Drunk driving accidents are not uncommon in Arizona. In fact, the Department of Transportation shows that there were more than 3,600 individuals who sustained injuries as a result of drunk drivers. Most recent reporting year of data on file. Here, our experienced Phoenix car accident lawyers examine the steps you can take if you are involved in an accident with a drunk driver on Arizona roadways.
Assess the Situation and Seek Medical Care
The first step after any vehicle accident is assessing the immediate safety of yourself and any other person in your vehicle. It is important to perform a quick assessment to see if there are any severe injuries. If there are, these injuries are the priority. However, please understand that the signs and symptoms of some car accident injuries do not appear for hours after the initial incident occurs. Any person involved in a drunk driving accident needs to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
Call 911 and Report the Crash
After assessing the immediate situation, you need to dial 911 and let the police dispatcher know what happened. The dispatcher will get law enforcement officials moving towards the scene along with appropriate fire and EMS personnel.
The police need to get to the scene to conduct their initial investigation of the incident and fill out the accident report. If the other driver was indeed impaired by alcohol, it is likely that they will be arrested by law enforcement officials.
Gather Evidence if You Can
It may be possible to gather evidence at the scene of the incident, but you or those around you should only do so if it is safe. This can include getting out your cell phone and taking pictures of everything at the scene, including vehicle damage, injuries, causes of the crash, license plate numbers, and the surrounding area. If there happened to be any eyewitnesses or those in other vehicles involved, it is important to get their contact information written down promptly. These individuals may be able to give statements that can help back up an insurance claim or help provide evidence to a Phoenix personal injury lawyer to support your personal injury lawsuit.
Contact a Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
A drunk driving accident lawyer in Phoenix needs to assist with this process moving forward. We encourage you to reach out to an attorney within a day or so after the incident occurs. Your lawyer can be the one to handle the process of filing the claim against the other driver’s insurance carrier, along with speaking to your insurance carrier. An attorney will direct you toward medical professionals who can thoroughly document the treatment that you currently need and may need in the future as a result of your injuries.
Continue Medical Treatment
We encourage all drunk driving accident victims to continue the medical treatment recommended by their doctor. This includes physical therapy and rehabilitation, using any medical devices recommended, and going to all follow-up visits. Discontinuing care before a doctor recommends doing so could ultimately harm any injury claim against the other party or parties involved.