What do you do if you’re in an accident?
They are an unfortunate part of life. The aim is of course to avoid accidents on the road, but it is not unlikely that you will at some point in your life be involved in one – hopefully a minor one. What do you do in a situation like this? It is difficult to keep a cool head, but hopefully with the right advice you will be able to handle the situation calmly and with the presence of mind to follow the right procedure.
What you need to do:
- Stop your vehicle immediately. Whatever you do, don’t leave the scene, no matter how tempting it may be.
- Check the occupants of your car to make sure that no one has been injured.
- If someone has been injured, this obviously takes precedence before anything else. In the case of injury, call an ambulance and try to help them.
- Once you are sure about the well-being of everyone in the vehicle, check the car for damage.
- It is necessary to exchange contact details with the other party. Give your name, phone number and registration number, and make sure that you in turn get their contact details, as well as the details of their vehicle. This includes its make, model and registration number.
- If possible, locate witnesses who may have seen what happened.
- Thereafter, you need to go to the nearest police station to report the incident. Importantly, this needs to be done within 24 hours. You will get a case number that you need to take note of.
- Contact your insurance provider to let them know about the accident. Provide the case number.
- If there has been damage to your car, start asking for quotes from panel beaters to find out what costs are involved.
Keep in mind:
There are a few more pointers to take note of in a time such as this. Identify the location of the accident and make sure that you understand the situation well enough to be able to reproduce a rough sketch of the incident. You also need to note of the date and time of day. You will even be required to comment on the weather in the police report. If you can, try to take photographs of the scene with your camera phone.
Additionally, you can take advice from AA spokesman Gary Ronald and follow all these steps. Finally, so as to avoid unnecessary costs, do not let yourself be talked into signing a blank towing form, and be sure to gain as much information about the towing operator as possible, including what their accreditation is.