African migrant Juma Abdallah remembers his recent car accident on a busy Sydney intersection.
Fortunately nobody was injured and both drivers stopped by the side of the road.
My car couldnt move and even his car couldnt move. We exchanged our details. Everyone had to call for support. We talking about a tow. Mr Abdallah said.
This is exactly what needs to happen after all road accidents - big or small - says Chief Inspector Phillip Brooks from the NSW Police Force, Traffic and Highway Command.
They need to pull over to the side of the road where its safe to do so. The primary mission is to exchange details with the other driver and with the advent of mobile phones, take photos of the damage and the drivers licence of the other person and then contact your insurance company.
He also says its essential to check on the welfare of all drivers and passengers and provide basic first aid or call for emergency medical help if needed.
Lastly but importantly, it will help later with filing an injury or insurance claim, if witnesses who can verify the facts of the incident, can be identified and their contact details noted.
It is not only unfair, it is also a criminal offence under Australian law to walk away from the scene of an accident without leaving some contact details behind.
Actions taken following a crash are important and smartphones offer useful apps to take control of gathering the necessary information to document what happened.
Some apps provide a listing of what to record at a crash scene and offer tools to make the job easier.
Not all of the accident apps are free but nevertheless, useful to have in an accident.
As a backup, its wise and good management to keep pen and paper in the glovebox and get the relevant accident information down in a more traditional manner.
…but most importantly - drive safely!
