WDYD in a car accident?

[Rozzie]

Not going to answer one by one, but:

Get the heck OUT of the car, and OFF the road if you are in a busy traffic area or in an area with limited visibility.
Take some cell phone pictures, if you can do so safely.
Move vehicles if the accident is minor. I "will" take the risk of complications from insurance companies and police to move a vehicle. I've known folks who did NOT do this and then had their vehicle hit again, causing more injuries to other people. This is especially important if your vehicle may be hard to see -- like just over a hill.

I also carry those orange safety triangles, etc. in the car. These would get retrieved IF SAFE TO DO SO and placed in a manner that might help alert oncoming motorists. This would ONLY be if I could do so safely, though.

Cell phone pictures are wonderful things. I had someone back into my car in a parking lot one day about three years ago. I immediately snapped pictures before moving anything. Their insurance company balked at paying for the damages to my older vehicle (which included my being unable to open the driver's door because they had hit it right where it meets the car frame & mushed it all to heck. They must have GUNNED their car to go out of that parking place.) Their insurance company was going to give me a whole line of "Well, how do we know it wasn't pre-existing damage" blah blah blah. Then, I informed them I had cell phone pictures. Plus, I happened to have dated pictures of my car at a previous date, not long before, showing the car was undamaged at that time.

Cha-ching. They paid up. I didn't even have to SHOW the pictures...

 

[mamawolf544]

In Texas if it is minor, cars are drivable and no injuries, you both pull to the side of the road and exchange info. You do not call the police.
If it is major you call the police, ambulance, leave the car if you are able and get to safety.

My DD and her DH just had a bad accident a month ago. A guy was going 80 mph (he owned up to it) blew a stop sign and midway thru decided to turn left right into their car. They went airborn.

Got pretty banged up, had kids in the car. First thing they are backwards on their carnote, it was totaled. So they still owe over $2000. for their car. And they have a lawyer.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Here's a good video on it. http://video.about.com/personalinsure/What-to-Do-In-a-Car-Accident.htm

Again get details from a local cop to be sure.

 

[turney31]

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?

Well in a case like this I think common sense should prevail.

 

[Tala]

Quote:

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Again, people are saying ALWAYS get a police report. I work with police everyday and this WILL NOT happen in most instances if it is a minor, non-reportable accident. You may want one, but if there are no injuries, no fire, no property damage, they do not HAVE to come and do one. A fender bender does not constitute a police report here, especially if it is on private property, i.e. a parking lot. I'm not saying the police don't care, but a fender bender is not a police matter. If the other person is not cooperating with you, by all means call and ask for an officer to come help you out with that, but do not expect them to do a report for you.

Remember, yes it may suck if your insurance had to pay for damages to your car, but this is what you pay insurance for.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
The local county's have rotating lists. To get on the list you have to be in the county, have both a wrecker and a rollback, be bonded, insured($1 million in coverage), have a fenced impound an have someone on call 24/7/365. If you ask for a wrecker by name they call them but if not they call who ever is up on the list. That person cant be called from the list again till all the others on that list has been rotated threw. Price varies from $50 to $120 here. If you want to request someone it can be Bubba with a truck an chain for all they care.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
The local county's have rotating lists. To get on the list you have to be in the county, have both a wrecker and a rollback, be bonded, insured($1 million in coverage), have a fenced impound an have someone on call 24/7/365. If you ask for a wrecker by name they call them but if not they call who ever is up on the list. That person cant be called from the list again till all the others on that list has been rotated threw. Price varies from $50 to $120 here. If you want to request someone it can be Bubba with a truck an chain for all they care.

That's the way it works here, too. Each tow company that is on the list gets a week on call at a time. This is only for our city though. Everywhere else in the county, we have one particular tow company that treats us really well, no matter the time of day or night that we use.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
All the states I have worked in you got a report for everything or it didn't happen an you, not your insurance was stuck with the bill. Even if you back into your own car in your yard.

 

[HHandbasket]

It all depends on where you live. We have had such severe budget woes here in California & law enforcement has probably been hit the hardest. If you are in an accident here and nobody is hurt, no ambulance is needed, the police will not come. If you are hurt, call 911. If you're not, call the police (and if you live in Sacramento, they'll tell you to just come to the station tomorrow and file a formal report if you think it's necessary). Always exchange info, take pics when you can. If that person had hit you and left you in the middle of the intersection, you definitely want to try to get it out of traffic if possible. Use your best judgment and assess the situation at the time. And keep your emergency road service card handy!

I would also recommend to use a disposable camera rather than a digital camera to take your photographs. You will have the unretouched negatives in case there is ever a question as to whether or not the digital images you took were altered. We keep a disposable camera in our glove box for just that reason.

I'm very happy to hear that your near accident did not become an actual accident and that you are all right!