At Maison Law, our California personal injury lawyers are here for you after your life has been upended by an accident. It can be distressing to find out that a loved one may have been involved in an accident and you may have questions concerning how you can assist them. During these powerless times, our attorneys are here to provide you with the resources that you need to move forward with a claim. Please contact us for more information on how we can assist you with a no-obligation case review.
Checking with Loved Ones
Your first call should be to the family member or family members you fear may have been in a crash. Leave voicemails if you don’t get an answer. They may call you back moments later saying they are absolutely fine and your worries were unfounded.
If you can’t get that special someone on the phone, start calling family members. Perhaps someone has heard about an accident but hasn’t had time to reach out to you.
You can also try friends of the potential victims if you have their phone numbers. Call a person’s place of work to see if coworkers have heard from your loved one.
Checking with Local Police and the California Highway Patrol
Your next phone calls should be to the local police department and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Don’t call 911 unless you have a real emergency, but you can call a Police Desk or the nearest CHP call center. They could be able to tell you if any accident is reported in your area.
If you are the emergency contact for an accident victim, emergency responders will hopefully be calling you. This is why it’s important to keep a physical copy of emergency contacts in a wallet or in a car where emergency responders can find it in case of a collision.
You can also check the websites and social media pages for your local department and the CHP. Officers sometimes post about being at accident scenes.
The CHP has a running update of the accidents they are working at any given time. Visit the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page and select your region to see the most current accidents. These reports won’t give you names but they’ll at least tell you if any crashes are reported in the area your loved one was driving. Your local police department may have similar information available.
Calling Local Hospitals
A call to your city’s hospital or emergency room may put your mind at ease. Hospitals will usually be able to confirm if someone by a certain name has been admitted.
Hospitals probably can’t give you much else in the way of information. They have to follow privacy laws. But you can probably call into the patient’s room if you get a room number. You can run down to the hospital too if you know a loved one is there.
Checking With the Media
If you did see a report from a local TV station, you can continue to follow the story to see what you can find out. You could call the station to see if they have any information about the accident they haven’t reported.
You should also check the news station’s website. Check radio station websites and local newspaper websites as well. There may be information already hitting the internet that could help you rule out a loved one being in the collision.
Using Technology to Find Out if Someone’s Been in a California Car Accident
Cellphones and navigation tools may provide alerts when a loved one has been in a collision. Apps available to every type of cell phone can alert family members when a loved one’s phone detects a powerful crash.
By thinking ahead, before a frightening incident happens, you may be able to find the location of someone’s phone on a map. This is an important cell phone feature that’s worth the time to set up with all of your loved ones.
Emergency features included with some dash cams and mobile services like OnStar are able to call emergency contacts if they detect an impact. An entire emergency contact list can receive a text about an accident with some services.
A word for California car accident victims and their family members…
If you or a loved one are hurt in a California car accident, there are benefits available to you that an auto insurance company isn’t required to tell you about. Don’t speak with any car insurance representative until you’ve spoken with a skilled California Car Accident Lawyer.
That’s easy to do by taking advantage of a free and confidential case consultation with Maison Law. You’ll talk to a real California attorney and find out what your injury may be worth. Then you’ll learn how to avoid insurance tactics meant to rob you and your family of the money you’ll need to pay medical bills and replace paychecks while you’ve been out of work. Contact us as soon as possible.
