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What to do if you get into an accident
The large number of vehicles on our roads, the poor quality of the latter, and problems with road markings and signs mean that most Ukrainian drivers get into accidents. Even people with extensive driving experience cannot be immune to accidents. It is important to be prepared for how to behave in such cases. And we are talking here not only about the ability to provide first aid, but also about what needs to be done so that further paperwork allows you to receive compensation from the insurance company as soon as possible.
Check if there are any victims
The first thing to do after a collision is to check whether any of the parties involved in the accident were injured. It should be remembered that injuries can be internal and have no external signs. And in a stressful state, a person may not immediately feel pain or, on the contrary, exaggerate it.
To be on the safe side, you should contact qualified specialists and call an ambulance. In addition to the ethical one, there is another reason why it is imperative to contact the staff of a medical institution - the threat of criminal punishment for failure to provide timely assistance. According to Article 286 of the Criminal Code, this can result in up to five years in prison with the deprivation of a driver's licence for life.
If an ambulance could not be called or cannot arrive for any reason, you should ask the drivers of other cars for help. They can take the victim to the nearest medical facility. If there is no one else to ask for help, you are allowed to take the patient yourself, having previously taken a detailed photograph of the collision scene. The other party should stay put and wait for the police to arrive. After handing over the victims to doctors, it is important to return to the scene of the accident, otherwise it may be regarded as a flight and punishable by a fine, community service or arrest.
Warn others about the accident
After an accident, be sure to make yourself visible on the road by switching on your hazard lights and putting up an emergency stop sign. This is especially important at night and in places with heavy traffic. Seeing that such signs are displayed correctly, other drivers will be able to avoid the collision.
Experts advise to try to pull yourself together after the accident and act in accordance with the law, otherwise you may not only fail to receive insurance payments but also incur administrative liability. For example, the culprit of an accident may offer to "settle" the matter without calling the police. You can only agree to this if two conditions are met:
- there are no injuries;
- the amount of damage to the car is minimal, and the repair will cost less than the deductible specified in the insurance contract (in the case of MTPL, it is only 1-2 thousand UAH).
Even with minor damage and agreement on who is right and who is to blame, you can avoid calling the police and draw up an electronic Euro protocol. However, this can only be done if both drivers have purchased MTPL policies online.
Next, you should call the police and your insurance company. It is also advisable to write down the phone numbers, addresses, and other contact details of all parties to the accident.
In addition, you should try to find eyewitnesses to the accident and exchange phone numbers with them. Do not forget that passengers also belong to this category. They will definitely be questioned by the police, and their testimony will be recorded in the protocol. The outcome of the case may depend on this information. It is especially important to search for witnesses if one of the parties to the accident is behaving inappropriately, trying to intimidate, threaten, flee the scene or destroy any evidence.
Before the police arrive, it is forbidden to move the vehicles involved in the accident, otherwise the police will not be able to correctly reconstruct the picture of what happened. This should not be done even if the cars have completely blocked traffic.
Call the police
Unfortunately, sometimes you have to wait quite a long time for the arrival of patrol officers. But without a properly executed accident report, no payments will be made by the insurance company.
When dealing with the police, you need to remain calm, emotions will not only not help, but can also harm. It is advisable to take a test for the presence of alcohol in the blood (using a breathalyser on the spot or by undergoing a medical examination at a clinic). If you have a video recorder, the patrol officers will be provided with a recording from it, having previously made a copy. It is also necessary to check whether there are any surveillance cameras nearby and, if so, to point out their presence and ask the owners to provide a copy of the recording.
Usually, police officers will ask the parties involved in the accident to write an explanation. It is necessary to describe in detail everything that happened. You should write in short, simple and clear phrases that cannot be interpreted in two ways. Eyewitnesses will be asked to make similar descriptions.
It is important to keep a close eye on how the accident diagram is drawn up. All measurements, inspections of damage, and interviews with witnesses should take place only in the presence of all parties to the accident. In the event of a guilty plea, mitigating circumstances should be found and indicated: fog, a hole in the road, lack of signs, etc. The more details in the protocol, the better for determining the amount of compensation and the speed of making a decision on insurance payments. The main thing to remember is that even if the inspector has drawn up a report against one of the drivers whom he considers guilty, the final decision will be made by the court.
After drawing up a document recording the fact of an accident, you need to read it carefully. If there are any unaccounted-for data or comments, you should definitely tell the patrol policeman about them and make sure that he records them in a special column. The document is signed only if there are no complaints about it. And one more condition - in no case should you sign a blank form or an incomplete protocol.
Police officers must prepare a number of documents necessary to fully recreate the picture of the accident:
- a report on the inspection of the scene;
- a report on the inspection of the condition of the vehicles;
- diagram of the accident;
- witness statements.
Each of the parties to the accident should receive copies of these documents.
Call a representative of the insurance company
If the drivers involved in an accident have full CASCO, as a rule, a representative of the insurance company will arrive at the scene of the accident. They regulate all the actions of the driver of the insured car, can offer free evacuation and provide other services.
If you have only a CTP policy, you need to call the IC's round-the-clock support service, which will provide detailed advice on what happened. Then, within 3 days after the accident, you will have to apply to the insurance company yourself. The form and sample can be downloaded from the official websites of the insurance company or MTIBU.
Call the lawyers
If there are disputable points in determining who is to blame for a road traffic accident, it is best to seek the assistance of a lawyer who specialises in road traffic accidents. This is especially important if people were injured in the accident. The lawyer will be able to critically and correctly analyse the situation and give it a legal assessment, monitor the preparation of the protocol and fix the accident scheme. Most importantly, he or she will help the client to coordinate actions and protect themselves from unlawful decisions by police officers.
It is important to know that, depending on the consequences of the accident, the perpetrator may face administrative, criminal or civil liability.
