Bosch Car Service - Guide to a traffic accident (road accident)

What equipment should be in vehicle during an accident?

Whether your car is OK or not - an accident can happen to anyone. Before starting a trip, you need to make sure you have the most important tools and devices that can be useful in an emergency situation. So, in many countries, a mandatory requirement is the presence in the car of a reflective waistcoat, allowing other road users from a long distance to see you at the scene of an accident. Thus, it is recommended to store in the vehicle the number of vests required for all of its passengers. Obligatory is the presence in the car of a warning triangle and a first-aid kit. Caution: First aid kits have a shelf life, after which they must be replaced with new ones. Periodically check the expiration date of the first aid kit.

Other useful things on the road:

• Medical insurance card
• Flashlight
• Mobile phone with camera
• Forms of notification of an accident
• List of telephone numbers of police and emergency services

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What actions should be taken immediately after the road accident?

In the case of an accident: Prudent behavior on the ground plays a huge role in ensuring the safety of you and other road users. So, stay calm, as in any other emergency. If your car is still usable for road maintenance, turn on the signaling and immediately move it to a safe place where it will not impede traffic. For this, the safety pocket on the road or the roadside on the highway would be perfect.

Caution: As soon as possible, get out of the car from the side opposite to the movement, and immediately put on a reflective waistcoat. Make sure that all the passengers of the car do the same. In particular, never allow children to leave the car on their own. In addition, watch closely the dogs. After that, immediately go to a safe place (for example, behind the protective fencing) to avoid being in the way of other vehicles and avoid collisions with them. In order to protect the accident site, place the warning triangle on the side of the road at a distance of approximately 100-150 large steps to the accident place, in order to attract the attention of other traffic participants.

What needs to be done to secure the accident site?

The necessary actions on the scene, performed after the implementation of priority precautions, depend on the type and severity of the accident. Strictly defined rules for this case are not available, however, several useful tips can be given: Immediate notification to the police of minor damages, such as a dent obtained from parking or leaving the parking lot, is not mandatory in all countries. However, this must be done, especially if the accident occurred abroad. Also it is necessary to ask the witnesses who were present at the road accident to wait for the police to appear on the scene of the accident or leave their personal data. When calling emergency services on the scene, describe in as detailed a place as possible: the type of accident, the number of injured, number and direction of the relevant state highway or expressway where the incident occurred. When you are on a high-speed road, you also need to report the kilometer on which the accident occurred.

It is necessary to observe the following: If a person is injured during an accident, it is necessary to give him first aid! This must be done before the emergence of rescue teams at the scene of an accident. Always bring your mobile phone with you. He can save someone's life, because not every country has emergency telephones installed everywhere.

Rules for interaction with vehicles of emergency services in the event of an accident?

All road users should be especially careful to ensure the fastest possible access of police vehicles and emergency services to the scene of an accident. Thus, after noticing the emergency service vehicle with the light and sound signaling on, perform the following actions: assess the direction of the signals from which signals originate and the direction in which the vehicles of the emergency services move, and determine their number. When driving on a single-lane carriageway and when emergency vehicles approach you, immediately move your vehicle to the right to the side of the road to free the lane for the movement of rescue vehicles. The same applies to two-lane and multi-lane carriageways, with the only difference that vehicles moving along the left lane should be shifted to the left and all other road users to the right.

If the red traffic light is on your way, you are allowed to pass carefully and slowly through the stop line, if possible in view of current traffic conditions. This is the only way that you can free the road to the emergency services. Caution: Always turn on the signaling, proceed with caution and pay attention to pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

What rights do you have in case of an accident with the participation of your car?

What to do in a situation where you and your car are in an accident? Claims that can be brought against other participants of an accident after such are largely determined by the circumstances of the accident, the question of guilt and the availability of appropriate insurance policies. That is why, first of all, it is necessary to collect all the data on road accident participants and their vehicles, as well as other data related to the road accident, thus ensuring the availability of adequate evidence.These data will be useful to the police, called to the scene, or will help in filling out a notice of an accident in the glove box. It can be sent to either your liability insurance company or to a similar company of other road accident participants, depending on who is injured and to whom the damage was caused.

Source: www.boschcarservice.com