More Than $1 Billion
In Verdicts & Settlements.

Follow these steps to protect yourself from further harm after an accident.

1. Get yourself to a safe place. Roadways are not a place to stand or linger, so pull your car off of the roadway, if possible. If not, place your emergency flashing lights on, and either remain inside your vehicle, or exit your vehicle to the side of the road.
2. Call the police. In any situation involving an accident, you need to have a trained police officer assess the situation. Filing a police report with your account of what happened in the accident is vital in determining who will be held responsible for the crash.
3. Get medical attention as soon as you can. Car accidents often involve violent collisions that contort the body and can cause a variety of injuries. Often, hidden injuries resulting from car accidents catch victims off-guard in the days following an accident. It is important that you seek precautionary medical attention as the effects of hidden injuries such as whiplash, TMJ, and traumatic brain injury can be devastating.
4. Call an experienced personal injury attorney to advise you in protecting your rights. Bragoli & Associates will advise you of these, and other steps, you should take after an accident, when you call us for help. Our office number is 631-490-4878

1. Don’t forget to call the police. Drivers involved in a car accident sometimes forego getting the police involved by just exchanging information. This can cause serious problems for any future claims you have against the negligent driver. The other driver could lie about his or her identity or insurance coverage, leaving you without any means of recovery or you could accidently lose or misplace the contact information. If you choose not to call the police, you will not have an official accident report to back up your account of what happened. A police report will benefit you as the victim of the accident, because it will support your story against the possibility of false representations by the other driver. So remember, after an accident call 911 first, then contact an experienced New York Personal Injury attorney.
2. Avoid recorded statements. We urge that you avoid giving any recorded statements to insurance companies. It is important that you remember that there is a conflict between your interests and the interests of the insurance carrier. As an accident victim, your interest is in recovering for the loss that you have suffered to avoid large out-of-pocket expenses from the accident. The insurance company’s only interest is paying as little as possible on your claim. It is very rare that one of these recordings will benefit the individual. We at Bragoli & Associates, recommend that you contact an experienced personal injury attorney for advice on your case before giving any official statements to the insurance companies.
3. Do not wait too long before seeking recovery on your claim. In New York, there is a set period of time for accident victims to sue for personal injuries. In most cases, personal injury actions must be brought within three years of the accident which caused the harm. This means that waiting more than three years after your accident to attempt to file a claim will bar your recovery completely. Even more stringent is New York’s statute of limitations governing wrongful death cases, which must be brought within two years of the death. It is very important that you protect yourself from these strict time limits by getting quick medical attention after your accident and contacting a New York Personal Injury Lawyer as soon as you can.