What to Do After an Accident in Salem, VA — and How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
Salem may be a small city, but its roads carry big traffic — Main Street and Route 460 through downtown, Apperson Drive, Route 419, and the I-81 exits that funnel commuters and trucks through town every day. When a crash or another accident leaves you hurt, knowing what to do next makes all the difference. As a personal injury lawyer serving Salem, VA and the entire Roanoke Valley, here is the roadmap I give injured people.
Step One: Take Care of Your Health
Call 911 from the scene and accept medical evaluation. Many Salem accident victims are treated right in town at LewisGale Medical Center. If you decline the ambulance, get checked out within a day or two anyway — soft-tissue injuries, concussions, and internal injuries often do not show themselves until the adrenaline wears off. Prompt treatment protects both your health and your claim, because insurers treat gaps in care as proof you were not really hurt.
Step Two: Preserve the Evidence
- Photograph vehicle damage, skid marks, traffic signals, and your visible injuries
- Collect names and numbers for every witness
- Make sure a police report is filed and get the report number
- Keep every bill, receipt, and work-excuse note
Step Three: Be Careful With the Insurance Company
Virginia’s pure contributory negligence rule is unforgiving: if the insurer can pin any share of the fault on you, it can defeat your entire claim. Adjusters know this, which is why they push for recorded statements early. Politely decline until you have spoken with a lawyer. Keep in mind, too, that Virginia’s statute of limitations generally gives you just two years from the accident date to file suit.
Where Salem Injury Cases Are Heard
Salem is an independent city with its own courthouse — the Salem Circuit Court and General District Court sit on East Calhoun Street downtown. Interestingly, Salem is also home to the Roanoke County Courthouse on East Main Street, so injury cases from both the city and the county are litigated within a few blocks of each other. Smaller claims can be filed in general district court, while larger cases go before a circuit court jury. A local personal injury lawyer who appears in these courtrooms regularly knows how Salem judges run their dockets and how valley juries evaluate injury claims.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Helps You Recover
My job is to take the fight off your plate: investigating the crash, preserving camera footage and vehicle data, dealing with every adjuster call, documenting your medical damages, and building the case for lost wages and pain and suffering. If the insurance company will not pay what the case is worth, I file suit and prepare for trial — and cases prepared for trial settle better.
Free Consultation for Salem Accident Victims
If you or a family member has been injured in an accident in Salem, get answers before you make any decisions. Contact Lugar Injury Law today for a free consultation — there is no fee unless we win your case.
Learn more about our personal injury services in Salem.
