Experiencing a car crash while on vacation is a scary thing. You are in an unfamiliar place where you may not even speak the language and you are now involved in an incident that has derailed your whole trip. This is something that no one ever wants to deal with, but should still be prepared for it. If you are going to be traveling soon and you will be renting a car, then read through this article to know what to do in the unlikely event that you or someone you are with suffers an injury in a car crash while traveling.
Make Sure Everyone Is Safe
In the moments immediately following the crash, if you are able to move and remove yourself from the car, you should check on everyone else in the car. If the other vehicle involved in the crash is in worse shape or the other driver is not emerging from the vehicle, call the emergency phone number and make your way over to them to check their vitals. An important safety tip while traveling: always learn the local emergency phone number because it differs in every country and you never know when you are going to need it.
After the initial shock of the crash begins to pass, it is important to keep a level head and tell others in the vehicle not to move if anything hurts, especially if it is anywhere in the spine area. Spinal injuries can be worsened if you try to move the injured person without proper medical equipment. Assess the injuries of everyone involved and then wait for the ambulance to arrive.
Contact Local Authorities and Document the Scene
Immediately after a crash, the local authorities should be alerted so that they can close off the scene and redirect traffic. This creates a safe area and prevents any further injury from other oncoming vehicles. The local police can also help move vehicles to the side of the road and contact towing companies. They will also be the ones documenting the scene of the crash and taking notes from witnesses.
Although the police will be doing complete examination, you should also do some documentation if you are able. Take photos of all of the injuries as well as the crash site. These will help you later on when you are dealing with insurance and if the crash becomes a legal case. The best thing you can do after you have evaluated the whole situation is to contact a car crash attorney who can help walk you through your rights. If you were not the one responsible for the crash, your lawyer can help fight for your rights to medical compensation due to your injuries sustained in the crash.
Seek Medical Attention Immediately
Sometimes in car accidents, injuries do not present themselves at first because of the adrenaline pumping through everyone’s bodies. This is why it is important to go to the hospital to get a full examination, even if you do not believe you were injured. The doctors will be able to tell if there are any serious underlying problems that go further than just scratches and bruises.
Make sure that while you are at the hospital you get a copy of the full medical report because it could be important down the line as the accident is being evaluated. If you have to spend some time in the hospital after your car crash injury, keep track of all of the expenses because you may be able to be compensated for what you paid if you were not at fault.
Navigate The Rest of Your Trip Post-Injury
In the days following the car accident injury, you may still be traveling if the injury was not severe enough to cut the trip short. If you still plan on pushing through, make sure that you proceed with caution. Bruising and soreness may start to flare up a day or two after the initial impact and that may affect your ability to walk as much as you normally would.
There is also a good possibility that you will no longer have a car to drive around in, whether that’s because the car was towed and you cannot get another one or you do not feel comfortable getting behind the wheel again, you will have to find another form of transportation. You can opt for public transportation like trains and metros if you are in a city or get around by taxi. The best thing you can do post-crash is to take it easy and not push yourself too hard to have as good of a vacation as possible to make up for the accident. The last thing you want is to injure yourself further because you did too much.
Plan Your Return Home
If the injuries sustained from the car crash are too severe to continue the trip, you and your companions need to make an emergency plan for returning home. This may include buying last-minute plane tickets, which can get expensive. If the emergency expenses are due to the crash, you should keep a record of all of them so that if you take the crash to court, you can try to get them compensated.
Continue to Take Care of Yourself Once Home
Coming home from vacation should be relaxing with many memories to share with friends and family, but when a trip is derailed by something like a car accident, you might find the first few days and weeks back home to be depressing. Not only did your hard-earned trip get interrupted, but you now also have to recover from an injury as well. Make sure to not be too hard on yourself and focus your energies on feeling better and healing. Hopefully, in a few years, you will be able to tell this story at parties and look back at it as another speed bump in this journey we call life.
Dealing with a car crash injury while traveling is never something people expect to have to do, but if you find yourself in this situation, follow each of these must-take steps and know that you are not alone in the process of healing.
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