What You Need To Do If You Have Been Involved In An Elevator Accident
Posted on: 10 May 2016
Generally when you get on an elevator, you only expect to be on it for less than a minute. Most people trust that when they get on an elevator, they will be able to get out on the floor they want to. However, sometimes elevators malfunction. When an elevator malfunctions, it may become stuck on a floor or it may drop multiple floors unexpectedly. If you were involved in an elevator accident, you may be able to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. Here is what you need to do to get a lawsuit going forward.
Document What You Remember
The first thing you need to do document what you remember about the accident. You need to write down and document where exactly the accident occurred, what time it occurred, and anything else that you can remember about the accident. Try to go back to the moment you walked into the building, and write down what you remember seeing and hearing all the way up to the moment that you were in the elevator and the accident occurred.
Next, write down everything that you remember about the aftermath. Your memory is most likely to be the strongest immediately after the accident; the longer you wait the harder it may be for you to remember crucial details. If your case ever goes to trail, you may be asked by the opposing counsel if there were any warning signs that something was wrong with the elevator; by writing down your memories now, you will be able to provide a more accurate statement on the stand and refute any attempt by the opposing counsel to confuse you.
Gather Contact Information
The next thing you need to do is gather contact information from anyone who was involved in the accident with you. For example, if the accident occurred in an elevator in your apartment building, and there were other residents on the elevator, you will want to get their contact information. Their testimony can support your case and they may even want to join the case with you.
If anyone witnessed what happened, such as a bystander that called for help, you will want to see if you can track down their contact information as well. Their statement can back up your version of events.
Gather Building Information
You are also going to need to gather information about the building where the accident occurred. You are going to need to find out who owns the building and who is responsible for maintaining the building. These are some of the parties whom you may file your lawsuit against.
If you can, find out if anyone or any company was responsible for servicing the elevator. You will want to get that information as well; they could potentially be another party that you sue for your accident.
Keep Your Medical Records Together
Finally, you are going to want to get all your medical records together. You are going to want to create a record that details the medical treatment that you received the day of the accident. If the accident resulted in an injury that required multiple medical appointments to treat it, or is still ongoing, you are going to want to make sure you have a record of each appointment you have, who you saw, any procedures or treatment they performed, your bills and the doctor's notes from each appointment.
Now that you have all that information together, you need to contact a personal injury attorney in your area for additional info. If you were not able to collect all the information listed above, you should still call a personal injury attorney about your elevator injury; they may be able to help you gather the additional information that you need to proceed.
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