After Car Accident On Road

[Uditha88]

Can you please give me the proper steps/ Check List

that one should take after car accident happens on road.

Scenario:

1. Is it ok to move vehicles if it causes traffic jam for others?

2. Should we call to police?

3. Is it enough to call to Insurance company?

4. Say I have fault in my hand, should I pay other?

Pls give proper steps to follow

Many Thanks..

[Gummybr]

Can you please give me the proper steps/ Check List

that one should take after car accident happens on road.

Scenario:

1. Is it ok to move vehicles if it causes traffic jam for others?

2. Should we call to police?

3. Is it enough to call to Insurance company?

4. Say I have fault in my hand, should I pay other?

Pls give proper steps to follow

Many Thanks..

You have to mark the wheels of the car before you move it off the road.

Yes you need to call the police (better you than anybody else). And the insurance company has to be notified.

If you are fully insured then the insurance will pay the other party if not you can come to an agreement then and there and pay them or go to courts. (Normally insurance will pay only if your at fault)

All in all its good if you can settle the matter there itself or you will face a lot of trouble and waste a lot of time at courts.

[Ripper]

Can you please give me the proper steps/ Check List

that one should take after car accident happens on road.

Scenario:

1. Is it ok to move vehicles if it causes traffic jam for others?

2. Should we call to police?

3. Is it enough to call to Insurance company?

4. Say I have fault in my hand, should I pay other?

Pls give proper steps to follow

Many Thanks..

1.first call the cops if you feel the issue is somewhat severe. if it's like a minor scratch or something it's not really worth getting the cops involved imo.

moving vehicles should be done in agreement with all parties to the issue. but it's best to mark the position of wheels prior to moving

2.now you have to call the police cos insurance companies wont process claims without a police report. so if you plan on claiming from insurance you have to call the cops.

3.not anymore...

4.Not really. if you really screwed up you can get your insurance to settle the other party. personally i don't believe in paying another guy just like that even if it was my fault. that's why they are called accidents and there are insurance companies to cover such things.

But sometimes it might be better to pay the other party than go through lengthy legal issues....it really depends on the specific situation...

these are just my views and i've been lucky enough not to be involved in major accidents

And its always wise to keep your cool and not to buckle under pressure because some people can be really intimidating with their demands.

In cases like that...maybe get a friend who's more at ease with such things to come and help you if that's possible, call up the cops, the insurance guys etc etc...

[Uditha88]

Many Thanks both of u Gummybr, Ripper.

Ur replies were so clear & so useful

Once again THANKS

[MasterDon]

.

Edited March 28, 2010 by MasterDon

[Sampath Gunasekera]

On my journey from Kandy to Colombo yesterday noon, near Warakapola, I suddenly saw a Corolla 121 just met with an accident and flipped over.
Still passengers were in side. Stopped my vehicle and ran there. People could get passengers out and someone could enter in to the vehicle and could turn off the engine. Young father, mother and two kids were in side the car and fortunately no major injuries observed. They were really shocked and panic and even not willing to speak. I observed some bruise marks with blood on younger son's (aged 4-5 years) face close to eyes and also some blood on his foot. I strongly suggested father to move to hospital as soon as possible as there may be some internal injuries/internal bleeding. I even happy to arrange them visit hospital but he was much shocked. When I repeatedly proposed him to visit hospital as soon as possible due to possible internal injuries, then one person there asked me not to disturb driver father and let him call insurance first. Nobody wanted to accept my suggestion and poor response from the driver father too and he wanted to search for house keys inside the car first. Waited for some time more and returned back to my vehicle.

Still some people think that first job after an accident is calling insurance and not directing passengers to the hospital even after this kind of accident. I personally know two people whom lost their lives in two different accidents, without showing bleeding signs but due to internal injuries.

One was whom helped all injured passengers to send to the hospital after their bus met with an accident (two buses crashed each other while both buses had two company staffs traveling for a picnic). After arranging to send injured people to the hospital, someone pointed that few blood drops come from his nose, but he ignored and continuing to help others. After few hours all other injured people were in live but this kind gentlemen lost his life due to internal injuries/bleeding.

Did I make any mistake reminding them internal bleeding/injuries can happen after such an accident? Still I am thinking.....(My son also in same age of that younger boy.)

Edited April 17, 2016 by Sampath Gunasekera

[iRage]

Sampath you were right...they should have been rushed to the hospital. Howrver this is SL...where things are reversed not because it is actually the right thing to do but it is the thing done though pure ignorance and people who try to help accident victims become victimized themselves.

[fiatLife]

in response to Sampath, recently one of my friends also got into a accident where a pizza hut delivery driver crashed face to face while turning. My friend called the insurance and then took the biker to the hospital as his ankle was broken. What the police said was stunning, told to wait until they come and dont move. but we did send the biker to the hospital as he was in agony and pain which resulted everything being our fault and what not.

[iRage]

So in other words...the humane..right thing to do would be to take the injured to the hospital; but the wonderful SL systematic way to go about it would be to sit there and wait for the cops and insurance.

