Car collisions are a major cause of most personal injury claims. The law differs depending on the type of accident as not all accidents are vehicle to vehicle.
You must stay at the scene if:-
- you have suffered a personal injury
- there has been a vehicle to vehicle impact
- Property (street furniture or a persons garden wall) has been damaged
Where you have suffered a personal injury
It is appreciated that you may be in shock, however, you should try your best to:-
- Get yourself safe,
- DO NOT ADMIT ANY LIABILITY (EVEN SAYING SORRY) AS THIS WOULD INFER THE WHOLE ACCIDENT WAS YOUR FAULT
- Call the Police and Ambulance
- If physically able take photos of the damage to your vehicle (if another vehicle is involved take pictures of their vehicle too)
- If there are any witnesses then take their details
Where there has been a vehicle to vehicle impact
- Get yourself safe,
- DO NOT ADMIT ANY LIABILITY (EVEN SAYING SORRY) AS THIS WOULD INFER THE WHOLE ACCIDENT WAS YOUR FAULT
- Consider calling an ambulance – shock may be serious but not present itself immediately, better safe than sorry
- Call the Police if the road is blocked or you think the other driver is illegal in some way (drunk, under the influence of drugs etc)
- If physically able take photos of the damage to your vehicle (if another vehicle is involved take pictures of their vehicle too)
- If there are any witnesses then take their details
- If another vehicle is involved then exchange details such as name, address, phone number, vehicle registration plate and insurance details
- Report the accident to your insurers, regardless of who was to blame
If you have an accident and damage street furniture / private property
- Consider calling an ambulance – shock may be serious but not present itself immediately, better safe than sorry
- Call the Police if the road is blocked
- If physically able take photos of the damage to your vehicle and the damage done.
- Report the accident to your insurers, regardless of who was to blame
If an injury presents itself after the accident, and you had not sought medical help at the time you can still make a personal injury claim, however, we would always recommend getting checked over after an accident, this is not just to make making a claim easier but there may be something wrong that you simply do not notice. Adrenalin is a great painkiller and you may g=feel perfectly fine – at Lestons we would always suggest getting checked over and keep records of every visit, prescriptions issued etc in a file, just in case.
6.21