What should I do if I was hurt on vacation in Tennessee?

If you are injured in a car accident, slip and fall, or other injury while on vacation in Tennessee, your reaction may be to cut your trip short and return home as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the first 24 hours after an accident are the most vital to your injury claim, and failing to perform certain actions can come back to haunt you when seeking compensation.

What to Do If You Are Injured on a Trip to Tennessee

Whether you came to see a show at the Grand Ole Opry, hike the Smoky Mountains, or just needed a weekend getaway from winter weather, it is vital that you take steps to protect your injury claim before you get on a plane. If you are hurt on vacation, it is important that you do the following before returning home:

• Seek medical treatment. It can be embarrassing to suffer an accident, and it is understandable that victims would want to wave away emergency responders in order to avoid unwanted attention. However, undergoing a medical examination is the most important thing you can do for both your health and your injury case. Not only will emergency care identify any potentially life-threatening injuries, it creates a medical record of your injury immediately after the accident occurred. Go to the emergency room—or at least a walk-in clinic—before you return home, and be sure to note any prior medical conditions or injuries on your intake questionnaire.
• Gather evidence. Evidence begins to disappear in the days after an accident, and by the time you return home it may be gone forever. The best way to gather evidence is to take pictures of the scene of your injury, or record a video of the location and the people who were there before leaving the scene. Pictures of your injury, weather conditions, and any damaged property (such as a smashed rental car) can also help to identify the cause and severity of the accident. Write down the names and contact information of anyone who saw what happened or came to help you afterward. If police came to the scene, be sure to request a copy of the police report to take home with you.
• Be careful when talking to those responsible. The person or company responsible for your injury may attempt to contact you after the accident, hoping you will say or do something that limits your ability to recover payment. Insurers may call and ask for a recorded statement to process your claim, while a manager of a store may ask you to sign the injury report after you fall. Do not agree to these requests without speaking to an attorney. In many cases, asking for your signature or your recorded interview is a way to gather evidence against you.
• Speak to a Tennessee personal injury attorney. Waiting to find an attorney until after you have returned home can be catastrophic to your case for many reasons. First, Tennessee has an extremely short statute of limitations (SOL) to file a personal injury claim, so you should begin your case as soon as possible. Second, many laws that apply in injury cases are state-specific, meaning the laws back home will have no bearing on your case in Tennessee. Finally, a local lawyer will have an insider’s knowledge of many locations, including dangerous freeways or busy intersections, and have a network of local professionals who can be called to testify in your case.
• Follow your doctor’s recommendations. In most cases, victims will be able to return home after they have been cleared by a doctor. However, you will need to notify your regular physician of your injuries and make an appointment to continue all necessary treatment related to the injury. Even if your condition is stable enough to travel, you should continue to attend all scheduled appointments until your injury has fully healed. You can also keep a diary during your recovery, making note of how your injuries affect your daily life, your mental state, your ability to work, and any comments made by your doctors.

An injury on vacation can not only ruin your trip, it has the potential to ruin your health and your financial future. Our injury attorneys will fight to get you the maximum amount of compensation you deserve. Simply fill out the short contact form on this page or request a free copy of our book, The 10 Worst Mistakes You Can Make With Your Tennessee Injury Case.