Just for curiosity...how soon do cops respond to accident scenes ?

[Davy]

Agree with iRage. Lives come before property ALWAYS.

Sampath, you were perfectly right to think about the occupants of the car over some damaged/destroyed property. I believe the next step would have been to call 119. Efficiency and responsiveness of 119 remains questionable though.

[PreseaLover]

Agree with iRage. Lives come before property ALWAYS.

Sampath, you were perfectly right to think about the occupants of the car over some damaged/destroyed property. I believe the next step would have been to call 119. Efficiency and responsiveness of 119 remains questionable though.

Recently my father's car was knocked in the galle road right infront of alphred house gardens.. and I called 119, and the police arrived after 30 minutes from the call...

[Watchman]

Whatever said and done Sri Lankans are empathetic people and our first instinct is to rush the patient to the hospital. But the best medial practice is to NOT move the injured without trained medical supervision. In fiatLife's example, the deliver rider would have been in a lot of pain yes, but 3-4 adults manhandling someone like that into a three-wheeler could do MORE harm.

A broken bone isnt going to break any further if the victim is just lying on the ground. But improperly moving him could cause the bone splinters to damage blood veins or break further complicating the resetting and healing. A friend of mine had an epileptic fit at a party once and fell to the floor. People around him tried to help by carrying/lifting him and in the process broke one arm and dislocated the other shoulder

But in Sampath's scanario yes, spending a few hours and few thousand bucks at a doctor is better than your family wasting a whole week organizing your funeral and spending even more money on your coffin.

[iRage]

Whatever said and done Sri Lankans are empathetic people and our first instinct is to rush the patient to the hospital. But the best medial practice is to NOT move the injured without trained medical supervision. In fiatLife's example, the deliver rider would have been in a lot of pain yes, but 3-4 adults manhandling someone like that into a three-wheeler could do MORE harm.

A broken bone isnt going to break any further if the victim is just lying on the ground. But improperly moving him could cause the bone splinters to damage blood veins or break further complicating the resetting and healing. A friend of mine had an epileptic fit at a party once and fell to the floor. People around him tried to help by carrying/lifting him and in the process broke one arm and dislocated the other shoulder

But in Sampath's scanario yes, spending a few hours and few thousand bucks at a doctor is better than your family wasting a whole week organizing your funeral and spending even more money on your coffin.

Very true....taking a victim to the hospital should not be done by just anyone...but in a country with a virtually non-existent ambulance/accident response service; and even when they do arrive I am pretty sure cops in SL are not given training on handling such situations, I guess people are programmed to automatically shove the accident victim in the next oncoming vehicle and drive to hospital. Again, I agree..not the safest or best thing to do.

I hope with the "Indian" ambulance service things like this starts to get addressed...(okay...I am not getting in to any debate with any of the medical professionals here...but lets hope there is some silver lining in it ?).

[Watchman]

Very true....taking a victim to the hospital should not be done by just anyone...but in a country with a virtually non-existent ambulance/accident response service; and even when they do arrive I am pretty sure cops in SL are not given training on handling such situations, I guess people are programmed to automatically shove the accident victim in the next oncoming vehicle and drive to hospital. Again, I agree..not the safest or best thing to do.

I hope with the "Indian" ambulance service things like this starts to get addressed...(okay...I am not getting in to any debate with any of the medical professionals here...but lets hope there is some silver lining in it ?).

Actually you maybe right.. I dont think there's any trained EMTs that come with the ambulance. From the youtube/news coverage I've most cases look like they loaded the first hospital attendant they found into the ambulance and sent him off to the accident to fetch the wounded.

[sathyajithj99]

During major accidents, there is a high chance of damage to the spinal cord. The damage could be worsened with improper ways of transportation the injured to the hospital. Already damaged spine could get further damaged with patient being bent or even with vibration while being transported (specially in tuk tuks ). Fractured vertibrae could also further damage the spine. The best way is to transport the injured in an ambulance. That way the patient would be put on a spinal board and a cervical collar which would prevent further damage to the spine. Unfortunately this is not practical in SL. Atleast the injured should be transported on a hard surface with minimal movements for better prognosis, if any spinal injury is suspected.

Edited April 18, 2016 by sathyajithj99

[PreseaLover]

During major accidents, there is a high chance of damage to the spinal cord. The damage could be worsened with improper ways of transportation the injured to the hospital. Already damaged spine could get further damaged with patient being bent or even with vibration while being transported (specially in tuk tuks ). Fractured vertibrae could also further damage the spine. The best way is to transport the injured in an ambulance. That way the patient would be put on a spinal board and a cervical collar which would prevent further damage to the spine. Unfortunately this is not practical in SL. Atleast the injured should be transported on a hard surface with minimal movements for better prognosis, if any spinal injury is suspected.

This information is important... I should make my friends too aware of this, in case

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Actually this family was really lucky. Even after vehicle is rolled over and flipped up, everybody could walk properly. No major wounds observed.(They might used seat belts). But they were really shocked. Two kids were in panic and they wanted mothers warm.

