Car accidents are both intense and stressful but they are a part of life even though a terrible one. Your teen driver has a much higher chance of being involved in a car accident than a middle aged counterpart.
This can be due to distracted driving or simply lack of experience in certain situations.
Driver’s education does a great job but sometimes it cannot teach the need for a split second decision due to the error of another driver. The following are what you need to tell your teen to do if they have been involved in some sort of accident.
Call You First
The odds are that the accident occurred somewhere near your home as this is where a majority of accidents do happen. If you are free go to the accident scene as your teen could be quite rattled after being involved in the accident. You being there as their parent is the perfect form of support for your teen. The other driver could become abusive so make sure you are aware of this when pulling up to the accident.
Don’t Admit Fault
The police are sure to be there before you if they have a unit near the scene of the accident. This means that your teen might have to give their statement of what happened to the officer.
Tell your teen that even if they think it is their fault to just tell the officer the order of events. Do not give other details like how they were feeling or if they were distracted as this could end in the officer putting your teen at fault even if they were not. Distracted driving is dangerous so if a teen admits to texting it can overturn what an officer would have decided.
Don’t Move If Back or Neck Hurt
The most important thing is the safety of your teen so let them know to not move if their neck or back is hurting intensely. This can lead to them becoming paralyzed if they have broken their spine or neck.
Calling medical assistance is necessary in any of these situations as the medical professionals will help stabilize your teen in order to avoid further injury. Depending on the severity of the crash you should probably take your teen to the hospital just to be safe.
Both of You Pick a Lawyer
If your teen has been injured in a car accident that was the fault of the other driver they could be entitled to a cash settlement. You need to pick an injury lawyer San Antonio or wherever you are located to represent for the best interests of your teen as they could have been hurt severely. You should also not have to be penalized financially for the fault of another party.
Your teen being involved in an accident can be quite stressful for you as well. The most important thing to remember that your teen did not do this on purpose so you can cut them some slack…unless they were texting.
