New Years Drunk Driving Accidents in New Mexico: What to Do Next
New Year’s Eve is one of the most dangerous times of the road. According to statistics from AAA, the average number of traffic fatalities is 36 a day but on New Year’s Eve it is 54 in a single day. Additionally, more pedestrians are killed on New Year’s Day than any other day of the year. The largest cause of these accidents is impaired driving due to alcohol and/or drugs. Other causes include fatigued or tired driving, driver inexperience, and weather conditions like icy conditions at night. This is why individuals traveling on or around roadways and highways need to be extremely careful on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to avoid a New Mexico drunk driving accident on New Years.
What to Do After a New Mexico Drunk Driving Accident on New Years
If you are involved in a New Years auto accident due to a drunk driver, it is important to take several steps to protect your rights. Here are some steps to take to ensure that your rights are protected.
Step 1: Get Medical Attention – Do not play hero. If you are injured in a serious drunk driving auto accident, get medical attention immediately. Even if you do not think you are injured and have minor pains, remember that any small changes you feel in your body like a headache, backache, fatigue, or other symptoms will get magnified as time goes on. It is important to immediately treat these conditions and get them documented to support a case later on. This is particularly true of head injuries, and a minor headache could be the sign of a brain bleed which could be fatal.
Step 2: Obtain Accident Information – If you are not injured, or if you are injured and a passenger or another person is not, ensure that you get information regarding the subject accident including photographs of all vehicles involved, the traffic signs or lights, police report information, first responder information, and other important information from all drivers involved including their insurance companies.
Step 3: Ask a Lawyer for Help Immediately – While you could immediately put in an insurance claim, you will have to fill out information and advise in your own words what happened. Even if it is your insurance carrier or the insurance agent sounds nice and like he or she is trying to help you, they are not really on your sign. Little questions could be used to get a lot of information from you to hurt your case or belittle your injuries. Don’t let this happen. Have a lawyer make the claim for you as part of your personal injury representation. This ensures that, especially for the most serious injuries, that your rights are protected right from the start.
Here at the Mark Caruso, we know that drunk driving car accidents on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day can result in very serious personal injuries including amputations, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, wrongful death, and many other types of injuries. Our Albuquerque auto accident lawyer handles many serious types of catastrophic motor vehicle accidents. If you have been seriously injured or lost a family member in a motor vehicle crash, call the experienced Albuquerque auto accident lawyers at the Mark Caruso by dialing (505) 308-1556, or you can also contact us on our website through the easy to use and convenient Contact box located by clicking here.
