Chances are if you drive long enough, eventually you’ll have a minor accident. A fender bender isn’t such a big deal if you have car insurance.
You have to make sure you know what to do and what not to do after an accident, though. You can get stressed after you’ve had an accident and say or do the wrong thing. You can also forget to get the needed information and cause yourself trouble that way. It’s important to know what to do before you find yourself in that situation.
The first thing to remember is to move the vehicles off of the road, so long as no one is injured. This is especially important if the accident happened at a busy intersection.
You really can’t just leave your cars in the intersection. If you do, then cars trying to get around you can have problems and you can actually cause more accidents to happen. Before you move your cars, turn on your hazard lights so that other cars know something is wrong and don’t expect that you’ll be able to travel at the normal rate of speed.
Be sure to call the police next. Now, the police may or may not come to the scene – in some areas, unless there are injuries police are not dispatched. Still, you do need to call the accident in. Ideally you will get a police accident report, because this will make it much easier to deal with insurance companies.
Here is the most vital step to remember: you must exchange information with the other driver. Each of you needs the other party’s name, phone number, insurance carrier, policy number driver’s license number, and license plate number. It is also a good idea to get some details on the other vehicle, such as make, model, year and color.
While you are exchanging information don’t make small talk. It’s too easy to say the wrong thing. Don’t apologize for anything or admit fault in any way. Let the police determine who is at fault.
If you have a camera on you, or if your car has a camera, take pictures of both cars. You want shots of damage, and also shots of the cars’ position in relation to each other if you can get that. Then once you leave the scene, contact your insurance agent right away to report the accident.
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