Loooong post incoming.
So before last week, I'd never been in a serious car accident. I expect many of you may be able to relate, and you, like me, may have no idea what to do when that happens to you.
So! For your edification here is what I have learned*!
So you've just been in a serious accident!
Immediate aftermath, at the crash site:
1. Ensure the safety of yourself & your passengers. If you are somewhere with heavy traffic and your vehicle is still in the road, you may be in danger of additional collisions. If your vehicle is still functional, try your best to move it to the shoulder or somewhere else off the road. How to go about this safely and where to move to is going to depend heavily on your specific circumstances, so use your best judgment. If you can't move your vehicle, you may want to leave it and move yourself/passengers off the road to safety if possible. If you cannot do either and your vehicle is not on fire, wait in your vehicle until first responders arrive, you are most likely safer in your vehicle than out of it.
2. Quickly assess yourself & any other people involved in the accident for serious injuries. I'm talking profuse bleeding, obvious broken limbs, head/neck trauma. Is anyone unconscious or not breathing? Apply pressure to any bleeding wounds, try not to move anyone with head or neck injuries unless it is absolutely necessary to get them out of danger, perform CPR if someone is not breathing/doesn't have a heartbeat.
3. Call 911. You want to have first responders arriving on scene as soon as possible. Try to identify where you are, is there a crossroads nearby, are you close to an exit or mile marker, are you on the northbound/southbound/eastbound/westbound side of a highway? Call emergency services, tell them you've just been in a car accident, answer any additional questions they have to the best of your ability.
4. Wait for help to arrive. Police & EMS should be on scene shortly. Now, if your accident is anything like mine, first responders are gonna be fucking useless. EMS didn't check us out & the cops just took a statement & filed the report and then basically told us to figure shit out for ourselves. BUT hopefully your experience will be different. When they ask you if you're okay, don't be a hero and say you don't think there's anything wrong, it's important that you take a full inventory of your/your passenger(s) state and document any injuries now so insurance will have less cause to deny you if you need medical attention later.
5. Exchange info with the other driver(s). Now before you say one word to them, it is really important that you try to stay calm and be kind, even if they were 100% at fault for what just happened. You just went through something traumatic together, and this part will be so much easier if you can put yourselves on the same team. Check in with them first thing and make sure they/their passengers are okay. Ask if you can take a picture of their insurance card, and let them take a picture of yours. (If they are uninsured or fled the scene before you could address them, I'm sorry I do not have answers for what to do there, maybe someone else will.)
6. Record vehicle & property damage. Take pictures of the damage to your & any other vehicles that were involved in the accident, as well as any damage to infrastructure or other property.
7. Get your vehicle away from the scene. If your vehicle is determined to be in driveable condition (meaning it is still functional and your air bags did not deploy), you can drive away as soon as first responders have cleared you to do so. If your vehicle is not driveable, you will need to be towed away. Your insurance may offer roadside services, or you or someone else may need to call a tow company. If you get a say in the matter, ask to have it towed directly to the body shop/collision center of your choice so you will not have to deal with retrieving it from the impound/tow lot.
8. Get yourself/your passengers away from the scene. Now you might believe, naively, as i did, that if cops have one worthwhile duty it would be to get people safely home after a car crash. However, you (and I) would be mistaken. They are only required to get you off the highway and they absolutely can & will drop you off at a sketchy gas station 10 miles from your hotel & tell you to get an uber about it. So go ahead & just call someone to come pick you up, or summon an uber or lyft.
Later the same day:
1. File a claim with your insurance. Call the number on the back of your insurance card, or log in to the app or website and initiate a claim. I imagine this process varies from provider to provider, so hopefully the instructions you get are clear and the staff are helpful. Information you will almost certainly need: date/time/location of the accident, name & phone number of you and any passenger(s), number of cars involved in collision, list of injuries to you & any passenger(s), name & insurance info of other driver(s), pictures of damage to all vehicles/infrastructure/property, pictures of injuries, name of the police department that responded to the accident, police report number.
