insurance company will attempt to deny your injury claim based on the argument that "your injury could not possibly have been caused by such a minimal impact".

In order to collect for an injury, you will need to be able to show that your injury was "caused" by the accident, and not due to some "other reason" (such as trying to make a claim, or blaming a preexisting injury on an accident). Even though such incidents are rare, the fact that they do sometimes occur causes insurance companies to closely scrutinize each and every claim.

5. Gather all insurance information at the scene. At the scene of an accident, with the police present, most people are cooperative about giving out this type of information. Once you leave the scene, your ability to gather this information decreases. Some people refuse to give this information at all after you leave the accident scene, which makes getting your vehicle repaired, and settling any injury claims you may have, very difficult.

6. If there are injuries, call an ambulance. Just after an accident, when the adrenaline is pumping, people might not realize just how serious their injury is. If you, or anyone, is injured in the accident, EMS should be called to evaluate the injury and make sure it is not life threatening. People who are walking around and appearing normal can sometimes have life-threatening injuries that can and will kill that person if they don't receive treatment immediately. Internal injuries cannot be seen. A person may appear perfectly "normal" to you, but if they are complaining of pain, they need to be diagnosed as soon as possible.

7. Get your own estimate for the damage to your vehicle. The insurance companies almost always write the estimate for less than the actual damage. There are several reasons for this. First, they would rather be on the low side than the high side. Second, if you decide to keep the money and not fix the car, they end up paying less this way. Third, the lower the amount of damage to the car, the less likely a jury will believe that someone suffered an injury in an accident. So there are several incentives for an insurance company to low-ball you on your estimate. Be sure and get your own estimate to make sure you aren't being taken advantage of.