Don't make mistakes!
Cullet and what's next? part 1 It is worth knowing how to behave in such a situation so as not to make further mistakes after the collision.
Sudden braking, screeching brakes, clink of broken headlights - crash! It can happen to anyone, even the most cautious of drivers. It is worth knowing how to behave in such a situation so as not to make further mistakes after the collision.
A crash on the road with our participation is an extremely stressful event, even if it was not our fault. And nerves and stress are bad advisers, so it is easy to make a mistake when deciding to settle a matter amicably, or by doing wrong in securing the scene. Below are some tips on what to do to avoid extra nerves and material losses in the event of a car collision. On the next page, we also present a statement about a road collision.
HOW TO BEHAVIOR AFTER A ROAD COLLISION
1. You must stop
No matter if you caused the bump or just took part in it. The size of the damage is irrelevant. You are obliged to stop the car and in this situation you can do it in a prohibited place. Failure to stop the vehicle is treated as fleeing the scene of the accident.
2. Mark the place of collision
Remember to properly secure the collision site. Vehicles participating in a crash must not constitute an additional threat to traffic safety, therefore, if they can be driven, they should be pulled down or pushed to the side of the road. In order to facilitate the work of the police, it is a good idea to mark the position of the car with chalk or stone before doing so. If it happens that we have a camera with us, it is worth taking a few photos of the scene of the incident before we change the position of the vehicles.
An exception is when people are injured or killed in an accident, vehicles should not be moved or any traces that may assist in the investigation, such as fallen off car parts, braking marks, should not be removed.
Be sure to turn on your hazard lights and put up the reflective warning triangle.
3. Help the injured
If there are injured people in the collision, you must provide them with first aid. It consists mainly in the correct positioning of the wounded, opening the airways, controlling bleeding, etc., as well as immediately calling the ambulance and the police. Helping victims of an accident is an obligation and failure to do so is now considered a crime!
4. Provide information
It is also your responsibility to provide specific information. You are obliged to provide both the police and people involved in the accident (including pedestrians, if they were involved in a collision) with your name, address, car registration number, name of the car owner, insurance company name and motor liability insurance policy number ( OC). You should provide this information even if you are not the culprit.
If you have hit a parked car and you cannot contact its owner, leave a card behind the windshield wiper with your name, registration number and telephone number, and a request for contact. If you believe that the car you hit was parked incorrectly, it is worth notifying the police, the owner may be blamed for the collision.
5. Record all relevant data
When providing information about yourself, you have the right to demand that the same data about other people involved in the cullet be shared. If the driver refuses to provide this information or has fled the scene, try to write down the registration number, make and color of his car and provide this information to the police.
6. Make a declaration of guilt
If one of the parties pleads guilty for causing the cullet, a declaration of guilt should be made. It should contain a detailed description of the collision, time, place and circumstances. Insurance companies usually have ready-made templates of statements. It is a good idea to collect them in advance and use them in the event of a crash. Be sure to check the data from the statement with the perpetrator's documents. If the driver does not want to show you ID documents, do not settle the matter amicably. Do not agree to settle your claim by bypassing the insurance company. It is often the case that the perpetrator of the collision will offer us to pay a specific amount on the spot. However, after the mechanic has assessed the damage (often hidden), it may turn out that the repair costs are much higher than we thought, especially for new cars.
7. If in doubt, call the police
If the participants of the collision cannot agree on who is the perpetrator, or the damage to the cars is large and the preliminary car inspection indicates that the repair will be expensive, it is best to call the police, which will identify the perpetrator and write an appropriate statement. Otherwise, we do not have to call the police officers, but remember that insurance companies are often more willing and faster to withdraw money when we have a police statement.
However, if it turns out that we were the perpetrators of the collision, we must take into account a fine of up to PLN 500. On the other hand, the police report precisely defines our responsibility, thanks to which we can avoid attempts by the injured party to exaggerate the losses.
We should call the officers if there are casualties, or we suspect that a participant in the collision is under the influence of alcohol or drugs or has false documents.
8. Witnesses may come in handy
It is worth taking care of finding witnesses of the incident. They can be passers-by, residents of nearby houses, and other drivers. If there are people who saw the event, ask them to provide their first name, surname and address, which we can enter in the declaration for the insurer. If we called the police just in case, let's also write down the numbers of the badges of the police officers and the numbers of the police car.
9. Don't underestimate the symptoms
If you feel unwell, have a headache, neck ache or areas bruised during the collision, go to the doctor right away. Symptoms of a collision often show up only a few hours after the event and should not be underestimated. The costs of treatment should be reimbursed by the insurance company of the person causing the cullet.
However, it is often the case that the real problems only start when we try to get compensation from the insurance company. About it in the article Take care of compensation (The Crash and What Next, Part 2) .
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