If you have recently been in a car accident, chances are you remember the feeling of reeling from the event. Depending on the severity of the damage to your vehicle or to your person, you might not have known exactly what to do in the moments following the crash.
No one likes the feeling of being unprepared, especially when it comes to things like car accidents. If you are looking to be a bit more prepared in case an accident should occur, here are four things to remember to do in the event of a crash.
1. Check on all passengers
The most important thing to do immediately following a car accident is to make sure that everyone involved is ok. If you ascertain that someone is injured, call for an ambulance right away.
Unfortunately, not all injuries that you could sustain from an accident are evident right away. Things like herniated disks or internal bleeds could have been caused without much external damage to be seen.
2. Assess any damage
It is vitally important that if you are in a collision you stop your vehicle and put your hazard lights on. This is so that any oncoming drivers know to avoid the immediate area. If it is at all possible, pull your car off to the side of the road so that you don’t cause a traffic jam.
Once you are clear of the road, you should assess any damage. Is everyone in the vehicle ok? Did the collision cause any damage, great or small, to either your vehicle or the other person’s involved in the crash? If you are able, you should try to take photographs of any and all damage that you see on the vehicles.
3. Seek medical help
Obviously, as soon as you discover that someone is in immediate medical danger, you should call for an ambulance. As previously stated, there are some injuries that you might not see right away, so it is a good idea to call for help if you suspect any sort of injury whatsoever.
In the case that you are unharmed in the accident, you might not be out of the woods entirely. Things like back pain, whiplash, and neck pain can afflict you later on as a result of any jolts you experienced in the crash. If you experience pain of this kind after an accident, you should look into seeing an auto accident doctor orlando for help. It might take some time, but the right medical professional can help you recover from any injuries that you sustained from a car crash.
4. Alert the authorities
Whether or not there is severe damage to you car, it is important that the police are called in the case of a collision. If there is damage that you don’t notice until a later time, then having a police report on file will be essential to filing a claim with your insurance company.