A car accident can rattle the best of us. A assuming that you are not severally injured, you can and should take certain steps to protect your legal rights.

Stop your car. You can be charged, criminally, with leaving the scene of the accident if you don't. Leave your car as close to the point of impact as possible. If your car is blocking traffic, move it if you can. Turn on your hazard lights and place flares if it is dark.

Call the police. When the officer arrives, he will seek to talk with the parties involved and any witnesses. The officer will prepare an accident report that you will need to file a claim with your insurance company. The accident report also preserves the details of the crash.

Help the injured. Call for an ambulance and be prepared to give accurate information as to the location. Most states have enacted "good samaritan" laws that protect those who aid the injured, from being sued for wrongdoing. Your aid must be reasonable and prudent.

Exchange information. Obtain the name, address, phone number, driver's license number, name of insurance company, and policy number from the other driver and provide yours.

Preserve the details. Diagram the accident, note the road, weather, and traffic conditions, record the length of skid marks, time of day, and summarize what happened.

Don't admit responsibility. Whether you receive a traffic ticket or not, later investigation of the facts may show that the other driver is responsible for causing the accident.

Who to notify. See your doctor, especially if anything hurts; file an accident report as required; notify your insurance agent; call your lawyer, if you received a traffic ticket or were hurt.

If you have further questions and wish to contact the Crews Law Firm, click here, or call 785.856.5562.

If you wish to print a handy form for recording accident information, click here.

Millions of cases of elderly abuse go unreported each year, while only about 500 thousand gain the attention of the authorities. The abuse is most often perpetrated by the person responsible for the elder's care. The harm may be physical, emotional, or financial and the chances of being caught are slim.

Physical abuse. Non-accidental force, hitting or shoving, resulting in physical pain, injury, or impairment. Such abuse can also include inappropriate use of drugs, restraints, or confinement.

Emotional abuse. Speaking or treating the elderly person in ways that cause emotional pain or distress. Verbal forms include intimidation through yelling or threats, humiliation and ridicule, and habitual blaming or scapegoating. Nonverbal forms are ignoring the elderly person, isolating an elder from friends or activities, and terrorizing or menacing them.

Sexual abuse. Involves physical sex acts without the elder's consent, showing of pornographic material, forcing the person to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress.

Caregiver abuse . More than half of the reported cases fall into this category. It is the failure to fulfill a caretaking obligation. The failure can be intentional or unintentional, based on ignorance or denial that the elderly person needs the recommended care.

Financial abuse. The unauthorized use of the elder's money or property. An unscrupulous caregiver may misuse the elder’s personal checks, credit cards, or accounts, steal cash, income checks, or household goods, forge the elder’s signature or steal the elder's identity.

What to do. Watch for warning signs, track medications to verify that the amount remaining coincides with prescribed daily use, ask to scan bank accounts and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions, call and visit the as often as you can, and offer to stay with the elder on a regular basis to give the caregiver and the elder a break from each other.

If you have further questions and wish to contact the Crews Law Firm, click here, or call 785.856.5562.