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Accidents happen all the time, and every year there are millions of people involved in road traffic accidents around the United States. What if it happened to you? You don’t have to be driving far . . . many accidents happen within a couple of miles of home. Would you know what to do if you were involved in a car accident? Of course, the following information might be completely irrelevant to you if you are involved in a car accident whilst DWI, you probably won’t remember any of  it, but let’s sinscerely hope that this won’t be the case.

What To Do If You Are Involved In A Car Accident

The following tips have been put together to give you some idea of what to do if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a car accident, they really can make a big difference in many different ways from protecting yourself, your passengers and your possessions to making sure that you’ll have a replacement car if yours has to spend a little time at the workshop.

If you are involved in a car accident, don’t panic . . . stay calm . . . and try to remember to have a . . .

Car Accident Action Plan

Emergency Accident Kit – pop one in your glove compartment. Your emergency accident kit needs to include a pen and paper for making important notes, a disposable camera to photograph the scene of the accident (unless your cell phone has a great camera of course) . . . almost forgot, the driver should always have a cell phone handy too, but these days it would be unusual to find anybody who doesn’t have a cell phone with them. Right, back to the emergency accident kit – this should also contain a medical card with details of any serious allergies or conditions which would require special treatment if there were any serious injuries. There should also be list of emergency telephone numbers on hand. Don’t forget to have a warning triangle and a set of cones in the trunk of the car at all times.

 Safety First – many car accidents are in real danger . . . of being involved in another car accident. Cars left parked in the middle of the road are in danger of being involved in accidents with further oncoming traffic, so the first thing which you need to think about if you are involved in a car accident but have either no, or only minor injuries is to – MOVE TO SAFE PLACE. If it’s not possible to move the car to a safe location after it’s been involved in an accident then the driver and passengers should stay inside their vehicle, with seat belts fastened . . . hazards flashing and warning triangle firmly in place until help arrives. Be seen, be safe is a definite motto here.

Information Exchange – if you are involved in a car accident then it’s important to exchange information with the driver of the other vehicle which was involved. Don’t forget to change all of the relevant information including; name, address, telephone number, insurance company and policy number, license plate number, drivers license number and the registered owner of the vehicle. If the person driving the vehicle is not the person on the insurance then make sure that you know the details of their relationship and the name and address of every person present in the accident. Don’t forget to take the details about the car – make, model, year, color, location of the accident etc. Finally, it’s important that you never apologise or accept responsibility for the accident, even if you think it was your fault.

Photographic Evidence – this is where your cell phone or the disposable camera in your emergency kit comes in useful. Takes photographs to show evidence of the accident damage to all of the vehicles involved, you may need this information later when you’re making your case to a claims adjuster.

Gather Witnesses – if there were any witnesses to the car accident then it’s important that you get contact information for them – names, addresses, contact telephone numbers etc. They could be vital to your case if there was a dispute further down the line, especially if the other driver involved in the accident disputed your version of events.

File An Official Accident Report – you may find that law enforcement officers will not attend to an accident which doesn’t involve injuries, but you should still file an accident report at your local police station. This can be a substantial help in speeding up the claims process from your insurance company.

Know Your Insurance Policy – be honest, how many times do you “sign on the dotted line” without really knowing what you’re covered for, and more importantly, what you’re not. If you know the full details of your insurance policy then the whole accidents claim business is easier. Don’t wait until your car is smashed up at the side of the road before you discover that your insurance policy doesn’t actually cover towing costs . . . or a replacement vehicle. Check out your car insurance policy for the specific details.

Who Pays The Damages After A Car Accident

This can actually get surprisingly tricky. If only minor damage occurs to your vehicle, and the other vehicle involved in the car accident then you might decide to by-pass the insurance company and sort things out yourselves. This isn’t necessarily the best idea for a couple of reasons;

• other drivers cannot always be trusted . . . the other driver involved in the car accident might agree to pay for damages to your car at the time, but decide that the price is too high when he sees the actual repair bills later. By this time it’ll be difficult for your insurance company to file a claim, after so much time has gone by.
• the other driver might agree to sort things out “between you” and then file a claim with his own insurance company, maybe even claiming for injuries which were not apparent at the scene of the accident. Your insurance could end up having to pay him a substantial settlement, or you could even be drawn into a lengthy and expensive law suit. Make sure that you keep your insurance company updated on exactly what happened

You see, car accidents really can happen anytime, any place, anywhere . . . even if you haven’t been drinking and you’re sitting in your car minding your own business, but if you follow these car accident tips then hopefully, if the worst does happen to you, you’ll be fully prepared to sort out the problems.