If you or somebody you care about has been injured or sustained property damage in a vehicle accident that was caused by the careless or negligent actions of someone else, you should be entitled to various types of compensation. However, recovering compensation can be challenging. Here, our car accident lawyers want to discuss what types of information you should exchange with others involved in an accident while you are still at the scene of the crash. This is important. This information could help ease the process of securing compensation from the insurance carriers.
The Information You Need to Exchange at a Crash Scene
The most important thing after a vehicle accident is to care for any person who sustained an injury. If there are injuries, victims need to receive medical care before anything else gets done, including exchanging information.
After ensuring that other drivers and passengers are uninjured, the exchange of information and occur. The main information that needs to be exchanged between the parties involved includes the following:
- Full names and contact information. This includes the name and contact information of other drivers as well as other passengers involved. Make sure that you do not just get the first names of those involved, but their last names and middle names if possible.
- Insurance company and policy number. It is incredibly important to get information related to insurance before you leave the scene of the crash. This is particularly true if another driver was at fault for the crash. After all, you will be relying on compensation from their insurance carrier to make you whole. You want to get the name of the insurance carrier as well as the policy number. If possible, use your smartphone or another type of camera to take a picture of the other party’s insurance card.
- Driver’s license and license plate number. Ask the other driver for their driver’s license number. Additionally, go ahead and write down or snap a picture of the other driver’s license plate number.
- The make, model, and color of the vehicle. Take note of the make, model, and color of any other vehicles involved in the crash. If you snap a photograph of the insurance card of the other party, the year, make, and model should be on the card. Additionally, the insurance card will usually have the vehicle identification number (VIN).
- Location of the accident. You need to write down the exact location of the vehicle accident. You do not want there to be any discrepancy in the reporting of the incident, so be careful when you write down the street names. If it says “Pine Court,” do not write down “Pine Street.” This may seem like a small distinction, but this can lead to confusion when the insurance carrier is working to approve the claim.
It is strongly recommended that those involved in accidents use their phones or other devices to take pictures of everything at the scene of the crash. This includes all of the information mentioned above as well as vehicle damage, debris, skid marks, traffic and weather conditions, injuries, and more.
What if the Other Driver is Uncooperative?
In the aftermath of a vehicle accident, if you find that one or the other drivers or passengers involved is hostile, you need to get yourself to a safe location and wait for law enforcement authorities to arrive. Let the police handle the case at that point. Law enforcement officials will conduct a preliminary investigation, and they will gather all of the evidence mentioned above for you.