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You can reduce the chances of being involved in an incident by driving defensively. Unfortunately, road traffic incidents are always possible, even with the greatest care.
You might also come upon the scene of an incident. It could be that you’re the first to arrive and the safety of existing casualties and other road users might be in your hands.
Knowledge and preparation can save lives. If you’re involved in an incident, you MUST stop.
If you’re the first or among the first to arrive at the scene of an incident, avoid becoming a casualty yourself. Remember that
Take extra care when visibility is very poor.
Do this by
Put out cigarettes or other fire hazards. Switch off your engine and warn others to do the same.
Call the emergency services if necessary.
Give full details of the location and casualties. On a motorway, this could mean going to the nearest emergency telephone.
It can be very tempting to reach immediately for your mobile phone to call the emergency services.
Before you do, make sure you’ll be able to tell them exactly where you are. This is particularly important on a motorway, where imprecise details can cause great problems for the emergency services. Location details are given on marker posts located on the hard shoulder. Always check these before you make your call.
Additionally, you will find driver location signs on motorways and primary routes. These identify the precise location and help the emergency services to get to the scene quickly.
Move uninjured people away from the vehicles involved to a place of safety.
On a motorway this should be away from the carriageway, hard shoulder or central reservation.
Don’t move casualties trapped in vehicles unless they’re in danger. Be prepared to give first aid as described later in this section.
Don’t remove a motorcyclist’s helmet unless it’s essential to do so; for example, if they’re having breathing difficulties.
When an ambulance arrives, give the crew as many facts as you can (but not assumptions, diagnoses, etc).
If the incident involves a vehicle containing dangerous goods
Full details of hazard warning plates, such as the one shown above, are given in The Highway Code.
If you’re not one of the first to arrive at the scene of an incident and enough people have already stopped to give assistance, you should drive past carefully and not be distracted by the incident.
If the incident is on the other side of a dual carriageway or motorway, don’t slow down to look. You may cause another collision on your side of the road or, at the very least, additional and unnecessary traffic congestion.
Always give way to emergency and incident support vehicles. Watch out for their flashing lights and listen for their warning sirens. Depending on the type of vehicle, the flashing lights used could be red, blue, amber or green (see rules 106, 107, 219 and 281 in The Highway Code).
If these are obstructing the road, don’t drive round them; you should stop.
They mean that the road ahead is closed or blocked for an unspecified time.
You MUST stop. If there are injuries, either call an ambulance and the police yourself or ask someone else to do it. Ask them to return to you when they’ve made the call to confirm that they’ve made it. You should
If you hit a domestic or farm animal, try to find the owner to report any injuries.
For any incident involving
give your name and address, the name and address of the vehicle’s owner and the registration number of the vehicle to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them. If this isn’t possible at the time of the incident, you MUST report the incident to the police as soon as possible and in any case within 24 hours. In Northern Ireland you must do this immediately.
If there has been an injury, you must also give insurance details to the police. If you can’t produce the insurance documents when you report the incident, you have up to seven days to produce them at a police station of your choice.
Note any witnesses and try to make sure they don’t leave before you get their names and addresses.
Make a note of the numbers of any vehicles whose occupants might have witnessed the incident.
You’ll need to exchange details and obtain
Find out the vehicle owner’s details too, if different.
Gather as much information as you can, such as
If you have a camera or a mobile phone with a camera
Some smartphone apps have a checklist feature designed to help you gather all the information you need in the event that you witness – or are involved in – a road traffic incident.
In gathering information, don’t place yourself in any danger.
Show the situation before and after the incident, and give approximate distances
Note skid marks, where any witnesses were situated, street names, car speeds and directions.
If the police ask you for a statement, you don’t have to make one straight away.
It could be better to wait a while, even if you don’t appear to be suffering from shock. Write your statement later. Take care with the wording, and keep a copy.
The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) is a dedicated police investigation unit based at the City of London Police. They’re investigating insurance fraud and arresting suspected insurance fraudsters across the UK. IFED targets all kinds of insurance fraud, from organised gangs operating ‘crash for cash’ rings, through to individuals making fraudulent claims on personal injury and motor vehicle policies.
Therefore, it’s important to record as many details about the incident as you can, in order to prevent fraudulent insurance and personal injury claims.