2. Inform your support network. Call any friends/family you think should be aware of what happened or whose support you will need to recover. Start with your closest loved ones, the people who should hear it directly from you. Then, if you want and you trust them to do so, you can delegate to them specific people to inform on your behalf, or if you'd prefer to speak to everyone directly you can do that. Since we don't want to worry people unnecessarily, it's usually best to start with something like "I am/we are okay, but I was/we were in an accident." or if someone was injured and had to be taken to the hospital, try to convey that as concisely as possible, and be very clear and firm about what you want or need from each person you contact. Not every person necessarily needs to rush to the hospital or jump into action. It's okay to say "I'm just informing you right now and will be in touch with more information later."
3. Get some rest. Even if you escape with only minor bruises, car accidents are scary, traumatic, and exhausting. Make sure to eat enough food, drink plenty of water, and get a lot of rest to help your body and mind recover. Call out of work for at least the next day or two, but preferably a whole week if you can manage it. You need to monitor your condition to make sure nothing pops up over the next several days. I'm a week out from my accident and am still massively fatigued, and one of my passengers ended up having to go to the emergency room on the sixth day.
Moving forward:
1. Talk to someone about your experience. It could be your passenger(s), a friend, a partner, someone in your family, a therapist or counselor, a support group. It may take hours, days, or even longer for you to start processing what you went through, and it helps to lean on others. It's okay to fall apart a little bit, you went through something scary and you might have almost died.
2. Deal with insurance. Your insurance company will be in close contact with you in the days following your accident. They may ask for additional information, pictures, or documents. Your insurance may cover a rental car while your car is being repaired or replaced, I did not need one so I don't know what that process is like. You will also need to arrange for an insurance agent to come inspect your vehicle at the location you had it towed to. Clean all of your belongings AND trash out of your car BEFORE the insurance agent arrives, if your car is full of garbage they may give you less money for it because it looks like you don't care about it. (I had deep cleaned my car 3 days before my accident, and I'm 100% convinced this is why they gave me such a large payout.) The agent will determine the extent of the damage and decide whether to pay to have it repaired or they may declare it a total loss if the cost of repairs exceeds the total value of the vehicle. (My vehicle was totaled, so the rest of my advice will be regarding dealing with a totaled vehicle.) Double check the Kelley Blue Book value for a vehicle of the year, make, model, and (pre-accident) body condition of your vehicle against the total loss valuation they send you to ensure you're getting a fair deal. If not, you may need to advocate for yourself, but I do not know what that would entail.
2. Disposing of a totaled vehicle. Once the insurance agent has declared your car a total loss, you will need to retrieve your license plate(s) from the vehicle and deal with it in accordance with your state laws (in NC we have to return them to the DMV/license plate agency.) I'm not sure if all insurance companies do this, or if it's particular to GEICO, so ymmv with this next bit: Your agent may send you a Power of Attorney form to fill out that allows the insurance company to deal with the car on your behalf, they will send you a shipping label and ask you to mail your title to them. The title will need to be signed by everyone listed as an owner on it. Once they have recieved the POA form & title, they will send you the payout. This is your money to do what you wish. Personally, I'm using it as the down payment on a newer vehicle, but you do what is best for you.
3. Additional/Ongoing medical treatment. Injuries from a car accident may not be obvious at the scene. Make sure to thoroughly document any symptoms as they arise, and if you are getting worse instead of better in the days that follow please seek medical attention. Some potentially life-threatening injuries like diaphragmatic rupture may not manifest for several hours or days following the accident. When you go to the hospital, be sure to inform the medical staff that you were in a car accident recently. And once again, don't be a hero when reporting your pain level! If you were in 7/10 pain when you left for the hospital, but you're feeling a little better when you get there, make sure you tell them you were in 7/10 pain! And don't downplay your pain just because you can imagine a hypothetical situation where you're in worse pain. I'm begging you to familiarize yourself with a pain scale based on how it is affecting you (here's a hint: if you're seeking treatment at a medical facility for pain, your pain is at minimum a 6 - distressing or 7 - unmanageable; if you're writhing around and cannot function at all, your pain is an 8 - intense, 9 - severe, or 10 - unbearable.) If you seek medical treatment for accident-related injuries, make sure to update your insurance claim ASAP. Collect any bills from the visit(s) and treatment(s) and work with the insurance company's medical agent to ensure you get any coverage you are entitled to.
*I am a US citizen who has comprehensive insurance coverage, was traveling out of my state, no one in my accident was seriously injured, my car was totaled, and I am very fortunate to have someone who could come get me and my vehicle. Therefore, not all of this may apply depending on your situation, take what is useful, leave what is not.
