Five Things to Do if You Have an Accident in Another Country

Healthy Living By Julia Porter

Car accidents can occur anywhere at any time. If you’re traveling and get involved in a car accident, your vacation might be ruined entirely. What makes it worse is when you suffer injuries.

When involved in a car accident, you might endure long-lasting injuries, which might require you to file a lawsuit. If this happens, you need to consult a car accident law firm to help you bring your claim to the insurance company. If you find yourself in such a situation, you can contact Chris Lewis & Associates to help you handle your case.

What to Do if You Have an Accident in Another Country

Whether you’re responsible for a car accident or not, you need to know the steps to take when it happens. Here is what you need to do if you get involved in a car accident outside your home country.

1. Exchange Information with the Other Party

Traffic police usually acquire this information from the drivers involved in car accidents. However, if they don’t get to the scene as quickly as possible, then you need to collect the information yourself, which includes the following:

The name of the driver
The address of the driver
The phone numbers of all people involved
The driver’s license plate number
The driver’s driving license number
The insurance company covering the driver
The driver’s policy number

This information is essential since your insurer will need it to cover your car accident damages.

2. Get Photographic Evidence

You need to take photos of the cars involved in an accident from all directions. You should only do this if you get consent from the drivers since some people don’t like having their vehicles photographed. These photographs will come in handy when filing a lawsuit.

However, if police officers get to the scene, be sure not to interfere with their investigation. You should take your photos as soon as the accident happens and then ask for copies of those taken by the police officers after they are done.

3. Ensure You and the Other Drivers Are Safe

No matter who’s at fault, ensure you’re safe and that the people involved in the car accident are safe. First, make sure to check your passengers’ safety if you have any, then proceed to the other vehicles and confirm everybody is okay.

However, your physical condition will determine how you respond since you might be too injured to do that. If you or anyone is injured or in a critical condition, call emergency services immediately. Also, make sure to raise attention to get help from people around the area where you had the accident.

4. Don’t Drive Off

Driving off the scene of an accident is a serious offense. Even if the accident is minor, you should never drive off, whether you were at fault or not. Always remember that a reputed Auto Injury Lawyer can help you secure your rights, so running from the scene would not at all be advisable. This is because you can end up being charged with a hit-and-run, which has hefty fines and possibly even jail time.

5. Contact Your Insurance Company

Once you get into a car accident, you need to inform your insurer. Whether you caused the accident or not, you need to call your insurance company to file your claim. If you don’t notify your insurance company, they are likely to deny you compensation regarding your injuries and damages.

If you have rented a car, you need to inform the rental agency and the insurance carrier of the company. If you have trouble doing so, you need to contact your attorney to handle the case for you.

Know Your Rights

You need to know what to do once you’re involved in a car accident. It’s no one’s wish to have an accident in a foreign country since it can be very challenging to deal with the aftermath. However, this is unavoidable since accidents happen every day. Make sure to contact a car accident attorney to handle your claim to avoid being taken advantage of.