It can be hard to know where to turn when you’re involved in a traffic crash. Usually, confusion and even chaos follows after a traffic crash. Being involved in a crash is probably not something that you prepared for, and you might not know who to turn to for help.
When you’re in a crash, the police can help you in a few different ways. Responding to traffic crashes is one of the main duties of a road patrol police officer. Here are some of the ways that police officers can help you after you’re involved in a traffic crash:
Securing medical treatment
If you’re in a traffic crash, your most immediate need is getting proper medical treatment. This includes emergency medical treatment. Police officers are trained in first aid, and they’re often the first responders to arrive on the scene of a traffic crash. Police can administer CPR or basic first aid until emergency medical services arrive. This help can be critical to saving your life or the life of a loved one.
In addition to their first aid knowledge, police officers usually have a lot of experience tending to crash victims. They might sense that you need medical help even if you don’t realize it yourself. They can spot a concussion and help you prevent future injuries. After a crash, the police can help by making sure that you get this potentially lifesaving medical treatment.
Gathering witness information and statements
Another way that police can help after a crash is by identifying witnesses. Because police arrive on the scene relatively quickly after a crash, they’re in a great position to identify who is present at the scene. They gather witness contact information and take statements from people who are willing to tell them what they saw.
This can be critical information for your personal injury or defective product lawyer. Knowing who is at the scene is important to building your case. Your case might depend on these witness statements. The police can do an important job for you by gathering the names and contact information of the people who saw the crash.
Expert crash investigators
It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to have their own traffic crash scene investigators right on staff. Especially in the case of a serious crash, law enforcement wants to know what went wrong and why the crash occurred. Government departments oversee traffic safety administration, and they do this work with the goal of making the roads safer for vehicular travel.
This is helpful for you because law enforcement often conducts a thorough investigation of the crash before an attorney ever begins work on your case. Often, law enforcement arrives on the scene of the crash only minutes after the crash occurs. That gives them the best perspective to try and determine what went wrong.
Your attorney might agree with law enforcement’s assessment of the crime scene, and they might disagree with it. Either way, law enforcement has likely gathered critical evidence at the scene. Your attorney can use that work and build upon it.
Conclusion
When you’re in a car crash, the police can help in lots of different ways. They can make sure that you’re physically safe. They can help you get the medical services that you need. The police also help you gather critical witness information and investigate the crash scene. All of this can help your personal injury or defective product attorney prepare your case for court.
Mark Sadaka from Sadaka Associates, the leading Personal Injury Attorney, has a national practice and works with clients from New York to Alaska.