What you should do after a Car Accident | Flanagan & Little

In this blog post, we provide you with the necessary steps that you should undertake if involved in a Car Accident.

Flanagan & Little have a highly experienced legal team of litigation experts who provide representation for personal injury cases. Personal injury covers trips and falls, accidents in the workplace and road traffic accidents. While your focus is on making a full recovery, we look after the rest. Our legal team explains everything from the start – your options, your rights and getting you the best outcome possible. 

1. Always Stop: No matter what, do not leave the scene of an accident after it occurs. This is the most crucial step of all as it is very important to take the necessary steps to resolve what has happened. 
2. Safety first: If the accident is serious, you should ensure the safety of both you and your passengers and the other driver involved in the accident. If someone has been severely hurt, you should contact the emergency services ASAP. No matter what the level of injury is, you should put on your hazard lights or use some sort of a light signal to ensure that other drivers on the road can see that there has been an accident. 
3. Make Contact with the Guards: If nobody else has already done so, you should establish where the nearest Garda station is and telephone them to let them know that the accident has occurred. Provide them with the location and seriousness of the accident as best as you can. 
4. Provide an accurate recall of events to the Guards: We know that the situation is stressful, but you must ensure that you tell the Guards as much as you know and can remember. Do not speculate or make any assumptions when recalling the events to the Guards. 
5. Exchange information with the other driver: Even if the guards are mediating at the scene, it is important for you to get the name, telephone number and address of any parties involved. You should also exchange car details such as insurance details, car registration number and even take photographs if you have a camera on your phone to hand. 
6. Do not admit liability: Never admit liability. More than likely, it is a condition of your insurance policy to abstain liability in these instances. If you do admit liability, It could significantly impact the validation of your insurance. 
7. Only leave the scene when you are told to do so: Once the guards are happy for you to leave the scene, you can do so. 
8. Call your solicitor and your insurance company: You should report the accident to your insurance company and your solicitor as swiftly as possible. 
9. Seek medical attention: Unfortunately, a lot of injuries that happen in car accidents are not known until sometime after the accident has occurred. You should seek medical attention to ensure that you have not suffered any severe damage. 
10. Breathe! Being in a car accident is stressful and can cause a lot of panic. Take some time to relax, unwind and get your details for the relevant parties in order.