What to Do After a Car Accident What Actions Are Needed to Be Taken After an Accident
We are all involved in traffic and a car accident can be an unexpected thing and a particularly unfortunate event that can often leave people with serious consequences such as the fear to drive or amaxophobia. Some minor lesions cannot be noticed immediately, but usually the symptoms of a trauma are felt after a car accident.
What Are the Most Important Actions to Take Immediately After a Car Accident?
Immediately after a car accident, the driver, if conscious has to assure himself that there aren’t any other dangers. Whether you received a small crash or bump, the shock sets in, so the situation after an accident can be a bit of a blur.
After a car accident it is important to remain calm and not to lose control. Assess the situation on the spot of the accident and stop the car. If someone has been seriously injured in the accident or if the other driver is guilty and has left the scene of the accident or refuses to communicate his/her data contact, call the police immediately. Gather information after the accident.
If you have a smartphone, you must take pictures of the accident and of the damaged cars, immediately on the place of the car accident. Depending on the case, there might be needed proved evidence, so, it will be better to take pictures of the cars’ registration mark. Ask all data of the other driver, name, car registration, phone number, insurance car number and license.
It is also recommended to have at least two witnesses on the spot, one might not be enough to help your accident claim. Namely for this reason, it is important to record all data and the real circumstances of the car accident.
Depending on the gravity of the accident, if it is a minor one, it is recommended to move the damaged car outside the roadway, if the car is not damaged too much and can be safe to be moved and if nobody was hurt during the accident. This is done to not obstruct the movement of other vehicles or cause other accidents. In case of a serious car accident, when it is not possible to move the car and when the driver or other passengers were injured, police and emergency must be called immediately.
The vehicles involved in the accident must not be moved until this is approved by the police. The police will start an investigation that will include both measurements and pictures from the accident including date, time and the location of the accident and the declarations of the persons involved in the accident. In case of flammable substances or possible explosion, firefighters must be also called at the place of the car accident.
If the driver is unconscious or risks life, bystanders will give the first aid and will call the emergency and the police at the place of the car accident. They will also put out of the car the other injured passengers and will try to help until the other emergency personnel arrive. In case the car is in a dangerous position, the driver should turn off the engine and wait for assistance. The driver, only if physically capable, must provide assistance to all the other passengers implied in the accident.
After your car accident has been reported to the police you will have to call your insurance company. There are many situations when the driver involved in a car accident must receive coverage for the damages after an accident from their insurance company. Thus, if you present the copy of the fine of the guilty driver and the documents from the police, you can recover the money for the damages of your car as a result of an accident. If you have been the victim of a car accident and if you was injured, it is necessary to keep every document which proves the related expenses, including invoices or tax receipts. Based on this evidence, the insurance company can return the money meant to compensate both your moral and physical damages after an accident.
Accident Declaration
Fill in the declaration at the scene of the accident. The insurer usually provides a standard document. Some insurers’ developed a European car accident assessment form. This helps you to gather all the necessary information quickly and facilitates the settlement of accident claims. If you do not have an insurance form, write down the information mentioned above. Thus, you have to note:
- the date and the place of the car accident
- contact details of the other driver involved in the car accident (name,address,telephone number)
- details of possible injuries of the drivers or passengers and material car damage after the accident
- information about witnesses who saw the car accident and their contact details
- information on the other vehicle including the number and country of registration
- contact details of the police where the car accident was reported
- other circumstances of the car accident
If you agree with the circumstances of the accident with the other driver, sign a statement together. This will facilitate compensation procedures.
Attention! Do not take responsibility for the car accident until you fully understand how the accident happened and do not sign any form unless you fully understand it. If you do not agree, your insurer will settle the dispute with the other driver’s insurer.
They will analyze the police report after the accident, the assessment of all damages and other information about the accident. You must report the accident to the insurance company, even if you do not want to claim compensation.
How is your car accident compensation amount determined?
The amount of your car accident compensation depends on several circumstances of an accident: the severity of the injuries suffered in the accident, their healing time, the need for additional treatment after the accident (physiotherapy sessions, osteopathic treatment, etc.), care and more. The complainant will be scheduled to visit an independent medical expert, who will assess the driver’s current state of health and provide a forecast of how long the person will need to recover from the injuries suffered as a result of the accident.
Given these forecasts, lawyers will be able to assess, according to the legal provisions, what compensation the person expects. Only then they will contact the insurance company of the guilty party and start negotiations on the sum of compensation after the accident. If you had an accident abroad, the law of the country where happened the accident applies. This means that the procedure for receiving compensation may be different from your country. In this regard the EU countries signed an agreement to respect minimum coverage under EU law in case of accidents and where it is mentioned that all vehicles which travel in Community territory are covered by insurance.
DIRECTIVE 2009/103/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 September 2009 relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability.
EU Legislation
If the accident happens on the other territory of the EU, Norway or Iceland, for example, you can contact the ECC-Net. The European Consummer Centre Network of your country can offer advice on consumer rights in case of accidents and can help you resolve a dispute with another country which is not part of the EU. ECC-Net is an independent network of offices financed by the European Commission.
In case you do not get any answer from the insurance company of the faulty driver in three months’ period after the accident and after the presentation of the documents or the driver’s identity wasn’t identified, you can address to this guarantee fund https://www.cobx.org/.
Regardless of how attentively you drive and of how much driving experience you have, a car accident might be sometimes difficult to avoid. How you react after a car accident it is very important. That’s why you have to be prepared and to know as much information as possible about what to do after a car accident and what actions are needed to be taken.