What Should You Do After You Get In A Car Accident?

What Should You Do After You Get In A Car Accident?

Getting into a car accident is a scary thing. Whether you’re driving and you accidentally rear end someone or a car hits your vehicle when you’re in a parking lot, getting in a car accident – no matter how minor -- can ruin your day.

There are approximately 6 million car accidents in the U.S. every year. By some estimates you will be in some type of car accident about once every 17.9 years. This means that you must be prepared for what to do when you get into a car accident.

Here are some tips on what you should do if you get into an accident with your vehicle.

Be Prepared
If you drive, chances are you will be in some type of car accident, so it’s best to be prepared ahead of time. That means you should have a few things with you in your vehicle so you’re ready in case you’re involved in a car accident:

·         Keep a copy of your current proof of insurance and vehicle registration in your glove box where you can easily access it

·         Have some paper and a pen in your car so you can write down the car accident details

·         Have a safety hammer and keep it in your car so you can use it to cut your seat belt or break a window if you get stuck in your car after an accident

·         Keep a roadside emergency kit in your car that contains a flashlight, flashing hazard lights, road flares and reflective triangles

Stay Calm and Check for Injuries
When you’re in any type of emergency, the most important thing to do is stay calm. Panicking and stressing out is not going to make the situation any better. Next, check for physical injuries that you (or your passengers) may have sustained during the accident. Keep in mind that the shock of being in a car accident can prevent you from recognizing injuries – so be cautious and get checked out by medical professionals as soon as possible if you think there are any physical injuries.

If there are serious injuries from the car accident, stay as still and as calm as possible until you can be safely removed from the vehicle by professional emergency medics when they arrive at the accident scene.

Get Your Car To A Safe Spot and Call 911
After an accident, it’s important to get you and your vehicle to a safe spot. If your car can be moved, you should get it to the side of the road as quickly and as safely as possible. Pull it off to the side of the road so that it’s not blocking traffic. Be sure to turn on your vehicle’s hazard lights and use road flares and place reflective triangles around your vehicle. That will alert other drivers to use caution – especially if it’s dark outside. Turn off your engine. If fuel is leaking and you’re not injured, move far away from your vehicle.

It’s also important that you get to a safe spot, too. Make sure that you – and anyone else involved in the car accident – are safely at the side of the road. If you’re hurt and can’t get out of your car – or it’s not safe to move or get out – keep your seat belt buckled and turn on your hazard flashers.

Once you’re in a safe spot, call 911 – especially if there are injuries. Many states require you to call the police if there’s a car accident. Your car insurance company will also want to know if you filed a police report, so play it safe and call the police. If the other party involved in the accident doesn’t want you to call the police, politely tell them that you are going to call the police.

When the police arrive on the scene, explain what happened as best as you can recall. Ask any witnesses to talk to the police as well. Let the police and the insurance companies do their job and determine who is at fault. Do not overly apologize and admit fault or guilt.

NOTE: Never leave the scene of an accident. No matter who caused the accident, you must stop after an accident. Hit and run is a serious legal issue that will get you into more trouble.

Exchange Information With The Other Driver and Take Photos

After an accident, it’s important that you get contact information and details from the other driver involved in the accident and from any witnesses. When speaking with the other driver, do not apologize or admit fault for the accident. (It’s up to the police and insurance companies to determine the fault of an accident.)

Here’s a list of the information you should get from the other driver:

·         Full name of the driver

·         Phone numbers

·         Address

·         Insurance company name and policy number

·         Driver’s license information

·         License plate number

·         Type, color and model of vehicle

·         Time and physical location of accident

In addition to writing this information down, if you have your phone with you, it’s handy to also take a photo of the other driver’s insurance card, driver’s license and license plate.

You should also get a statement and contact information of any witnesses that saw the accident occur.

As part of the information-gathering process, be sure to take photos. Take pictures of the vehicles involved in the accident at a variety of angles and on all sides – even get photos of the cars that don’t have any visible damage. Also, take photos of the road, tire track marks, traffic signs, the direction each car was traveling, broken glass or any other road debris from the accident.

It’s also important that you write down your account of the accident as soon as possible after the accident occurs. Write down details like how fast you were going, the road conditions, what signals or lights were used by you and the other vehicle, what traffic signals or other signs were around, etc. These types of details will fade from your memory fast, so it’s crucial that you document these details for future use.

[h2] Call Your Insurance Company

After you’ve collected all the information, it’s time to call your insurance company (and/or the insurance company of the at-fault driver) to report the accident.

Every insurance company handles claims a little differently, but the process is very similar.
Your insurance company will have a list of questions they will ask you. Make sure you have the information you collected at the accident scene with you as well as any photos that you can email to the insurance company.

It’s important that you know how much your deductible is – that’s the amount you must pay out of pocket towards repairs before your insurance coverage kicks in. You will also probably need to have a car to drive while your car is in the shop being repaired, so check with your insurance company – or the other driver’s insurance company – to see if a rental car will be paid for. Then check to see how to make arrangements for the rental car and how the rental car will be paid for. You will also want to check to see how long you will be able to get the rental car for.

An adjuster will check your car to determine the damage and what the repair costs will be. Some insurance companies will require you to go in to a repair shop for the repair estimates. That body shop will then send the estimate directly to the insurance company, streamlining the process.
You can typically take your car to any repair shop you want, but some insurance carriers have arrangements with auto body shops and will guarantee the work that’s done. Using these “preferred” vendors will also streamline the payment process, making it easier on you. The insurance company may pay the repair bill directly or you might have to pay the bill and then be reimbursed.

You are entitled to ask the body shop doing the repairs to use original equipment manufacturer parts (OEM) to repair your car instead of less expensive “aftermarket” parts. Be sure to make it clear upfront what you want the auto repair shop to do before they make the estimate.

If you have any questions about this process, call the insurance company directly.

Car Accidents Are Stressful
Car accidents are stressful. We hope that you don’t get into a car accident but if you do, hopefully these tips will help!

Do You Need A New Car or Need Auto Body Repair Work?
If you unfortunately got into a car accident and are looking for a new car to replace it, Neil Huffman Honda of Frankfort has a large selection of new and used cars to choose from. If you need to have your car repaired after a fender-bender and live in the Louisville, KY, area, contact Neil Huffman Collision Center. Give us a call today at (502) 447-7547 to schedule your collision repairs.