New Bedford Lawyer

Your health should be your priority. See a healthcare professional and follow their orders. During the case, do not discuss the accident with the at-fault party’s insurance company, as this could unintentionally help build their case against you. Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney will help you navigate the process.

• Dial 911 and report the accident. Let them know if there are any injuries and always request a rescue if you are injured.
• Never move your vehicle prior to the police arriving.
• If you are able to exit your vehicle, take pictures of the accident scene from a distance so that you can see all of the vehicles involved and all of the vehicles in one picture. Then take close-up pictures of each vehicle involved. Make sure to include the damage, license plate of the vehicle, and a picture of the driver.
• If there is a witness to the accident, ask them to wait for the police to arrive so they can give a statement. If they cannot wait, ask if you can take a picture of their identification and then include a picture of them holding their identification that you can read.
• Once the police arrive, make a statement as to how the accident occurred. Ensure that the police talk to the witness and takes their statement as well. If the witness left prior to the police arrival, show the police officer a picture of the witness and their identification, making sure that, on the police report, they are noted as a witness that had to leave before his arrival.
• If you are injured, never refuse medical treatment by rescue personnel.  Be transported by rescue to the nearest hospital to get medical treatment.

If the police are unable to respond and you or the other driver need to leave, you have two options:

1. 1. You and the other driver can agree to follow each other and meet at the police department to make a report.
   2. If you are not going to meet at the police department to make a report, you should exchange the following information to include a copy of their license, motor vehicle registration, insurance card, a picture of their license plate, and a picture of the other driver. Remember, you should have documented photos of the scene of the accident and damages to vehicles as well.

Many personal injury cases are complex, so consider hiring a personal injury attorney like Rob Levine & Associates.  We will do our best to investigate, obtain the facts, and help you understand your options.  At Rob Levine & Associates, we do not charge for consultations.

If you are a victim of a bus accident, you are entitled to recover the same damages as any other personal injury case, to include: lost wages, medical bills, pain & suffering, property damage, out of pocket expenses, scarring, compensation for any permanent injury, and compensation for any future medical costs.

You must see a healthcare professional right after your accident, whether or not you feel pain. Your body’s natural adrenaline will likely kick in, meaning your body is in initial shock. Once that wears off, you will be able to feel the effects of your injuries.

A personal injury case is when you have suffered harm as a result of another person or entity's negligence. Negligence is defined as duty, breach, causation, and damages. Duty means that the defendant owed you a duty or care as a reasonably prudent person (RPP) under the circumstances in the shoes the defendant was in. Breach means that they violated the RPP standard and put you in a position of peril, having both actual or constructive notice as well as the opportunity to cure the defect. Causation is the link between their breach of the standard of care and the injury or damages that you have suffered. That link must be reasonably foreseeable and there should not be another intervening or superseding cause that caused your damages.  Damages are the harm that you suffered directly caused by the defendant's breach of the standard of care. If you meet those four elements, you have shown the defendant is negligent and you have a viable personal injury case.

A collision between a commercial vehicle and a car could likely be caused by malfunctioning equipment on the truck, driver negligence, or negligence on behalf of the trucking company. There are also larger blind spots on commercial vehicles, which means they are unable to respond to certain hazards with the same reaction time as a car. Other factors could include:

• Excessive driving hours causing the truck driver to be driving to the point of exhaustion.
• Unrealistic schedules resulting in the driver taking unnecessary risks and driving at unnecessary speeds.