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UK Driving Incidents and Accidents

It’s worth knowing your responsibilities when involved in a car incident, or accident.

First and foremost, you have to ensure that no-one is injured and that everyone is safely out of the way of further danger.

If someone is injured, ring for the emergency services as quickly as possible, ensuring that the victim is comfortable. Administering first aid should only be attempted if you know what you’re doing. If in doubt, you really should wait until the emergency services arrive. For example, moving a person around who has sustained neck, or back injuries, can actually make matters worse. Common sense must prevail at times like this.

But let’s assume that no-one has been injured and all the drivers and passengers in the vehicles involved in the crash are out of harm’s way.

And that goes for the vehicles as well. Are they likely to cause another accident if left where they are? Should someone be nominated to move down the road and warn approaching drivers of the accident. If you have a warning triangle – a legal requirement in Europe, but not the U.K – then maybe it could be used to good effect, warning people to slow down and take care.

Also, make sure you try and stay calm. In times of stress, the human brain can react in peculiar ways, so don’t be bullied, or hurried by anyone. Get yourself together and then think what comes next. And avoid playing the blame game. Just because you think that guy in the red car caused the accident by pulling in to quickly while trying to overtake, doesn’t necessarily mean that is what happened.

Usually, if no-one’s injured and the crash isn’t blocking all lanes of the M1, the police do not attend road traffic accidents. So don’t start ringing 999 and demand a team of officers come down and see how badly your bumper has been scratched. But it is a good idea to let the police know that an accident has happened, as that could come in useful, especially if the person you’re dealing with turns out to have no insurance.

The first thing to do is exchange details with the other people involved. You ideally need name, address and preferably, landline number (try to get that more than a mobile number). You also need to get their car’s registration (hopefully you can see that ) and their insurance company details (they might not have them to hand of course).

Be firm, but if someone insists on not being co-operative, don’t push it. Just make sure you’ve got enough to identify the person if possible.

So, even if you have all the details just listed, make a note of their car, including the manufacturer, model and colour. This might seem a bit laborious, but vital if someone is either not who they say they are, or driving a car they shouldn’t be.

Remember, of course, that you need to supply all those details as well.

Also, its important that you make a note of the damage sustained to the other vehicles; even try and take a picture of the damage with your mobile. Likewise take a picture, if you can, of the accident scene and also make a note of what you think happened, even making a line drawing. Again, this might seem onerous at a time when you just want to get away and forget it all. But when it comes to filling out your claim forms, it will be a bonus.

If there are witnesses, try and take their details.

And, most importantly, do not accept the blame at any time. You can’t be expected to make a judgement in the trauma following an accident so admit to nothing on that front. You are not obliged to discuss blame and if you do, your insurance company won’t thank you later.

Finally, get home and at the earliest opportunity, report the accident to your insurance company. They will then guide you through what comes next.

Experiencing a driving incident, or accident, is not very pleasant, but do your best to help yourself and make it a little less painful.

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