A roadside accident is always a traumatic experience for you even you are an expert driver. According to an estimate, more than 6 million car accidents occur every year in the United States. A sudden collision on the road can be a stressful thing that might leave you shocked and anxious but try not losing your senses. The key is to keep your senses in control and react wisely.
Plenty of hormones are released in your body in an emergency; adrenalin is on the top of the list. The excess of adrenalin hormone, rushed in a ‘fight or flight’ situation might make your heart beat faster or you may feel dizzy. But you have to keep yourself in control and keep calm so that you can process everything that is happening and the aftermaths of accidents smoothly.
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What to Do After a Car Accident?
You may never get into a car accident hopefully, but if you do so, here are some important factors you should keep in your mind and react accordingly.
Keep Your Nerves Calm
The first and foremost thing is to keep yourself calm. Just take a deep breath and tell yourself it is going to be okay. If you panic and got too frightened, you might increase the harm.
Check Yourself for Injuries
The next step is checking yourself for injuries. Come out of the car and try to process further if you are minorly injured, but if you have major injuries, you shouldn’t move as you might have a fracture or a whiplash car accident might have happened. You should lie straight without moving or bending in that case.
Check Others for Injuries
If you are traveling along with other people in your car, you must check them right away for injuries. Even if you are alone in your car, do check the other car’s driver or passengers if they need your help. It is your ethical and moral obligation.
Move to a Safe Place
If you can move, move to a safe place and if possible, move your car if it is on the road to avoid any further collision by approaching cars. If you are seriously injured, just leave the car where it is and get yourself treated first. If there are any signs of an explosion like leakage, immediately ask everyone to move away and remain distant till the help arrives.
Call for Help
Call the ambulance if you or any other passenger needs medical assistance. Also, call the police or other authorities even if you think it is a minor accident as it will help you a lot in legal matters.
Get First-aid Treatment
Right after an accident, never say “I am Ok” or deny the treatment. You must get the first aid treatment on the spot as it might save you from further complications. Sometimes you might feel you are perfectly fine such as in a whiplash car accident, it might take a few days when your neck starts hurting. So keep an eye on your symptoms and seek proper medical treatment if you have pain in the neck, stiffed neck, headache, blurred vision, or dizziness.
Check for the Damage Occurred
Check your car for any damages and make a record. If you can move easily, inspect thoroughly and if you can, take pictures of the damaged parts to use them for further processes. Make a diagram or make notes if you can’t take the pictures as you remember every minute detail at the moment that you might forget after some time.
Communicate the Necessary Information
After taking necessary measures regarding injuries and the safety of yourself and your family, now get to some technical formalities which are important as well. Whether it is your mistake or the other driver’s, refrain from being apologetic or either aggressive. Just politely communicate with the other car’s driver and gather all the basic information you can.
You should collect the following things from the other driver:
- His name
- Contact number
- License number
- Insurance company and policy number
- Color and model of vehicle
- Location of the accident
- Photos of damage
- Police report number
Do not say anything besides this or give any statement. Just leave it for your insurance company to sort it out.
Collect the Facts for Record
After the above-mentioned step, the next thing to do is to collects all the facts and data regarding the accident to document it and maintain a record at your end.
For this, you should:
- Identify the officers and ask their names
- Take photos of both the cars, particularly the damage that occurred
- Take photo of other car’s license plate
- Get a copy of the police report
- Get the names and addresses of the passengers of the other car
- Get the names and contact numbers of the witnesses of the accident, if they are willing, do not force them
Inform the Insurance Company
Last but not the least step is to inform your insurance company about the accident. It is better if you call your insurance company from the site of the accident as it is more effective and the police officer can better guide the insurance agent while you might not be able to give the details because of the accident.
The next step is to decide whether to file a claim or not. If you want to claim it, provide all the collected information to your insurance company to further proceed with the process.
To-do list after an accident
Here is a quick list for you about the things you should know if you wonder what to do after a car accident:
- Keep calm
- Check for injuries
- Move to a safe area
- Call immediately for help
- Get the medical assistance
- Collects the basic information and data
- Inform your insurance company
Not to-do list after an accident
Same as the things t do, there is a list of some things you should not do and avoid as much as you can.
- Do not run away from the site of the accident
- Do not admit the guilt even if you are and avoid giving any statement
- Do not argue or show aggressive or violent behavior
- Do not refuse medical aid. It is necessary for you
How to Avoid Car Accidents?
You can avoid car accidents by simply taking care of a few basic things. Some of those are listed below
- Avoid crossing the speed limit
- Always wear your safety belt
- Avoid driving at night
- Do not drink and drive
- Limit the number of passengers in your car
- Do not drive if you are under age
- Avoid driving in bad weather
- Get proper driving training before starting
- Avoid using a cell phone while driving
Conclusion
Accidents may occur and they are a part of life. You might get into an accident even after the cautious driving. But the thing is not to lose your nerves. Keeping your senses in control and by doing just some basic things, you can refrain from further damages to you and others, whether in terms of health or finances.
Thank you for reading!
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