It is quite often that I do consultations with Kentucky residents long after they have been involved in a car wreck. Unfortunately, sometimes people do irreparable harm to their case by the time they set foot in my office. I always ask why it took so long for them to consult an attorney, and I get a wide variety of answers. But there is one answer I receive far more often than any other:

“I didn’t think I could afford an attorney.”

This could not be farther from the truth. Personal injury attorneys represent injury victims who have been involved in a car wreck on a “contingency” basis. A contingency agreement means that for the attorney to earn any fee from your case, there must be a recovery for you. This means no out of pocket expenses for the client. The client is not required to pay a retainer for the attorney’s services. The client will never receive a bill from the attorney asking them to pay for the attorney’s time spent on the case. And if there is no recovery at the end of the case, there will be no attorney’s fee.

It’s no secret that we lead lives of many distractions in 2017. On our morning commutes, we’re listening to the latest podcasts. During our lunch breaks, we’re checking our social media feeds and texting friends. While walking down the street or waiting for a ride home, we’re taking pictures of cool things and sharing them. Having technology right at our fingertips 100% of the time opens an endless number of opportunistic doors, but it also comes with a price. Technology distracts us.

Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that distracted driving is quickly catapulting to one of the top causes of car crashes in the U.S. According to the NHTSA, 3,477 people died in car crashes that resulted from drivers who were distracted in 2015. Over 319,000 more were injured during that same year.

We have all heard the message about distracted driving multiple times on TV commercials, radio commercials, newspapers, and anywhere you can find an advertisement. From a police officer giving a ticket to Jordan Spieth putting his phone in a glove box, the message comes in different forms.

But for a lot of people the question remains, is distracted driving really that dangerous? It just doesn’t seem like a big deal to send a quick text while you’re driving. Is it dangerous, or is it something else the government is exaggerating?

Here are some statistics to help you make your decision:

1. The use of a cell phone while driving leads to 1.6 million car crashes a year.
2. 1 out of every 4 car accidents are caused by texting and driving.
3. 11 teenagers a day are killed because of texting and driving.
4. If you use a cellphone, you spend 4 times as much time with your eyes off the road while driving.

The time immediately after a car wreck is a trying time. You will most likely enter into a state of shock, trying to figure out what has happened. The moments directly after an accident can set the tone for the entire process of filing your insurance claim and getting the money you need to move forward with your life. It is important to choose your words carefully, and not say anything than can hurt your claim in the future. Here are some tips for knowing what to say after a car wreck:

Do Not Apologize

Many people’s first reaction after a car wreck is to apologize to the other party that was involved in the accident, regardless of whose fault it was. People generally consider this a common courtesy to apologize, especially if the other driver is injured. This, however, will often be viewed as an admission of fault, and all the liability for the accident could be placed onto you. So even if you do believe you are the party that caused the wreck, do not apologize for the wreck.

Imagine if you will a situation that happens every day in this country.  You or a loved one are admitted to the hospital for surgery.  Not necessarily a complex or complicated surgery that requires extensive recovery time, but even an outpatient procedure like an appendectomy.  The anesthesiologist has you count backwards from 10 and the next thing you know you’re waking up in a recovery room and soon after being escorted to the car to head home.  But, as your anesthesia wears off and the pain medication starts to fade you notice a sharp pain in your stomach.  Feeling around the painful area you can feel that there seems to be something there that shouldn’t be. 

In fact, upon inspection, you find that the surgeon has left a pair of scissors inside your stomach and sewed you up with the sharp, pointy, metal object pressing against other delicate internal organs.  Suddenly you realize you are in a dangerous, life threatening situation. The wrong movement, a small bump to the stomach, or even the loving embrace of your child or spouse could cause the scissors left inside you to cut through your intestines, gall bladder, or any other organ and potentially kill you.  Sadly, while this scenario may seem outrageous, it literally happens every single day in this country.