Even being the safest driver that you can be won’t give you a guarantee that you won’t be involved in a traffic collision at one stage in your life. There is no accounting for the driving, or poor driving, of others on the road and this could unwittingly involve you in a an accident when driving your vehicle. Traffic collisions, large or small, can be scary experiences that will leave you shaken, after an accident it is important that you act appropriately, something that can be difficult when your body begins to enter a state of shock. Forearmed is forewarned and here are the things that you need to do once you’ve been involved in an accident to keep you safe and t ensure that you give your insurers the right details.
Stop the Vehicle
Even if the collision is minor, you must stop the car, failing to do so is an offense in most countries under various Road Traffic laws. Once you’ve stopped the car in a safe place, cut the engine and put your hazard lights on to alert other road users.
Check for Injuries
Once you’ve stopped the car, or if the car is no longer drivable, check yourself and any other passengers for injuries. If anything serious has occurred then call the emergency services as quickly as possible, describe the injuries as best as you can, this will help the emergency services decide which is the best type of response to give you. Some injuries may seem minor but could become progressively worse, if the accident wasn’t your fault then you could have a case to make a compensation claim and all information is important. I recently spoke with some Philadelphia car accident lawyers who told me that sometimes people lose cases that they should win because they didn’t have sufficient details, if there are minor injuries make notes about it.
Speak With the Other Driver
If another driver was involved then it is important that you speak with them and exchange personal details. You will need to have the car license plate, make and model, as well as the other driver’ home address, phone number/email address and insurance details. You are also obliged to give the same information to the other driver.
Other Details
Supposing you don’t have bad injuries, try to make notes about the accident itself, details like time and date, if any witnesses were there take their details, try to make a quick sketch about the position of the vehicles and how the crash occurred and you could even add weather conditions or the condition of the road that you were driving on.
Get on the Phone
You must notify the police if an accident has occurred, tell them the details so that they can decide if they need to send an officer to the scene. Next steps to call your insurance, different insurance companies will have different processes but it’s important that you tell them what has happened as soon as possible. If your insurer doesn’t offer a recovery service and your car is not drivable then contact a local garage to have your car recovered.