Let’s talk about some dos and don’ts if you’re in a car accident. If you have that misfortune, the first thing is make sure you’re safe. Make sure everybody in the vehicle is safe. Sometimes people’s instinct is just to get out of the car. But if the car is in the middle of a busy road or highway, you might want to just stay in your vehicle, assuming there’s no smoke or risk of fire. So, make sure you’re all safe.
If you can get over to the shoulder, get over to the shoulder. But even then, don’t necessarily get out of the car. We’ve had plenty of cases where people exit vehicles and get struck. So, be very careful with your instincts and make sure you’re in a safe position before you get out of the car.
Once everybody’s safe, you want to notify the police so that they can respond and prepare a police report assuming it’s a significant accident, and they will also, of course, if you dial 911, send an ambulance if you’ve got somebody significantly hurt or if you’re badly hurt. That will be very important.
If it’s the kind of accident where you’re able to be in a safe position and you want to document things, that’s a good instinct, too. Take out your phone and take some pictures and make sure that you document where everybody was and where the accident happened. Those are all good things to do.
