Car Accidents in Pinellas Park

If you have been injured in a car accident in Pinellas Park, Florida, you will likely have many questions about what to do next. At St Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in these unfortunate accident claims. Our office is located only a few miles from the City of Pinellas Park and we have handled countless car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, and other auto accident claims in the city. Reasons for the Volume of Car Accidents in Pinellas Park Pinellas Park is a densely populated city in the most densely populated county in the state of Florida. Not only are there many elderly drivers in the area, but tourists and commuters are huge culprits in contributing to careless driving. When you add in the sheer volume of auto traffic moving on roads in Pinellas Park on a daily basis, it should not be a surprise that many people are seriously injured in car accidents. Some areas that we always are contacted for accidents is the intersection of US 19 and Park Blvd and the Shoppes at Park Place. All along Park Blvd. and 66th St. N we see increased numbers of accidents as well. Needless to say, on any heavily traveled road in Pinellas Park, there is an increased safety risk. What to Do Immediately After the Car Accident? If you have been in an accident, always contact the police. Many people make the mistake of simply exchanging insurance information. This exchange is not enforceable by law and often causes confusion and regret. So, err on the side of caution and get law enforcement involved. The law enforcement agencies assigned to handle the investigation with be Pinellas Park PD or the Florida Highway Patrol. In certain circumstances, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will assist PPPD. While on the scene, make sure that you take pictures of the cars and the people involved. Also, try to get contact information for any witnesses. Do not rely on law enforcement to get information for you. Unfortunately, I have found that in too many accident reports, contact information for witnesses has been left off or documented incorrectly, thus losing the identity of a witness forever. When to Seek Medical Care? My advice after every car accident is to get checked out as soon as possible. I understand that this is inconvenient for people to do. In serious cases, the pain will be immediate, but it is also entirely common for the soreness to set in hours later or even the next morning. If you need emergency medical care, go to the hospital. Northside Hospital, St. Pete General, or Largo Medical are all convenient options are relatively close to Pinellas Park. If your injuries do not rise to the level of hospital care, then go to an urgent care facility. There are many urgent care centers nearby. But, never wait to get checked out because you hope that your pain or stiffness will go away. Any delay in receiving this initial treatment will forever prejudice the value of your claim. Since your medical care will be paid for by your own auto insurance PIP or no-fault, there is truly nothing to lose and nothing to risk. When to Contact a Car Accident Lawyer? Setting up an injury claim is a no-risk proposition. It does not require you to put any money down and the car accident lawyer only gets paid once the money is recovered for you. Thus, there should be no reason to delay in speaking with an attorney. The benefit of getting a lawyer involved quickly is twofold. First, the lawyer can assist in navigating all of the calls from the insurance adjusters. It can be confusing in the days after the accident trying to figure out what insurance adjuster is calling from what company and for what reason. Truly, only an experienced car accident lawyer will be able to provide you with the correct information about what is going on with all of the claims that need to be set up. For example, you may have property damage adjusters contacting you from multiple companies about repairs to the car, a PIP adjuster, and an injury adjuster all trying to contact and interview you. The benefit of having a lawyer involved is also to direct all of these inquiries to the lawyer’s office for response. This takes a huge burden off the injured person and ensures that the correct information is transmitted. The second important benefit to involving an attorney quickly is to advise on your medical treatment. As will be discussed in more detail below, the timing and location of your treatment will greatly affect your recovery as well as how much your claim is worth. Where to Get Medical Treatment After a Car Accident? Fortunately, Pinellas Park is centrally located in Pinellas County and getting to respected and quality medical providers is usually not an issue. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we ensure that our clients are referred to providers that place our client’s health first. The providers that we work with are all specialists in the field of car accident injuries and have helped previous clients. We also ensure that the medical providers that we work with are fair with their bills and do not expose our clients to huge medical bill liability if the case does not work out. Thus, we encourage our clients to start treatment immediately and to follow the advice of their doctor in order to get better faster and improve the monetary value of the injury claim. Contact St Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas Hiring a lawyer is an important decision that will affect every aspect of your claim. So, finding the right lawyer who is near you, has experience with cases in Pinellas Park, and is trustworthy should be your goal. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we have the experience, resources, and knowledge to handle any claim. More importantly, we care about the well-being of our clients. Their success in getting better and then recovering compensation for their losses is our goal in every case. I understand that the day following an accident is stressful and overwhelming, but I invite you to read our numerous five-star reviews and learn about how others have trusted us with their cases and how we have delivered. While I hope that you are not injured in a car accident in Pinellas Park or anywhere else, if you are, please contact me for a free consultation.