Auto accident

Capture the scene and your recovery

Note the road, the direction each vehicle was travelling, the weather and the light. Photograph the vehicles where they stopped before anything is moved, then the damage close up. Take the other driver's details, the registration, the insurer and the police reference if officers attend. Dashcam footage and nearby business cameras are usually overwritten within days, so ask early.

Record what you know without guessing at fault. If you are unsure about something, write down that you are unsure — that is more useful later than a confident guess, and nobody expects you to have a complete account.

What tends to decide cases like this

Insurers usually make contact within days, often before anyone has seen a doctor twice. Keep a note of every call: who rang, what they asked and what you agreed to. A recorded statement given early, while you are still working out how badly you are hurt, is difficult to revisit later. Symptoms that arrive a day or two afterwards — neck stiffness, headaches, disturbed sleep — belong in the medical record even if they seem minor at the time.

What can affect a claim like this

The evidence, the law that applies where it happened, the deadlines that apply to that kind of claim, and the circumstances all matter. Someone else’s result does not determine yours, and no figure on this site is a prediction for any case.

An attorney looks at how serious the injury is and how clearly it is documented, what care has been needed, whether the effects are expected to last, what income has been lost, who was responsible and what evidence shows it. Where responsibility is shared, how that is treated differs from state to state.

How to start

Choose auto accident in the form, add the state and city where it happened, and tell us how to reach you. It takes about a minute, nothing is sent until you press send, and you can stop at any point. Find A Tough Lawyer is a legal media and lead-generation service, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice.

Check your case factors — five questions, nothing sent

Can these settlements predict my result?

No. Any figure below is one case, reported by the source named beneath it. They are other people’s cases — not our results, not typical, and not a prediction for anyone else. What a particular claim is worth depends on the evidence, responsibility, treatment, losses, future needs, insurance and the law of that state.

Published settlement context

Every case we hold, with its source