What to do during and after an automobile accident

What to do during and after an automobile accident

This is a step-by-step guide or procedures that should be taken during and after an automobile accident.

1. Checking for injuries
- If you have just gotten yourself into an accident – First things first; check yourself for injuries.
- Once you are certain that you are okay, than only check your passengers for injuries.
- If you are not too seriously injured, get out of the vehicle as quick as possible.
- If you are able to press the ‘ACCIDENT’ button on the EARs app, do that now.
- If you think that you are badly injured or may have broken a bone, DO NOT MOVE! Wait for someone to come help you.

2. Assessing damage (If you are badly injured, don’t worry about anything else, just get yourself to a hospital!)
- Once you are out of the car and away from danger; calm down and relax
- DO NOT try to start your car; just leave it as it is.
- Don’t be surprised to notice that tow truck drivers or call-men are already at the scene to offer their services
- Do not be bothered about the call men or tow truck drivers yet;
i) call your family members or close friends, let them know what had just happened
ii) (while still on the phone) look at your surroundings and inform them where you are exactly
- Now it’s time to handle those call-men!

3. Handling call men and tow truck drivers
- The call men may appear friendly and eager to help you out! Don’t be too quickly deceived, they are just after their big fat commission for towing your car.
- Do not agree or sign any forms that they ask you to, once they have your signature, you are stuck with them all the way and it’s difficult to resolve issues later even with the police involved
- Most workshops will do a rush and poor-quality job, so BE CAREFUL who you let your vehicle be taken by!
- This is when you should contact your auto assist
- The call men are probably bugging you to let them tow your car, let them know that you have already called for your own tow truck from your own workshop to come. But even after you have said that, they will still be hanging around to try to tow your car away. Just be calm, politely ignore or say “no” to them.
- If you were injured and need to be rushed to the hospital, get a friend or family member to attend to your vehicle
- Now what you need to understand is the “LAW OF THE TOW TRUCK DRIVERS”

4. Law of the tow truck drivers
- All tow truck drivers or call men abides to a very simple but highly important rule that will prevent unwanted or unnecessary arguments or fights. The rule is:
“FIRST COME – FIRST SERVE”
The rule simply means that the first call man to the scene that touches the car has all the right to tow that car away to his workshop. Nobody else is allowed to tow that car away or interfere with their business.
- There is however only one way that another tow truck from a different workshop is allowed to tow the car away. But there are certain steps to follow and it MUST be followed accordingly:-
i) The owner of the accident vehicle or the driver of the accident vehicle MUST be the one who had contacted the agent/tow truck to come. Not your family or friends or somebody around you (they are only allowed to do that if you were not able to be around due to injuries or other reasons).
ii) The tow truck driver will then give you his truck’s registration plate number. Please remember it well because you will need it.
iii) The tow truck will then come to your accident scene BUT he is NOT allowed to come any nearer than 10 meters away from your car. He is also not allowed to step out of his truck or wave his hand at you. He is however able to call you on his mobile to alert you that he has arrive.
iv) Now you must recognize the tow truck by identifying his registration plate number or the sticker on the tow truck. After detecting the tow truck, you MUST walk up to the truck and meet him. The driver should also be wearing the uniform for easy recognition.
v) Only now is the tow truck allowed to come to your vehicle to tow it away.
vi) This is the only way that another call-men/tow truck apart from the ones that arrived earlier to be allowed to tow the accident vehicle away.

5. At the police station
- Your vehicle will immediately be towed by the tow truck to the specific police station that covers the area that you met the accident – Get to the police station either by following the tow truck or get a friend/family member to drive you there.
- You will then be required to make a police report; describe exactly what happened that caused the accident. If the cause of the accident is your fault, you will be required to pay a fine which will be determined by the police officer. If it’s not your fault then you will only need to pay for the report’s approval and processing fees.
- The police report is the main document you will need to claim from your insurance.
- Once the report is done and approved, you can leave to attend to yourself. Go home and get cleaned up and rest. If you are slightly injured, get yourself checked.
- Your car will be towed to a workshop that will be claiming from your insurance and repairing your vehicle.
- Do not bother about your vehicle anymore for that day; settle the rest the next following days.
- If for certain reasons the driver of the accident vehicle cannot make it to the police station that same day; the vehicle will be towed to the workshop and kept there till the driver is able to follow the vehicle to the police station to make a report. DO NOT postpone this step any longer than a week.

6. Insurance claiming procedures and documents needed
- You will be needing the following documents to be able to claim from your insurance
a) Approved police report – original
b) Insurance policy – photocopy
c) Car grant – photocopy
d) Hire purchase agreement (from bank if still under loan) – photocopy
e) Driver’s I.C. and driving license – photocopy
f) Vehicle owner’s I.C. and driving license – photocopy
- With all the documents ready; pass them to your insurance agent or the workshop repairing your vehicle.
- A few days later you will require to sign a claim form to proceed with the insurance claiming process
- Now, there is nothing else that you need to do. Just wait for your vehicle to be repaired.
**Please take note that if the driver of the crashed car is not in the insurance coverage (someone else’s name); there will be a surcharge of RM400 by the insurance company

7. Making sure your vehicle is properly restored
- It is good if you are able to check your vehicle every now and then to make sure that your vehicle is being properly taken care of.
- If you notice anything wrong, or if damage parts of the vehicle have been overlooked; do let the workshop supervisor know immediately
- Once the car is done being repaired; make one last thorough check of your car.
- If everything is up to satisfaction, you may drive your vehicle home.

“WE HOPE THAT THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE WILL SERVE YOU WELL”
“DRIVE SAFELY!” – The EARs team