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What To Do When Involved In A Car Accident
Being involved in a traffic accident can temporarily affect your ability to think things through logically and clearly. This checklist will take your though the accident process. Print a copy and keep the glove box of your vehicle to follow in case of an accident.
Most importantly, follow the instructions of the local law enforcement or traffic safety official who comes to the scene. Don't leave until you have spoken to this official.
AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE
- Unless the involved vehicles create potential for other accidents, do not move them or any debris until instructed by law enforcement officials.
- Assist the injured, then call police.
- Note the time and location of the accident
- Obtain names, address and phone numbers of witnesses.
- List names, addresses and phone numbers of injured persons.
- Secure information about all other vehicles involved in the accident, including:
- License plate number
- Vehicle description (make, model and color)
- Driver's and vehicle owner's name, address, phone number, date of birth, Social Security number and drivers license number
- Owner's/driver's insurance company, agent and phone number taken from the insurance ID cards, if available
- Passengers' names, address and phone numbers
- Obtain name and badge number of investigating law enforcement official and any citation information.
- For your own protection, make no comment or statement about the accident except to an identified representative of your insurance company and, if necessary, to law enforcement officials. DO NOT HASTILY ACCEPT CLAIM settlement at scene of accident.
- Make a sketch of the accident scene. Identify your car as "A". Show names of streets or highways and directions of vehicles involved.
AFTER THE ACCIDENT
- Report the accident to your insurance agent or company. Generally, you will be expected to furnish the following information:
- Your name and the name on your policy
- Your home address
- Your policy number
- Your car's year and make
- Date, time and location of accident
- Injury information
- Whether your car is operable and its location
- Where you can be reached during the next few hours
- Consider filing a Motor Vehicle Crash Report with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) within six months if you suspect the other driver was uninsured or not meeting financial responsibility (FR) compliance. This filing process is now optional and applies to crashes causing injury, death or more than $400 in property damage. If a report is filed, the driver will be required to provide the BMV with FR proof. Crash report forms are available from Ohio Highway Patrol posts, the David M. Coleman Insurance Agency and the Ohio Insurance Institute.
OHIO LAWS PERTAINING TO ACCIDENTS
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ohio's financial responsibility (FR) law requires drivers to be insured or have other arrangements to pay for injuries or damages they cause in the vent of a crash. If you choose to comply with the FR law through insurance, state minimum limits are: bodily injury liability - $12,500 per person and $25,000 per accident; property damage liability - $7,500 per accident.
The following penalties are based on the number of repeat offenses within a five-year period:
- Lose drivers license for 90 days up to one year. Occupational driving privileges are allowed for first-time violators after serving 30 days of the 90-day license suspension, as long as FR compliance has been obtained and reinstatement fees have been paid. This excludes offenders accruing 12 points or convicted of a serious traffic violation.
- Drivers license reinstatement fees ranging from $75-$500.
- Requirement to obtain auto insurance. If you cancel or non-renew it within a five-year monitoring period, your insurer will notify the BMV.
- Vehicle immobilization and confiscation of places for 30-60 days for violating FR suspension. Third and subsequent offenses may mean vehicle forfeiture and a five-year moratorium on vehicle registrations.
Proof of FR is required if you are stopped for a moving violation, a vehicle safety check or involvement in a traffic accident as well as other situations such as a court appearance or upon request from the Ohio BMV.
Insurance companies issue FR identification cards to their policyholders for all new and renewal business. These ID cards can be used to satisfy proof of FR.
COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE
When settling an insurance claim, you may hear the insurance adjuster use the phrase "comparative negligence".
Negligence is defined as "the failure to exercise the degree of care required of a reasonable and prudent person in any given circumstance resulting in injury or damage to another". Simply put, comparative negligence allows a person to recover damages reduced by his/her own percentage of negligence.
In Ohio, under comparative negligence, parties share the cost of damages from an accident in proportion to their share of negligence. For example, if your negligence is judged to be 50% or less, you may recover damages, minus the percent caused by your own negligence. If you are more than 50% negligent, you may not recover any losses from the other party. This law comes into play most often in auto accidents; however, comparative negligence also applies to homeowners and business-related accidents.
David M. Coleman Insurance Agency, Inc.
190 Currie Hall Parkway
PO Box 686
Kent, OH 44240
Phone: (330) 673-0485
Toll Free: (800) 732-0851
Fax: (330) 673-3390
Map to Office: Click Here |
|
55 Merz Blvd, Suite D
Fairlawn, OH 44333
Phone: (330) 564-1051
Toll Free: (888) 792-0401
Fax: (330) 564-1055
Map to Office: Click Here |
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