Tips From Personal Injury Lawyers for Staying Safe With Car Trouble

As personal injury lawyers, we represent clients that have been injured in a car wreck. Sometimes these accidents occur due to car trouble that can be avoided with proper maintenance or by paying attention to the signs. If you are in a wreck, we encourage you to call our office and schedule a consultation. This way, we can determine the cause of the accident, ensure that your rights are protected, and help you to receive the financial compensation you need to pay for medical bills and other expenses. Still, we prefer to have our clients avoid injury in the first place. With that in mind, here are some tips to follow if you are driving and have sudden car trouble.

• Pay attention to the signs. If you notice that your car is sounding strange, turn off the radio, ask everyone to be quiet and listen. If strange noises are being made, move to the far right lane and pay attention to how your car is driving.  If nothing else is the matter, pull into a well-lit parking lot so that you can walk around your vehicle and see if anything is wrong like a flat or leaking tire.
• Alert other drivers. If something is wrong with your vehicle, it is important that you do what you can to alert other drivers and avoid an accident. For example, if your car stops accelerating or is overheating, you will need to get to the side of the road. Put your hazards on and your lights so that other cars can see what you are doing and notice in time to avoid you. When you do get to the side of the road, you will want to pop your hood open since this is easier to notice than a car that is simply parked. As personal injury lawyers, we have seen plenty of people become injured on the side of the road, so grabbing the attention of other drivers with flairs is also advisable as long as you can set them up safely.
• Get to safety. Unfortunately, it is all too common for people to be injured while standing on the side of the road, next to their car. To stay safe, we recommend that you and your passengers exit your vehicle on the passenger side and stand a few feet away from it – the further the better. This is the safest place to be when your car has broken down since waiting in front or behind of it has been known to cause injuries.
• Call for help. As personal injury lawyers, we recommend calling AAA, a tow truck or the state patrol right away. Have a professional assist you by towing your car and call a cab so that your passengers can get off the road to safety.

If you do experience car trouble and get into an accident, as a result, call and speak with one of our personal injury lawyers. We can review your case and help to make sure that your rights are protected, even if the accident occurred while you were having car trouble.