1. Stop Move your car to the side of a road or a safe nearby location if possible.
2. Check your Health
If you feel like you have been injured, the first step is to make sure you get medical attention.
3. Call the Police
Even if you feel the accident is minor or you don’t feel any injuries you should still call the police. You need to document the collision. Sometimes people do not exhibit any pain until the adrenaline goes away from an initial shock of being involved in a car accident. It is harder to settle a claim without a police report it can help insurance companies determine liability and it is more credible. You want to make sure that the police completes a thorough investigation. Provide them with as much information as possible so they can generate a detailed report. If a police officer does not respond to the scene, you should still file a report and make sure you get all of the necessary information listed below to proceed with a claim.
4. Information
Make sure that you have all the necessary paperwork from the other driver(s) to proceed with the accident process. This is especially important if the police do not respond to the scene.
This includes:
1. A photo of the adverse driver’s license. This will provide their name, address, license number.
2. The driver’s contact information.
3. A photo of the adverse driver’s insurance card. This will provide their insurance company and policy number, which you will need to proceed with the claim.
4. Photographs of the scene and the vehicles involved (the more pictures, the better) – you don’t want to be held liable for damage to the vehicle that wasn’t your fault.
5. Contact information of potential witnesses to the accident. They can help in determining liability.
In Arizona, when police respond to the scene of a car accident, they have each driver fill out an Accident Exchange Form where it includes important information such as: location of accident, date, driver’s name, driver’s license number, phone number, vehicle year/make/model, license plate number, etc. so you should have all the information needed to proceed.