The moments following a highway crash can be frightening. Traffic may continue moving at interstate speeds while damaged vehicles, debris, and injured occupants remain close to active lanes.
After an accident on Interstate 65, protecting yourself from a second collision should come before exchanging insurance information or taking photographs.
Once immediate danger has passed, several practical steps can help protect your health and preserve a potential injury claim. These actions are particularly important on I-65, where evidence may disappear quickly after emergency crews clear the roadway.
What Steps Should You Take After an Accident in Birmingham?
After addressing any immediate safety concerns, work through the following steps to document the crash, preserve important information, and avoid actions that could complicate a potential claim.
Move to a Safer Location When Alabama Law Allows It
Remaining in a travel lane can expose you to another impact. Alabama law addresses when motorists may move vehicles following a collision.
Under Alabama’s vehicle-removal law, when no apparent injury or death has occurred, an unimpaired driver may move a drivable vehicle to the shoulder, emergency lane, median, or another nearby location if doing so is safe. Moving the car under these circumstances does not mean you are leaving the scene.
Do not cross active lanes to retrieve debris or photograph damage. If injuries are serious or the vehicle cannot be moved safely, call 911 and follow instructions from emergency personnel.
If the accident involves an injury or death, do not move the vehicle until directed by law enforcement.
Help Responders Find the Interstate 65 Accident
An interstate location can be harder to describe than an ordinary street address. When calling 911, provide your direction of travel and the nearest exit, mile marker, or interchange you can identify.
I-65 passes directly through Birmingham and intersects major routes serving downtown. Traffic approaching the I-20/59 interchange can involve merging vehicles and changing lanes, while stretches farther south carry motorists toward Homewood and Hoover.
Write down your approximate location once conditions permit. Details about the northbound or southbound lanes can later help identify responding agencies, witnesses, towing records, and other evidence.
Seek Medical Attention for Your Injuries
Some collision injuries are immediately apparent. Others may become noticeable after the initial shock subsides.
Accept emergency assistance when necessary and obtain an appropriate medical evaluation. UAB Hospital’s Emergency Department is located in Birmingham and serves seriously injured adults. UAB is currently Alabama’s only American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult trauma center.
Continue with recommended follow-up care after leaving the hospital or clinic. Medical records can document both your diagnosis and the course of recovery after a Birmingham I-65 wreck.
Gather Information Without Risking Your Safety
Evidence from an Interstate 65 accident may help establish how the collision happened. Collect information only when you can do so without entering moving traffic.
Useful documentation can include:
- Vehicle damage,
- Driver and insurance information,
- Witness contact details,
- Roadway conditions,
- Nearby signs, and
- Visible injuries.
Keep copies of photographs and records in a secure location after leaving the scene.
A Birmingham car accident lawyer can investigate additional material that may be unavailable to you personally, including vehicle data, commercial trucking records, available video, or accident reconstruction evidence.
Obtain the Crash Report
An official report can provide valuable information about an I-65 collision. Depending on the exact location and responding agency, the investigating officer may document involved motorists, vehicles, witnesses, and observations from the scene.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency permits eligible individuals to purchase crash reports online or at an ALEA Driver License Office. Current information about obtaining these records is available through ALEA’s crash report resource.
Keep the report with your other accident documentation. An officer’s observations can be useful evidence, although the report itself does not automatically determine civil liability.
Be Careful When Discussing Fault
You may not know exactly what caused the collision immediately afterward. Multi-vehicle crashes can be particularly difficult to understand from one driver’s perspective.
Give officers accurate factual information, but avoid guessing about speed, distance, or another motorist’s actions. Similar caution is appropriate if an insurance adjuster asks for a recorded statement.
Alabama follows the contributory negligence doctrine. When established under applicable circumstances, an injured plaintiff’s contributory negligence can bar recovery on a negligence claim. Insurers may therefore scrutinize statements and evidence for arguments that shift responsibility.
After a Birmingham I-65 wreck, preserving objective proof can be especially important when motorists disagree about what occurred.
Track the Financial Effects of the Collision
Medical expenses are only one potential consequence of a serious highway injury. Missed employment, rehabilitation, and lasting physical limitations can create additional losses.
Keep organized records concerning:
- Medical bills and rehabilitation expenses,
- Lost wages and employment records,
- Vehicle repair or replacement costs,
- Prescription and healthcare expenses, and
- Other documented financial losses.
Documentation gives an insurer, lawyer, or jury a clearer picture of how the crash affected your life. Depending on the facts, compensation may also account for noneconomic harm such as pain and mental anguish.
Avoid Resolving the Claim Too Quickly
Insurance companies sometimes begin contacting motorists soon after a serious collision. An early offer can be tempting when bills are accumulating, but the full extent of an injury may not yet be known.
Before signing a release, consider whether future treatment, additional time away from employment, or lasting limitations are possible. Once a claim is fully settled and released, obtaining additional compensation for the same covered loss is generally not possible.
Speaking with counsel before accepting an offer can help you understand what the available evidence supports.
When Can a Birmingham Car Accident Lawyer Help?
Legal representation can be valuable when injuries are significant, responsibility is disputed, several vehicles are involved, or a commercial truck contributed to the collision.
A Birmingham car accident lawyer can investigate an accident on Interstate 65, preserve available evidence, communicate with insurance carriers, evaluate damages, and consult accident reconstruction professionals when appropriate.
Fob James Law Firm focuses on serious personal injury cases. Our lawyers represent plaintiffs rather than insurers, intentionally limit their caseloads, and provide clients with direct attorney access.
That approach allows us to prepare each matter with potential litigation in mind, rather than treating it as another file in a high-volume settlement operation.
Put the Legal Work in Our Hands While You Recover
Highway injuries can create problems that continue long after traffic begins moving again. Getting medical care, preserving records, and avoiding premature insurance decisions can help protect your position following an accident on Interstate 65.
Fob James Law Firm has recovered more than $100 million for injured clients, including multiple seven-figure settlements and verdicts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, but they demonstrate the level of preparation we bring to serious cases.
If an Interstate 65 accident has left you facing substantial injuries, contact our Birmingham team for a free consultation. We can examine the circumstances, explain your legal options, and handle the insurance process while you focus on recovery.
Official Legal and Other Sources
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal resources during the content development process:
- Duties of Drivers and Removal of Vehicles After an Accident
- Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Driver Records, Crash Reports, and Driver License Reinstatements
- UAB Hospital Emergency Department.
Fob James, IV
Fob James obtained a B.S., in software engineering from Auburn University and then continued his education by getting his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. After working for a large national firm for several years, Fob found that his passion was fighting for individuals who have been seriously injured or wronged by others. Fob believes that the jury is the great equalizer to the power and influence that large corporations have in society. Many of Fob’s cases are high profile and have been featured in, among others: Bloomberg News, PlanAdvisor, AL.com, PlanSponsor, InsuranceJournal, and BusinessInsider. For his work in obtaining numerous multi-million dollar outcomes for his clients, Fob has been recognized by: National Trial Lawyers Top 100, SuperLawyers Rising Star (2020-2025), Birmingham Business Journal Who’s Who in Law (2023-2025), and TrustAnalytica – Top Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama.