At least once in your life, you will experience a car accident. Not because you’re a reckless driver, but possibly because some people are or that there is a damaged part of your car that needs repairing.
In any case, you should remain calm yet alert whenever a car accident takes place. If you don’t know what to do when that unfortunate event arrives, here are a few things you should know whenever the time comes.
5 Key Car Accident Follow Through Tips
- Stop and assess what happened
Even if it’s not your fault, you should never run away from a car accident, more so if you’ve caused it. The first thing you have to do is get down from your car and assess the damage. If the damage doesn’t seem to be bad, you and the other driver should drive your cars to an emergency bay or to just by the sidewalk to avoid causing traffic. If the damage is big, stay in the area and put out traffic cones and warning signs for other vehicles to keep distance.
- Call the police and/or the hospital
Whether it’s a minor accident or not, a policeman on the scene is important. This is because they are valuable to claiming insurance pay, or to determine whose fault it was. There are times that the other driver would be hot-tempered and refuses to settle when it’s their fault. A policeman would be a good mediator for any conflicts that may arise during the encounter. If you are badly injured, you should also call for help so that you can easily be taken care of and brought to the hospital. Safety is always a first and before you even get to settling and negotiating with the other driver, you should be treated before anything else.
- Collect needed information
This includes exchanging contact details with the other driver. It doesn’t matter who’s at fault for as long as you are still able to see and talk to each other after the actual accident and after the injuries are treated. Aside from that, you need to have the incident report made by the police as a copy.
When giving information, make sure to be clear and concise. No sugarcoating, and no making up stories. This is vital since yours and the other driver’s stories would be evaluated especially when this is brought to court. You may also have to go to a traffic school like The Capital Driving School if it’s your fault in order to get your drivers license back. To add to that, you are not supposed to sign anything unless it was from the police.
- Consult your lawyer
If you don’t have any, now is the time to look for a lawyer so that he or she may protect your rights. Car accident lawyers are knowledgeable about the steps you have to pay to ensure that you are compensated by both the insurance company and the person at fault.
- Deal with the necessary repairs
This can be done simultaneously with consulting a lawyer. You should look for us as your Fresno collision repair expert to assess how much damage was done to your vehicle and how much it would cost to repair them. Knowing the quotation would help you give a number to the court for the damages to be demanded.
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