So You’ve Been in a Motor Vehicle Collision? What to Do Next

Being in a motor vehicle collision is something that you hope will never happen to you, however, sometimes you cannot predict when something as unfortunate as a motor vehicle crash might happen. 

If you’ve been in a car accident, there are several things that you need to do, and making mistakes could be costly to any potential claim you may have. But what should you do?

Here are the next steps after a car crash. 

Get to Safety and Call the Emergency Services

The first thing that you should do following an accident is to get yourself and your passengers to safety. This means leaving your car and moving to the side of the road. The last thing you’d want is to be knocked down by another vehicle following your accident. 

Once you’re safe, you should immediately phone the police and ambulance.   

Exchange Details With the Other Driver

After speaking to the police, you should go and talk with the driver of any other vehicles involved in the accident. You’ll need to exchange details with them. The details you should get include: 

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Insurance company name
• Policy number

When speaking with the other driver, it is important that you don’t apologize or take responsibility for the accident. Anything like this could be an admission of guilt and may make you liable. 

Wait for the police and insurance companies to investigate the accident to find out who caused it. 

Gather Evidence

You’ll need to collect up as much evidence from the scene of the accident as possible. This will be useful to your insurance company and your car accident attorney if you need one. 

Fortunately, most cell phones have cameras on, so you can quickly take photos of any damage to the vehicles along with some of the scene of the accident. 

Get Yourself Checked Over By a Medic

Getting checked over by a medic is essential. Even if you’re not in any pain or discomfort, you may still have internal injuries. 

Following a collision, it’s not uncommon to go into a state of shock and not feel any pain.  

Call Your Insurer

As early as you possibly can following your collision, you should call your insurer. It’s important to make this call while the incident is fresh in your mind as you’ll be able to recall the details in more depth. 

Before you agree to accept any kind of settlement from your insurance company, check the offer over with your solicitor to make sure you’re getting the best payout possible. 

Get Your Car Booked In for Vehicle Collision Repairs

Once your insurer has given you the go-ahead, get your car booked in with a CSI collision specialist for your car crash repairs. Your car may be in the repair shop for some time, so see if you can get a courtesy car to keep you on the road in the meantime. 

It’s important that you work with your insurer on getting your car back on the road. Don’t get any repairs done until they’ve approved them. 

What to Do If You’ve Been In a Motor Vehicle Collision 

If you’ve been in a motor vehicle collision try and stay calm. Use this article as a checklist to make sure you cover all bases before leaving the scene. 

For more helpful articles, check out the rest of the site.