What to do in case of an accident

[skandyhere]

Email circulation or otherwise, I believe people will still do what their gut tells them to. At the moment, there's a compelling urge to either run or stand back and do what you feel is correct. Not much reasoning will happen, not many questions asked.

It is supremely difficult to flee when your conscience tells you otherwise. And when a sudden pang of fear overwhelms you, no benevolent law nor rational explanation can get you to face the situation.

I think that's human nature.

[mrkanitkar]

I have seen lot of guides here but did not find any guideline about how to handle
accident situation. The case may be you hit someone or someone hit you.
How do you handle it? I know this guideline will not be legal one but can help many people. @mod, I hope this is right section.
In case any accident I would suggest following
1. Have photo copy of following docs in car if you don't have originals
a. Driving License
b. Car RC TC / smart card
c. Insurance
d. PUC
2. keep contact nos. of local police
3. If travelling on highway, keep of emergecy health services & insurance agent/ company nos.
4. make sure you know family / friends cell no. by heart,(since we use cell phones, we tend to forget actual no as we call thru contacts manager).

First call
1. call health service - if needed
2. call family friend/ family members
3. call police - if needed
4. call insurance agent

Any thoughts?

[McLaren Rulez]

Good ideas but the real problem in an accident situation is tempers. Insurance, treatment for the injured, calling for help, etc. is secondary and can be managed without too much trouble. The difficult part is when a war of words degenerates into a street fight.

[basilmabraham]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Good ideas but the real problem in an accident situation is tempers. Insurance, treatment for the injured, calling for help, etc. is secondary and can be managed without too much trouble. The difficult part is when a war of words degenerates into a street fight.

I completely agree with you. managing the crowd that gathers around an accident area is the most difficult.

Also, there is a general perception that the bigger of the vehicles involved is always thought to be the culprit. This is seen to be the perception of the crowd that gathers, irrespective of who is actually to be blamed for the cause of the accident.

[Gansan]

It would be a good idea to always have a camera mobile phone while driving and in case of an accident, take a snap of the scene. It will come in very handy.

[mrkanitkar]

should one have blackbox recorder or some cam which will keep record / Video of last 30 mins?

[Atul-C]

Its very difficult to handle the situation when you are at place where you are not part of the local crowd. You will definitely be taken for a ride because you will have absolutely zero support, no matter other party is at complete fault. What if you are trying to call police or your friends and your mobile is snatched away from your hands and you are asked to pay money first. Happened with me once and I had no option to follow any of the above suggestion. Though I admit that whatever you have suggested is absolutely right but there will be some situations where you cant do anything.

[phamilyman]

@kanitkar ji: LOL @ blackbox !
I regret to say but that is completely irrelevant english. When was the last time you were in a real life-threatening accident?

/no offence, but its hardly helpful

[J.Ravi]

Always keep the first-aid kit and warning triangle that came along with the car. Do not remove it from the vehicle. In case of pre-owned cars, buy a first-aid kit and keep it in the car. When I sold my previous 5.5 year old vehicle Maruti Suzuki Versa, I handed over the vehicle along with the original unused first-aid kit [although expired long back!], wishing the second owner that he should also never use it and pass it on to the next owner!

[stanjohn123]

Tips on tackling the crowd will be useful here . If a crowd gathers , it would be wise to shuu them away by telling they are not involved in the accident so get lost and not interfere in our business.If they still persist , ask them if they are ready to come to the court with you. I bet most of the crowd will take a back step once you mention the court to them .

[Gansan]

Ha Ha! I tried to use the band-aid type plaster dressing from the first-aid kit of my brand new Alto. Not due to accident, my son fell down from his bicycle and I wanted to cover the abrasion on his knee. When I opened and tried to stick the plaster, the gum went away with the peeled off paper, leaving absolutely none on the band-aid! It simply would not stick on the skin, so had to go out to buy another one. So much for the quality of first aid kit on cars.