After a Crash That May Have Hurt Your Spine: Your First Week, Step by Step

After a crash, the first days can blur together. There are hospital papers, phone calls, and questions about what to do next. If you have a spinal cord injury, or think you might, the first week matters for your health and for any claim.

In short: get a full medical evaluation right away, keep every record, and think carefully before giving any insurer a recorded statement. New Mexico law also sets duties at the scene, and those come first.

Get emergency medical care and a full spinal workup first

Get emergency medical care the same day, even if you can walk or move your arms and legs.

A spinal injury does not always cause obvious weakness at the scene. Some people feel mostly fine and still have a serious neck or back problem. Emergency staff run a full spinal workup, a careful exam and imaging, to check for injury before they clear you. Ask whether your neck and back were fully checked.

New Mexico law sets duties at the scene, too. A driver in a crash with injury must stop and stay at the scene as close as possible to where it happened. The driver must also give name, address, and registration number, and render reasonable assistance, including arranging transport to medical care when treatment is apparent or the injured person asks for it.

Tell every provider about numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain in your neck or back. Ask that each report be written into your chart. A detail left out today can be hard to add later.

Why spinal cord injury symptoms can change over the first days

A first exam is a snapshot, not a final answer. Symptoms are not always fixed on the first day.

If new numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain shows up, report it the same day, even if the earlier exam looked fine. Your treating team decides when to repeat imaging and re-examine you. Follow their plan.

Follow-up imaging and re-examination are part of medical care. They also matter for a claim. Each visit that records a change, or the lack of one, helps show what happened and when.

Your records also need to tie the crash to your injuries. New Mexico’s high court explains that a proximate cause need not be the only cause, nor the last or nearest cause of the injury. Clear, dated records help show that link.

Keep every record from the first day

Start one folder on day one with every paper, bill, photo, and note about the crash.

Put discharge papers, imaging reports, prescriptions, and bills in one place. Keep the originals, and make copies for your own file. One missing page can slow a claim later.

Write dated notes as things happen. Record symptoms, pain levels, and what you can no longer do, such as lifting, driving, or working a full shift. A note from the day is more useful than a guess weeks later.

Take photos of the vehicles, the scene, road conditions, and visible injuries when it is safe. Write down names and phone numbers of witnesses, the other driver, and any officers. Note the crash report number, and track missed work and changes to daily life.

Accident reporting has its own rules. A driver must immediately notify the police or sheriff of a crash with injury. A written report goes to the Department of Transportation within five days. Under New Mexico’s accident-report statute, accident reports generally cannot be used as evidence in a trial, with listed exceptions.

Why a recorded statement to an insurer should wait

You can decline a recorded statement for now, and waiting until you’ve talked with a lawyer is a common choice.

Adjusters often call early, before doctors know the full picture. What you say in those first days can be written down and later used to shape how the claim is evaluated. Stick to facts you know. Avoid guessing about your injuries.

Insurers have duties too. New Mexico’s insurance code lists unfair claims practices, including failing to act reasonably promptly on claim communications.

If the other driver’s insurer is the one you’re dealing with, timing matters. Under Hovet v. Allstate, claims against an insurer for unfair settlement practices are subject to conditions on timing and on the outcome of the underlying case, and the rules that apply depend on the facts of each matter.

Route all adjuster calls and letters to your lawyer once you have one.

Follow-up appointments and how they connect to the claim

Keep every follow-up visit, imaging study, and referral your treating providers order.

Gaps in treatment can make it harder to show how an injury developed and changed over time. If something gets in the way, such as transportation, work schedules, or cost, tell your providers. They can help you plan the next step.

Keep copies of all medical correspondence, bills, and insurance letters. Write down the date and name of anyone who calls you about the claim, and note what was said.

A simple calendar of appointments helps you stay organized. Keep it in the same folder as your other records so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

Fault and damages questions that come up early

New Mexico uses pure comparative negligence, so being partly at fault does not bar you from recovering damages.

Under New Mexico’s comparative fault rules, your own share of fault reduces your damages by that percentage. The jury works in steps. It totals damages, sets percentages for each side that add up to 100%, and then reduces the total by your share, as laid out in UJI 13-2218 NMRA.

Early questions about who was at fault matter. The facts of each crash shape how fault is assessed. Be careful about posting details about the crash online.

Time limits apply to filing a lawsuit, so put deadlines on your calendar early.

Family members can have claims too. A spouse or other close relative may have a loss of consortium claim after a serious injury. Under Thompson v. City of Albuquerque, those damages belong to that family member, not to the injured person.

Talking through your situation with the firm

If you’re dealing with a spinal injury, hospital papers, and an insurer’s calls, you don’t have to sort it out alone.

Common questions