Indiana Injury: Take Notes, Just In Case
You don’t have to be driving an Indy car to be at risk. Injury can be just around the corner from your house.
Follow along.
It’s a glorious, sunny Saturday morning. You’re walking to your local drug store. At the street crossing you wait for the crossing signals to change to ‘walk’. You look both ways to be sure the intersection is clear, and then you start across the street, staying within the painted crosswalk lines. Suddenly, a vehicle turns into your path, hitting you and knocking you hard to the ground.
You’re hurt and in pain! And through no fault of your own. You were following the rules.
What do you do?!
You’re in a daze, and they won’t let you move —they being a police officer and/or an ambulance EMT. Obviously, if needed, get medical care immediately.
Then (and this is important): As soon as you are physically able to, write down on paper EVERYTHING you can remember about the accident. Put down as much detail as you can recall (your memory tends to fade with time). This may well come in helpful later.
Once you can, obtain a copy of the police report about the accident (and this may take a couple of weeks for the police officer to complete due to his/her paper-work backload). You can easily obtain one through the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. This report may note that the driver who hit you did something wrong; if the driver was cited, it will be noted thereon as well.
Many Indianapolis injury attorneys, who specialize in personal injury law suits, offer free over-the-phone advice. If you’re unsure as to which ones, check out the local Yellow Pages or simply call the attorney and ask for an Indiana personal injury attorney. If your injury claim is too small for them to handle, they should tell you. Indiana has a statutory monetary limit on “minor” accidents. If your claim falls below the statutory limit, you can ultimately (if you have to) all likelihood can take the defendant (the person who injured you) to your County’s Small Claims Court. And the attorney should tell you this.
Don’t rush into settling with the defendant’s insurance company. You have two years to attempt to resolve your claim — you can confirm this with the attorney you talked with over the phone.
