A friend of mine called me a couple weeks ago in a panic. She was involved in a car accident. She was hit from behind and it was clearly not her fault. Everyone was ok and no one was hurt, which is a good thing. She was unsure what information to gather and what to do. The driver, who was at fault, said, please do not go through insurance and let's take care of it outside of insurance. She flashed her driver’s license (which my friend took a photo of), provided her cell phone number, said she worked around the corner, and that everything would be ok. Before my friend knew it, the driver was gone. My friend never got a copy of her insurance or a photo of the license plate. When she asked me what else she needed to get, I said, chase her down and do not let her get away! Unfortunately, the driver and her car were gone.
My friend drove over to where the person said they worked. There was no such suite number that she had provided. My friend tried calling her...no answer. At that point, I advised her to go to the police to report the incident.
This is where it got interesting. My friend drives a Tesla. If you are not aware, Tesla has several built-in cameras that record video. She downloaded the videos from the accident and gave them to the police. The police also called the phone number the driver provided. After many attempts, she finally picked up. She begged and pleaded with my friend to not involve the police and I believe my friend backed down a little, once she knew she had the license plate on video and the police by her side to assist, if needed.
When you are in a car accident, do you know what to do?
Here is a quick checklist to keep in mind.
1. Use your phone to take pictures and video of the essential details after an accident, like damage to the vehicles, wide angles of the surrounding areas and people who were involved in the accident. Take photos of their driver’s license, insurance cards and license plate number.
2. Call the police to file an official report. This will help you with the insurance company when filing a claim.
When you have an accident and you are not at fault, let the at-fault parties' insurance take care of everything for you. From the rental car to the repairs, it is all on them. You only need to involve your own insurance company, if the other party is not cooperating. And if you happen to be injured in an accident, do not sign off that you are okay unless you feel 1,000,000% healthy and will not have any long-term effects.
As we are coming up on spring and summer fun, there are a lot road trips planned. Be safe out there and remember to stay alert. And if something happens, use your cell phone to document everything.
