It’s not something any of us want to think about, but having a car accident is a possibility for anyone.
Statistics show over the course of a lifetime, the average driver will have three or four car accidents so the collision is unfortunately a part of life.
If it does happen, what should you do?
Theresa Podguski, director of legislative affairs for AAA East Central in Allentown says you need to try to stay calm and focused. She says it helps to make a plan before a collision ever happens.
"Emotions do play a part in it. You get excited in the event of a collision, so this way if you're prepared in advance, you have those thoughts in your head and those steps down," says Podguski.
Once an accident happens, she says, take a deep breath and look around.
"You want to assess the situation. Are you injured? Are your passengers injured? And then, is it safe for you to exit your vehicle?"
Next, she says, get your car to the side of the road if you can and make sure to turn your engine off.
"If you cannot move the vehicle, if it is not in driveable condition, make sure you're turning on the emergency flashers. Use warning triangles or emergency flares to warn oncoming traffic that there has been a collision."
And most importantly, don't say, "I'm sorry" to anyone.
"We want to make sure that you don't say that 'I am at fault.' There may be someone else who is more at fault than you. Let the police officers do their investigation and assess that," Podguski says.
In addition, be sure to:
Exchange information with the other driver.
Get information from any witnesses
Notify your insurance agent as soon as you can.
When should you call the police?
"If someone is injured, if someone has died in the collision or if a vehicle needs to be towed."
Podguski adds that even if the police don't come to the scene, you can notify them later to get a police report of the incident.
You may also want to take photos or videos of the accident scene and record anything noteworthy, like the time of day and weather conditions.
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