The most likely thing to happen immediately after being involved in a road accident is getting confused. You will probably be thinking about your safety and the safety of anyone else involved in the accident. To mitigate the effects of the accident and increase the chances of being compensated, here are some of the things you should do immediately.
Cater to the Injured
The biggest concern after an accident should be to save the lives of all the people involved. You should call an ambulance immediately if the accident has resulted in injuries. Even people without physical injuries should be encouraged to go for medical checkups since they might have internal injuries.
As a concerned person, you can also try to administer first aid to the injured people. The ambulance might take time before arriving, and administering first aid can help save lives. In case you do not have any medical knowledge, try to reduce bleeding on the injured people.
Take Pictures and Record Videos
Taking pictures and recording videos immediately after a motor accident is also helpful. The pictures and videos will help determine who was on the wrong among the people involved. Establishing the driver responsible for the accident helps during the process of making claims from the insurance companies.
You can only take pictures or record video if you have not been seriously injured. These include minor accidents where only the vehicles involved or other properties are damaged.
Involve the Police
Traffic police officers are required to make reports on accidents and help in identifying the person who was at fault. Police especially need to be involved if the accidents are major and a detailed report needs to be made. By involving the police, you will be helping resolve the processes that follow after the accident much faster.
The report made by the police will be required during the compensation negotiations. You can get the report directly from the police or a reliable source such as chp incident report. A police report from such a source that is well known for providing redacted versions of police reports shall increase your chances of being compensated.
Talk to Witnesses
Convincing the authorities that you were following all the traffic rules prior to the accident becomes easier if you have support from witnesses. Because of this, you should try to talk to anyone who was present when the accident happened. You can even try and get the contact details of such people so that they can appear as witnesses.
Most people are usually reluctant to appear as witnesses, especially in cases that do not involve their friends or close relatives. Consequently, you have an obligation to convince anyone who witnessed the accident to help you as a witness. You may be surprised to find out that good people would not mind spending their time to help a stranger who has a road accident case.
Therefore, doing the outlined things immediately after a motor accident helps save lives while at the same time increasing the chances of being compensated.
