What Shouldn’t You Do After A Car Accident?
Road accidents are an unfortunate, but inevitable part of life as a driver. As much as well all try to use common sense to avoid them occurring, we cannot control every circumstance on the roads around us, and this means that we are each quite likely to be involved in a road traffic incident at some point in our driving careers.
It may be you at fault, another driver or just something circumstantial, but it’s worth being prepared whatever the cause. Despite accidents being a fact of motoring life, many of us will freely admit that we are not sure what to do when they happen.
Often, the adrenaline and emotions of being involved in a collision take over, and make it harder for us to think and act rationally. Even the most competent drivers are prone to make serious mistakes in the aftermath of an accident, and these actions can have grave legal implications at worst, or at best, invalidate or otherwise compromise their insurance cover.
Keeping a cool head is vital, and it’s much easier with a little forward planning. Make sure you and any of your loved ones fully understand what needs to happen when a road incident occurs – even keeping a checklist in the glovebox for inexperienced drivers can be helpful. There are plenty of articles spelling out what you should do after a road accident – but what is equally important is what you shouldn’t do…
Don’t Just Drive On
The absolute worst thing you can do, regardless of any other circumstance, is to drive on and leave the scene of the accident. This holds whether it was you at fault or not and whether the collision is relatively minor or more serious. When we are in the grip of racing adrenaline, it’s all too easy for our fight-or-flight response to take over, and this can lead to otherwise rational motorists instinctively hitting the gas and acting on the urge to get away. But this action is absolutely illegal. Not only can you potentially be opening yourself up to prosecution for a hit-and-run charge, but you could also be wiping out your insurance cover, as many policies expressly state that drivers leaving the scene of an accident will invalidate their policy.
So not stopping is really the biggest no-no there is. Make sure that you guide the car to a safe spot if possible, where it is less likely to cause another accident and use your hazard lights to alert other drivers to the situation. In some minor cases, you may simply need to swap details with the other driver, and you’d also be well advised to take some photographs showing visible damage, the road scene, and the relative positions of vehicles involved. This may be crucial in settling insurance claims and proving culpability.
If the accident is more serious and someone is injured or a vehicle is too damaged to be driven away easily, wait at the scene until law enforcement arrives and offer any help that you can. It’s even a good idea to use your phone to record or write down exactly what happened, as you will need to provide details to police or insurance companies at a later stage, and shock can warp the accuracy of your memory. If you feel at all unsafe or threatened by other parties, you have every right to lock yourself inside your vehicle, but leaving the scene is an idea that will return to haunt you.
Don’t…Be Persuaded Not To Call Police
If the other party is at fault or otherwise has something to hide, they may try to pressure or intimidate you into keeping the accident ‘off the record’ with the authorities. And to your brain, in shock from the collision, this may seem like a reasonable course of behaviour – so be aware that it’s an extremely bad idea. Even if the collision is minor, notifying the authorities is crucial. It creates a record of the accident that can be vital for any future claims by either party. It can provide insurance companies with a very convenient loophole to get out of paying any claims if an accident is not officially reported. Searching for a very good legal counsel life Kraft & Associates won’t necessarily help if there are no records of the crash having taken place. There may be very specific reasons, such as a poor driving record, a lack of insurance, an invalid licence or even a warrant out for their arrest that means another driver may become quite forceful about not reporting what has happened. For everyone’s sake, give a complete and accurate record of what happened to the police, as this acts as the official basis for any claims. Make sure that you stick to the bare facts only – it’s for the law and the insurance companies to use the evidence to determine blame.