The first thing you should do if you have been involved in a collision with another vehicle is contact the police as soon as possible. This is especially true if anyone sustained a serious injury or more than $1,500 in damage occurred as a result of the crash. By law, you are required to report such a serious car accident in Illinois.
Depending on where your accident took place in Rockford, a police officer from the Springfield Police Department or a state trooper from the Illinois State Police will likely respond and investigate your accident. Make sure you write down the name and badge number of the investigating police officer or state trooper. You may need to contact them later to get a copy of your accident report. You should carefully review your accident report to make sure it’s correct. That’s because many insurance companies refer to such reports when deciding who was at fault and who should be compensated for their crash.
Next, you should seek medical treatment. You might be tempted to not see a doctor if you feel fine after your accident. But the reality is many serious car accident injuries might not be visible after a crash. You could have a life-threatening injury and not even realize it. Such injuries can include internal bleeding, organ damage or a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Don’t try to diagnose yourself. Have a medical professional examine you as soon as possible after your accident. If necessary, go to the emergency room at Springfield Memorial Hospital or another nearby Springfield medical facility. The doctors there can run the necessary medical tests to determine exactly what’s wrong and if you sustained an injury in your accident.