Don’t give a recorded statement after a Canal Road or beach crash

If you were hurt on Canal Road, Perdido Beach Boulevard, Highway 59, or a Fort Morgan Road run, the other driver’s insurance company often calls the same day. They sound helpful. They ask for a “quick recorded statement” so they can “get the claim moving.”

That call is not a favor. In Alabama it is how they try to lock in your words while you are still in the ER, still in a rental, or still trying to get home.

Lattof Injury Law is at The Wharf — 4593 Main Street, Suite C-204 — facing Canal Road. Mitch and Ashton Lattof handle these cases. Call 251-432-6691. The first conversation is free, and you pay nothing on an injury case unless we recover for you.

Why the call comes so fast on this coast

Beach traffic is seasonal. Witnesses leave. Cameras overwrite. Rental cars and golf carts mix with locals who know the road. Adjusters know you may fly out on Saturday.

A recorded statement from a visitor who just wants to “get this over with” is exactly what they want on tape before you talk to a lawyer.

You do not owe the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement. You can exchange information at the scene. You can give police a report. You do not have to narrate fault on a phone call from the condo parking lot.

Alabama’s 1% rule makes that tape dangerous

Alabama uses contributory negligence. If an insurer can put even 1% of the fault on you, it may owe you nothing. That is a harsh rule. It is also why a friendly “what happened?” turns into questions about speed, phones, turn signals, and whether you “saw” the other car.

We wrote more about that rule in slip-and-fall cases here: Alabama’s contributory negligence rule in slip and fall cases. The same 1% trap shows up after car and golf-cart wrecks on Canal Road and the beach roads.

Do not guess your way through that call. Do not apologize on tape. Do not fill silence with speculation.

What to do instead

• Get medical care. Keep every record, here and with your doctors at home if you leave town.
• Photograph the scene, the vehicles or cart, road conditions, and your injuries before checkout or before you fly.
• Get names and numbers of witnesses. Seasonal people leave.
• Report a wreck to police. You can later request the Alabama crash report from ALEA.
• Call us before you talk to the other driver’s insurer. We handle that part.

If you were visiting and already went home, you still have an Alabama case. You do not have to come back for the consult. See Hurt on vacation, already home and Injured on Vacation.

Canal Road, the beach roads, and Fort Morgan

The Wharf faces Canal Road (Alabama 180). Perdido Beach Boulevard (Alabama 182), the Foley Beach Express, Highway 59 into Gulf Shores, and Fort Morgan Road are where these calls start. The same office handles Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan, and golf cart wrecks.

You work with Mitch and Ashton Lattof, not a case manager in another city.

Talk to us before you hit record

Call 251-432-6691 or use our contact form. We will meet you at The Wharf, by phone, or by Zoom. Injury cases are contingency fee: you pay nothing unless we recover for you.

Educational information on this page is not a promise about your case. Alabama advertising disclosures: lattoflaw.com/disclaimer/.

Lattof Injury Law — 4593 Main Street, Suite C-204, Orange Beach, AL 36561 (The Wharf). Phone: 251-432-6691.