Stop at Scene
You must always stop at the scene of an accident if injuries are caused to people, domestic animals or other vehicles or property including roadside fixtures like traffic lights or lamposts.
Call Emergency Services if any of the following have occurred.
- Any person or animal need medical attention.
- The road has been damaged or blocked
- A chemical spillage or fuel has escaped from any vehicle
Witnesses
Try and get names, addresses, phone numbers and other vehicle registrations of any witnesses. If you have a SmartWitness Vehicle Journey Recorder ensure you remove and replace the SD card to keep the evidence. The Smart Witness Recorder can then act as a witness to the accident. Also make a note of anyone involved that may have been physically injured or complaining about any pain or discomfort.
Exchange Details
If you are involve in an car accident you must obtain the name, address, telephone numbers, vehicle registration and insurance company and policy number of all the other vehicles involved. At this stage you never admit blame or admit liability.
Location
If possible make a sketch of the scene but if you have the Car Accident Camera running you could use this to take additional footage of the damage, driving conditions etc by removing it from the screen mount and gently moving the camera around to capture the aftermath of the event including any skid marks etc.
Some people might use a mobile phone after the accident but with the SmartWitness Vehicle Journey Recorder you will already have stored on your SD Card the speed, direction of travel and location of the accident and the Pre and Post Record of the accident. This will be available from the SmartWitness Analysis which will print your accident report together with speed, images and a map of the exact time and location, which is suitable to send to your insurance company as part of the claim.
Claims
You will need to notify your insurance company within 24 hours of the accident to start the claims process.
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