Touchwood, neither my husband, nor myself have ever been involved in any sort of serious motoring accident. Especially now having our little boy, the thought of having an accident is just terrifying.
Quite a few years ago now, my mother was involved in a traffic collision. She was hit by another motor vehicle who had stolen his parents car and there was a motorbike also involved. My mum suffered severe whiplash and shock, but thankfully nothing life threatening. To this day, she is still a nervous driver and will not drive on long journeys, nor places she has not been before.
Having any traffic collision must be terrifying for all parties involved, whether a small little bump or a serious crash. The after effects are extremely serious, and can be life changing in a physical or mental way. If in an incident, there are steps you must follow to ensure any persons involved safety and to make sure you are physically and mentally able to continue.
Here are the simple steps to take following a traffic collision.
Make sure it is safe to move from your vehicle
Following an accident, you can never be too sure of the injuries you have sustained. Quite often the shock and trauma of being in an accident can make you unaware of pain from an injury. As for any accident, you should never move if you have any back pains as this can result in further damage.
Not only making sure you are fine, but before leaving your vehicle, ensure that you are safe prior to exiting. After an accident you may be confused or scared which may make you lose your common sense. Leaving a vehicle on a busy carriageway can result in serious injury, especially at night if you are in a dark or unlit area. You should also move away from the vehicles involved if there is any sign of fire or smoke, as you can never be sure of the risk of explosion.
Check other persons involved
If safe to do so, you should check on anyone else involved in the accident. If there is sign of injury, you should call the ambulance service immediately and not try and remove anyone from a vehicle.
Take photos
Whether a small bumper to bumper incident, you should take photos of any vehicles involved prior to moving any cars. This is for insurance purposes, so you have a true record of the results of the incident and to help insurance companies confirm who is liable and who is at fault. Within these photos, it is ideal to get a photo of any vehicles involved and number plates.
Swap insurance details
Following an incident, you should swap details with anyone involved. This must be the registration, make and model of the vehicle, the persons name, address and contact numbers along with their insurance company. If possible, you should also obtain any reference numbers they have to do with their policy.
Report the incident
Once safe, you need to contact your insurance company and make a claim. This is required to fix or replace your vehicle depending on the damage. You will need to pass all the details to the insurance company for them to make contact with anyone else involved.
Visit the hospital
Should you have any serious injuries, and ambulance should be called, and if not, it is still advisable to visit the hospital just to have a check over. this will also help determine whether or not to make a claim for personal injury through another parties insurance should they be at fault.
There are now companies that will make a claim for personal injury on your behalf, and they are worth contacting even if you had an accident some time ago.
I hope you will never need to use any of these tips, however it is always best to know what to do just incase.
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