In Case Of A Car Accident

An opinion piece by Jerry

A few weeks ago my wife and I were involved in a collision that could have ended much worse than it did.  While traveling north on a primary highway a car coming south turned left across our lane.  I was able to stomp on the brakes and yank steering wheel to the left so that we just clipped the other car's right rear bumper at about 50 km/hr.

Fortunately no-one was injured. We each were able to drive off the road into the nearby gas station.  There we exchanged insurance information and business cards.  We pulled off the pieces of our right headlight and duct taped the wires down so we could continue driving.  Both vehicles were quite functionally usable.

This was the first time I had ever been in an accident when I needed to make a claim.  It was a learning experience for me.  Here is what I learned from this incident:

Get more information at the accident.  While we both took each other's insurance information, we should have gotten the license plate and driver's license information as well.

If there are witnesses, ask for contact information so that they can tell the police or insurance company what they saw.

Pictures are great.  We had a camera in the van, so we took pictures of both vehicles and the intersection.  The pictures reminded me of details I had forgotten, like that the road was mostly dry, but it had rained earlier that day.  The pictures can also help show both the police and the insurance company what happened.  Use the camera on your mobile phone if you need to, but get some pictures.  They help keep everyone honest.

Contact the insurance company quickly.  They can walk you through the steps you need to take.

I went to the RCMP at a later date to report the accident.  They told me not to bother until I knew it was over $2,000 in damage.  The insurance company sent an appraiser who then told us it was over $2,000.  I returned to the RCMP and told them this, and filled out an accident report. 

If the vehicle isn't drivable or someone has been injured the police should be called to the site.

We were fortunate with our accident as no-one was injured, and the driver of the other vehicle has accepted full responsibility for the accident.  This means we do not need to pay our insurance deductible and our vehicle insurance will not have a price increase.

Still, no matter how well things turn out, an accident and vehicle repairs create a stressful time.  We are still waiting for the autobody repair shop to contact us with a time to bring in the vehicle.  As a one vehicle family, we hope to have it repaired and on the road quickly.  Jerry