Always keep an emergency road kit in your vehicle. Have a pen, paper
and a disposable camera to document an accident scene. Keep
warning cones or emergency flares in the trunk.
Safety is Always First
After being involved in an accident, it's important to
determine right away if there are any injuries. If so, call 911
for medical help immediately. While waiting for emergency
personnel, assist the injured if you're able to. In the case of
a minor accident with no serious injuries, drivers should safely
move the vehicles off of the roadway to avoid oncoming traffic.
Leaving them in the traffic lanes can result in additional
accidents or injuries to others. If the vehicles are heavily
damaged and can't be moved, drivers and passengers should remain
in the vehicle (with seatbelts fastened) until emergency help
arrives. If you can, place cones or flares outside to warn other
motorists.
Notifying Police
Always call the police and notify them of the accident
when it happens regardless of how minor the
accident is or whether it is on private property or not. In
minor accidents, police may not respond to investigate and
complete an accident report. If this is the case, they will
instruct you on how you can file the state accident report on your
own. If you're filing the report on your own, it's advised to
file the report as soon as possible. If the police completed the
report, you or your insurance company can generally get a copy
within a reasonable number of business days.
Exchanging Information
After the accident, you will need to exchange information
with the other driver(s) involved. Make sure to write down the following
information:
-
Date, time and exact location of the accident
-
Vehicle descriptions (color, make, model, year & license
plate numbers)
-
Drivers name, address, phone numbers, drivers license number
and insurance company information to include the name of the
insured and the policy number
-
If the drivers name is not the same on the insurance
information, find out the relationship of the driver to the
policy holder
-
Write down the name, address and phone number of all
passengers
-
Get witness information. This would include what they saw
along with their names, addresses and phone numbers
Finally, don't accept blame
for the accident in talking with others at the scene (this
includes the police)... even if you
think it was your fault.
Photograph the Accident Scene
Photographing the accident scene can be crucial. Keep in mind
that you want to photograph several different angles of the
overall scene to not only include the vehicles, but the entire
intersection or area involved. This will help to establish where
traffic signals, signs or other pertinent information were
located. Also, shoot closer up photographs showing each vehicle
individually along with the damage to each.
Who Pays For The Damage?
If the damage was minor, you and the other driver may have
decided to handle the damages on your own without involvement of
an insurance company. This could be a bad idea for a number of
reasons. What if the other driver finds out the damage to your
vehicle is financially more than he originally thought? He may
then decide to file an accident report several days later and
report it to his insurance company, maybe even claiming personal
injuries that weren't apparent to you when the accident
occurred. Now, this has gone several days since the accident
making it more difficult for your insurance company to piece all
the evidence together. Because of this, the claim settlement
your insurance may have to pay could turn out to be
substantially more. Make sure you notify your auto insurance
company after an accident and give your version of what
occurred. If in a minor auto accident and the payout by your
insurance company doesn't exceed a certain amount, it doesn't
necessarily mean a hike in your premiums.
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