Father was also in panic. Just imagine your vehicle just rolled over with your loved once and now it is up side down.

I can understand their feeling as even I am still shocked after seen it.

I asked driver father , can you remember any telephone number of any of your family member which I will make a phone call to them. He said "yes" but he could not recall his memory. He was walking here and there and could not think what to do next. I am sure he needed some mental relax for few minutes.

Actually no serious external wounds other than the things I mentioned in my previous post. That is why most of people think you need not to visit hospital as soon as possible. So people simply ignore possible internal bleeding/internal injuries. I am sure they were having pains lot here and there but they were silence due to shock.

Can you guys imagine what cause the accident? There was a rubble (granite) stock unloaded in a land and part of them rolled over to the road side. The car wheel run on it and driver could not control the vehicle and car rolled up side down. Simple ignoring can make big issues even within seconds.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Sampath Gunasekera

[hrm]

Actually this family was really lucky. Even after vehicle is rolled over and flipped up, everybody could walk properly. No major wounds observed.(They might used seat belts). But they were really shocked. Two kids were in panic and they wanted mothers warm.

Father was also in panic. Just imagine your vehicle just rolled over with your loved once and now it is up side down.

I can understand their feeling as even I am still shocked after seen it.

I asked driver father , can you remember any telephone number of any of your family member which I will make a phone call to them. He said "yes" but he could not recall his memory. He was walking here and there and could not think what to do next. I am sure he needed some mental relax for few minutes.

Actually no serious external wounds other than the things I mentioned in my previous post. That is why most of people think you need not to visit hospital as soon as possible. So people simply ignore possible internal bleeding/internal injuries. I am sure they were having pains lot here and there but they were silence due to shock.

Can you guys imagine what cause the accident? There was a rubble (granite) stock unloaded in a land and part of them rolled over to the road side. The car wheel run on it and driver could not control the vehicle and car rolled up side down. Simple ignoring can make big issues even within seconds.

I can only imagine the shock. Having such accident alone is one thing but with all the family including kids is very painful. I'm wondering we have pretty good awareness campaigns to disease control such as Dengue but no such public awareness campaign whatsoever regarding first aid and trauma management. At least professional bodies such as SLMC, GMOA should act on this if not the government . In this new year season more than 50 died on the road alone.

Edited April 18, 2016 by hrm

[Watchman]

At least professional bodies such as SLMC, GMOA should act on this if not the government . In this new year season more than 50 died on the road alone.

Don't be unreasonable!

They need to focus on car permits, c#*cblocking private medical colleges, stopping overseas educated doctors, demanding privileged (kids) admissions into schools and at times attending to patients. Do you expect them to take time off their private clinic sessions to teach first-aid to the public!

[matroska]

I can only imagine the shock. Having such accident alone is one thing but with all the family including kids is very painful. I'm wondering we have pretty good awareness campaigns to disease control such as Dengue but no such public awareness campaign whatsoever regarding first aid and trauma management. At least professional bodies such as SLMC, GMOA should act on this if not the government . In this new year season more than 50 died on the road alone.

that happens because some of our people think the kandy road is a scandinavian highway and Micro Panda is actually a volvo with 657 air bags and D*MO battas have the handling of a porsche. Sadly they claim the lives of perfectly legit drivers, innocent by standers as well - otherwise idiots paying for their idiocy is part of evolution.

[PreseaLover]

that happens because some of our people think the kandy road is a scandinavian highway and Micro Panda is actually a volvo with 657 air bags and D*MO battas have the handling of a porsche. Sadly they claim the lives of perfectly legit drivers, innocent by standers as well - otherwise idiots paying for their idiocy is part of evolution.

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Thanks guys. That gentleman phoned me little while ago (I gave my business card before I leave,to contact me in case if he need any further assistance from my side) and thanked me for helping him. After I left he had taken all action on his family members and the vehicle also taken home safely. Now his family is ok and everything is under control. So I am happy too.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Sampath Gunasekera

[Pericles]

Actually you maybe right.. I dont think there's any trained EMTs that come with the ambulance. From the youtube/news coverage I've most cases look like they loaded the first hospital attendant they found into the ambulance and sent him off to the accident to fetch the wounded.

My ex was a doc working in the ER, and she went on Ambulance rides all the time while on duty. Event to Anuradhapura. But that was a private hospital so don't know if they attend accidents

[asrock]

that happens because some of our people think the kandy road is a scandinavian highway and Micro Panda is actually a volvo with 657 air bags and D*MO battas have the handling of a porsche. Sadly they claim the lives of perfectly legit drivers, innocent by standers as well - otherwise idiots paying for their idiocy is part of evolution.

Don't forget the leyland bus drivers that thinks they are driving a race car on a race track.

[matroska]

Don't forget the leyland bus drivers that thinks they are driving a race car on a race track.

yeah right? I mean theres elements of street racing / car pimpin aspects in the local private bus scene. Custom silencers, neons, stickers/decals, and custom "buffels" made by "Jayantha audio Padukka"