Accidents While on Vacation

When a Good Time Goes Bad, Our Attorneys Are Ready to Help Protect Your Legal Rights

People go on vacations all year round. It’s a time to hang out with friends, celebrate with family, or relax as you escape from your everyday responsibilities. But what if your vacation suddenly took a turn for the worse? What if you or a loved one were injured in an accident?

If an accident threatened to ruin your vacation, you know all about stress, confusion, and anger. This was supposed to be a time to be happy and have fun – not a time to deal with insurance companies and trips to the ER.

Even if you were injured in an out-of-state accident, contact an attorney in your home state. At the Pennsylvania law firm of Edgar Snyder & Associates, we’re available 24/7, and we’re ready to help you if you suffered injuries in an accident while on vacation. With our free legal evaluation, you can get answers to your questions and find out if you have a case, with no obligation to use our services.

Going on Vacation? Know Your Rights and Responsibilities

If you’re going on vacation, you need to understand your rights and responsibilities – especially if you’re traveling to another state, or even to another country. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Know the state-by-state laws that will apply to you where you plan to travel – traffic laws, motorcycle helmet laws, seat belt laws, drunk driving laws, cell phone and texting laws, dog leash laws, dog bite laws, etc. If you’re going on a road trip, know the laws for every state you’ll pass through. If you break a law and it leads to an accident, you could face fines, compromise your legal rights, and be held responsible for another person’s injuries.
• If you’re in an accident in another state, which insurance laws do you follow? How does your insurance protect you? Your Pennsylvania auto insurance policy will almost always determine your rights. Your first-party medical benefits coverage “follows” you if you travel to another state or even out of the country.
• Keep in mind that every state has its own set of conditions that could affect your claim. If you’re seriously injured, our experienced attorneys at Edgar Snyder & Associates are ready to help protect your legal rights.
• If you have a boat, ATV, motorcycle, or another type of motor vehicle that you plan on taking with you, make sure you have insurance policies covering them. Medical benefits may not be available with these policies, so you should have other health insurance coverage.

If you have questions about how your insurance policy applies when you’re out of state, be sure to ask your insurance agent. Remember, you can change your coverage at any time. It’s better to increase your protection now than to struggle paying your bills later.

Protecting Your Rights After an Accident

By following these safety tips, you can help reduce your chances of being involved in an accident while you’re on vacation. But, unfortunately, accidents still happen. If you, or a loved one, are involved in an accident, follow these steps to protect your legal rights:

1. Call 9-1-1 and get medical attention for you or anyone injured in an accident.
2. Report the accident to the police or file an incident report with management, depending on the type of accident. Ask for a copy of the report, and keep copies of your medical bills.
3. Evidence varies based on the type of accident, but generally you should take photos of your injuries and anything that you think will help protect your legal rights. If you were in a car accident, take photos of the damage to your vehicle, your injuries, road conditions at the time of the accident, traffic signs (or lack thereof), etc.
4. Collect information from other people involved in the accident, including witnesses.
5. Be cautious with insurance companies, and be careful what you say and sign. Remember, it’s the insurance company’s job to offer you less compensation than you deserve – they’ll look out for the person or business they provide insurance to, not you. If you were in a car accident, contact your insurance agent to let them know you were in an accident. Again, be cautious what you say, even to your own insurance company.

Injured on Vacation? Get Legal Help for Your Accident Injuries

No matter how safe you try to be on the road or anywhere else during vacation, accidents still happen. At Edgar Snyder & Associates, we’re ready to help you protect your rights – when an accident takes you by surprise.

Call toll-free anywhere in the U.S. and Canada at 1-866-9-4EDGAR (1-866-943-3427), or contact us via your smart phone. Or, you can fill out the form at the top right of this webpage for a free legal evaluation. We’re available 24/7. There’s no obligation to use our services, and we’ll tell you if we think you have a case.

Know your rights and responsibilities while you’re on vacation, and rely on Edgar Snyder & Associates to protect those rights. Contact us any time, day or night.