What To Do & Not To Do After A Road Traffic Collision

A Road Traffic Collision, also known as a Road Traffic Accident often leaves those involved disorientated, shocked and possibly injured. As a result any number of things can happen and how a person reacts in these sorts of situations can range from the extreme to the sombre. Still, it is important to know what you should or shouldn't do in these situations, which could help you either as a bystander or as one of those directly involved.

WHAT TO DO:

1:  It is imperative that you are prepared for the possibility of an accident and always keep an emergency kit in your glove compartment. A lot of people will not prepare for an accident and they will claim to be ‘good drivers’, being a good driver is meaningless as the other person involved in the RTC may well not be, so don’t let pride get in the way of your safety.

2:  Take down as much information as you can about the other party. Write down a description of the car, licence plate number, as well as the driver’s name, number and details. This may sound like a pretty basic thing, but it is surprising how many people forget in the heat of the moment.

3:  Take a photo of the damage. Everyone’s phone has a camera these days which makes it very easy to take an accurate recording of the damage that has been done, and depending on the scale of the accident will allow you to record the positioning of the vehicles in the direct aftermath of the collision. If your phone has no camera, keep a disposable one in your emergency kit.

4:  It does not matter if you are on the way to your daughter’s first ballet recital or your son’s Bar Mitzvah; stay at the scene!  There is no reason at all to leave the scene of an accident before the proper authorities have spoken to you, details have been exchanged and you have been checked over by a medical professional. If you do leave the scene before these things have been done your insurance may not pay out, and if you have been injured you may not be able to prove the injury occurred as a result of the accident, as you were well enough at the time to leave.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

1:  Though this may be difficult and it is more easily said than done try to keep calm. Whether or not you deem the accident the other drivers fault, they are probably just as shaken up as you are and chances are they did not intend to hit you. Additionally emotions will be heightened in the initial aftermath and the last thing you need to do after a car crash is get into a fist fight in the middle of the road.

2:  This cannot be said clearly enough, NEVER try to pay the other party off in the hopes of avoiding getting insurance companies involved. There is no guarantee that the other party will honour the agreement and they may come after you regardless; more importantly by doing so you have basically admitted you were the one at fault making their case against you stronger.

3:  Do not admit you were at fault.  It may be your natural reaction following a collision to spring out of the car, apologising profusely as you were texting a super important message. The minute you have done so, its game over. This is not to say you should lie to the authorities or give a false statement, but you ought to leave it up to the insurance companies to decide who the party at fault was. You may well have been texting but the other driver may have been equally distracted.

4: Do not blame yourself. Being in a collision is all but inevitable and is in no way a testament to your driving abilities. Sometimes it is nothing more than wrong place at the wrong time. Other times it is quite simply the other party’s fault, which can be easy to forget, especially if they came out of it a lot worse than you did.