[Safety Update] Preparing For The Unavoidable Accident

You are driving to your first stop of the day and you approach an intersection with a green light. Just as you enter the intersection a car approaching from the other direction turns in your path. You slam on your brakes but it is too late. You hit the car, sending it spinning into a ditch.

What do you do? Even though personal injury claims from car accidents make up more than 80 percent of all insurance bodily injury claims, most of us still do not have any real idea of what to do after we have been involved in an auto accident. Let’s review the obvious, as well as the not so obvious, tasks. Call 911 for police and medical help. Get out a paper and pen, and write down as much information about the accident as you can. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Names, driver’s license numbers, contact information (at least home address and phone number) and insurance information for all drivers.
2. Above all do not admit to fault under any circumstances. You should give the other driver your information (driver’s license, insurance information). Your silence may induce statements by the other driver or by passengers in the other car. People want to talk under these circumstances.
3. Note the location, date and time of accident.
4. List all notable problems with vehicles, NOT CAUSED BY THE ACCIDENT, such as bald tires or a burned out headlight. If you get a chance look inside the other driver’s car, observe whether he has any evidence of work on his seat. Are there papers opened up that he could have been writing on or working with? Is a laptop computer open? Did he have a cell phone out? Is there a half-eaten sandwich on the seat?
5. Write down any statements you hear about the cause or consequences of the accident. Did anyone say "I’m not hurt?" Did anyone take responsibility for the accident, even partially, by saying "I wasn’t looking either," "I was distracted," "I wasn’t wearing my glasses," "I spilled coffee," "I was on my cell phone," etc.?
6. Note whether any of the drivers appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the effects you observed (such as slurred speech) and any witnesses to those effects. Witnesses are important because after any substances wear off, it will be your word against the driver’s. Write down names and contact information for all passengers, any pedestrians and all witnesses (i.e., the storekeeper who saw the accident from across the street).
7. Make sure you write out a detailed description of the accident, including which direction the vehicles were going before the accident, the weather and related conditions (fog, rain, night), what happened, any injuries, what was damaged, and what the police did, especially if they issued tickets or gave a sobriety test. Drawing a diagram can be helpful in clarifying what happened. It also would be a good idea to carry a disposable camera in your vehicle at all times. Photographs tell a story and cannot be contradicted. Vehicles need to be moved out of traffic of course, but first take photographs of the resting place of the vehicles involved, before they are moved. Take as many photos from as many different angles as you can.
8. Contact your insurance carrier as soon as possible after the police have written their report.

The author is a loss control manager for Capital Risk Underwriters, insurance tailored for the pest control industry. He can be reached at vmorris@giemedia.com.