Treat a sideswipe as you would any other type of traffic accident. Stop at the roadside immediately, check yourself and others for injuries, call 911 to report the crash, exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver, and take pictures or video of the damage to your vehicle and the accident scene (but only if you can do so safely). Equally, if not more, important as the steps above, however, are the actions you take in the hours, days, and weeks after your sideswipe accident. Following the tips below can help protect your legal and financial rights. Seek Prompt Medical Attention Seek medical attention as soon as possible after any sideswipe accident. Some accident victims decline treatment at the scene or choose not to go to the doctor because they feel okay or think they only suffered minor bumps and bruises. But that can be a deadly mistake. Some life-threatening injuries—like brain trauma or internal bleeding—don’t necessarily show symptoms immediately. And the stress of getting into an accident can mask pain. Seeking prompt medical attention is the only safe way to diagnose or rule out severe car accident injuries. In addition, seeking treatment immediately after an accident ensures documentation of the injuries you suffered because of the sideswipe accident. Medical records can serve as valuable evidence in seeking compensation. They can also protect you against someone disputing the cause of your trauma. Stick to Your Medical Treatment Plan If an initial examination reveals accident-related injuries, your rights to compensation will also depend in part on the efforts you make to get better. No one expects you to be a superhero. But it’s important to make reasonable efforts to stick to your treatment plan if you want to obtain full, fair payment. So, go to your follow-up appointments, do your physical therapy, take your medications, and obey any instructions to limit your activities. Be Careful When Dealing With Insurance You likely carry auto insurance and that means you probably also have an obligation to notify your auto insurance company about the sideswipe accident. If your insurance covers damage to your vehicle, giving that notice will prompt your insurer to open a claim file and begin deciding how much to pay you. Be careful. In any conversation with you, an insurance adjuster will look for reasons to justify denying or limiting the amount of your payout. Stick to the facts and do not get drawn into a discussion of whether the accident was your fault. If someone else’s insurance company reaches out to you to discuss the accident, be doubly careful. The principal reasons you’d hear from another party’s insurer are if it believes it has liability for your losses or that you caused the accident. In either case, the insurer will press you for information it can use to avoid paying a claim to you or its policyholder. In most cases, you have no obligation to speak with someone else’s insurance company, and it’s usually best to avoid doing so until you have a clear picture of your rights. An experienced sideswipe accident injury lawyer can advise you about your rights and obligations under any insurance policy covering your losses. An attorney can also handle all interactions with insurance companies on your behalf. Often, the smartest way to deal with insurance is to leave it to a legal professional who knows how to advocate for your interests and negotiate a settlement for the maximum available compensation. Stay Off Social Media Lots of people chronicle their lives on social media, but it’s a risky thing to do while recovering from a sideswipe accident injury. Insurance adjusters and defense lawyers monitor social accident victims’ media feeds for evidence they might use to defeat an injury claim. Even innocent posts can get twisted and mischaracterized in a way that harms your right to compensation. The safest way to avoid making a costly mistake is to limit your posting—and never to post anything about your accident or injury—until your claim has been resolved.