WDYD in a car accident?

[phaethona]

Quote:
do the police go out to every single accident even if it's really minor? what if someone taps your bumper on the highway? do you jam up the brakes and pray you don't cause a chain reaction? why do you even need police present if no one is hurt and all vehicles are driveable?

 

[sunflowerenvy]

this what i would do.

what would u do in case of car accident?
check out the other driver
call police
take pics of other car with the tag number
take pic of two in pack
take pic of intersection
at change info on car reg n ins and the time
if possible drivable move the car into parking lot or off the side road.
when the cop arrive explain what happen.
[you make be shock]i would ask the cop if your car is drivable in his eyes so u could drive it home or repair shop
when u get home call your ins company

i would sit on side of the road if i cannot move my car otherwise i would stay in car when i moved it

 

[FireTigeris]

Different by state call your Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and your local insurance agent.

(Not during accident now before hand.)

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Yes the cops do. No locking it up over being bumped is stupid but that's not the same as being in a Actual crash that ends in the road an moving the cars after the fact.

 

[catwalk]

A police report is important, even if the PD doesn't come out. Many times, an ambulance will respond, but you are under no obligation to go to the hospital with them. You will be asked to sign a refusal, and you will be told that you should seek medical attention later if you feel you should. Adrenaline often masks pain, and you may later notice injuries caused by the collision.

 

[turney31]

Good thread, made me brush up on what I would need to do. I listen to the scanner a lot and most all the time the vehicles are left in the road until the state trooper gets there. Wreckers are not called for until trooper asks for them. Not even by county deputys. I don't know about the police dept. in town. Our insurance co. wants to be called from the accident scene if possible.

 

[phaethona]

Quote:
Yes the cops do. No locking it up over being bumped is stupid but that's not the same as being in a Actual crash that ends in the road an moving the cars after the fact.

wow, I'm glad my state and city taxes aren't being wasted on that!

I'm failing to see why it's necessary AND safer to stop in the middle of the road blocking traffic and being vulnerable to other drivers while you wait around for an officer to tell you to move. what if no one's filing a police report?

hypothetical: I'm driving down a major city road, and just as I crest a hill, someone hits me from behind. I'm okay and so is the other driver, our bumpers are bent up but we can still drive away to a parking lot just 10 feet away to exchange info. our cars are blocking two lanes of traffic and since it's at the crest of a hill, and we're stopped, someone could easily pop over the hill hitting our two cars, I could
A) agree with the other driver to move to the parking lot to exchange info, thereby eliminating the risk of being hit by another car as well as causing a major traffic delay.
or
B) sit in my car in the middle of the road, risk being hit more than once, and jeopardize the safety of other drivers who will need to stop abruptly. also, since neither of us is hurt and we need to exchange info, should we physically stay by our vehicles which are unexpectedly blocking a major roadway?

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Here is the perspective of a 911 dispatcher and a cops wife... (me)

Quote:
It is not a law in PA to call the police for an accident unless there is injury, death, fire, or property damage. As stated above, if it is a minor accident, that both cars are drivable and no injuries, exchanging info is enough. Most police departments don't have enough officers to do a report every time there is an accident. An accident report for them is somewhere around 11 pages long and must be turned into the state.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Here...

If you are driving fast enough to even chirp the tires trying to stop for a crash in the road you may find your self in handcuffs trying to explain to a cop why you were driving in excess of your ability to safely stop. Always a fun chat to hear. Never an excuse for almost hitting a preexisting crash. So being in the road is not the safety issue.

Yes if you get bumped lightly from behind you will probably get away with moving the cars but your report may say no fault because you moved the car. That means you are stuck with the bill or you will have to sue to try to prove what happened. If there is actual damage they have the option to put you at fault just because you moved your car after coming to a stop. Its all up to the cop. You would probably win in court but you put your self in a harder spot. If there is a injury you can be charged with obstructing. If you both decide not to report it an you drive away, the other driver can then call the cops an get you charged with leaving the sense an you are automatically at fault. If you only damage your property you can forgo a report unless you owe on the car. If you do damage to property that is not 100% yours even if the other owner is ok with it you are still required to do a report. I have seen people charged with leaving the scene in crashes where they hit the ditch an left to though. Its all about the mood of the reporting cop.

Moving the car also effects the shape of the light elements which are looked at to see if you were breaking at impact, if the lights were working an directionality of the impact.

If you are hit an can get off the road while stopping that's good but once you get stopped in a crash you should leave it there till told its ok to move it, even if that's in the road.

If your not hurt an you get out you should stand off to the side an wave traffic. But remember many people dont know they are badly hurt for a few minutes.

Usually in Ga the state wont move the cars at all till the state is done an getting in his car to leave an he will then let them be moved. The report is always priority over traffic flow with them.

Your just better off to ask the first cop on scene if its ok to move it an leave it be till then. An I think I would want pictures before that too. I think It would be good to ask a local cop on how they handle it all. Laws are weird an far from standardized. An if you want you can always ask the dispatcher if its ok to move the cars an if you get the ok that will be recorded if anything is said about it. They will probably ask the responding cop if its ok anyway. Because even cops in the same community will want to handle it different.

 

[SparksNV]

Learned this the hard way. If you are in a minor fender bender and police are not involved, when you get info from the other driver, physically see their insurance card & driver's license. A long time ago, I had a person just wro\\ite down their name, address, phone number after an accident. I did not get their license plate number and did not see their info. All info ended up being bogus. Therefore, my insurance had to pay...