What Your Teen Needs To Know About Auto Accidents

So today I’m at work and my cell rings. I look and it’s my daughter. That’s strange, I thought, it was only 11:30AM. Then I remembered she was out of school today. I answered and listened to my panicked daughter tell me she had just been in an accident. “Are you OK? Is everyone OK? What happened?”, I nervously asked. As it turned out, she had rear-ended the truck in front of her. This after a third car had cut across three lanes and made a right-hand turn, at 35 MPH, in front of that truck. He nailed the breaks and my daughter slammed into  him. The driver of the car took off. A sort of hit and run.

My daughter’s first words were “Dad, I think you need to come down here right away, I just got into an accident.” Those words are very powerful. Visions of crushed cars flashed through my head. She then asked “What do I do?” I asked if everyone was alright, she replied “Yes.” I asked how fast she was driving, “About 35mph”, she exclaimed. I said, “Call the police and wait right there.”

So, obviously, I dropped everything and headed to the accident scene. When I arrived, the police officer was filling out the paperwork. The other kids mom was there and she informed me that the officer was not very friendly. “Great”, I said with a smile. After several minutes, he opened his patrol car door and walked over to us. He proceeded to inform my daughter that she was at fault. After lecturing her for about five minutes on the rules of the road, he informed her that due to the third vehicles actions, he was not going to ticket her. Thank goodness!

I called AAA for a tow truck. They informed me it would be about 45 minutes. We just happened to be in the parking lot of a great local restaurant, so I asked my daughter if she wanted to get some lunch. We shared a huge order of nachos and talked about the accident.

So here is what we learned from our experience:

• Make sure your teen knows what to do if they should get into an accident.
• Remain calm
• Call paramedics if needed.
• Call the police and report the accident.
• Turn on your hazard lights.
• If the accident isn’t serious and without injuries, move the autos to a safe location.
• Take pictures, if safe to do so.
• Remain at the accident scene until police arrive.
• Have auto registration available. (if applicable)
• Have insurance card available.
• Do not sign anything, unless for the police or your insurance company.
• Don’t admit fault or apologize. (sad but true)
• Get insurance info, address and phone number from other party.
  -The officer left out some important information on his report.
• Write down what happened ASAP.
  -This will make it easier to recollect later if questioned by the insurance company.
• Call your insurance agent about the accident ASAP.

There you have it. We did most of the above today, although we had to wing it. I reacted mainly from memory. I have to admit that I did not do a great job of informing our kids of everything involved in handling an accident. I basically have always said “If you ever get into an accident, CALL ME!” And she did! But, she knows what to do now. I just hope she never has to use this information again! Thank goodness she’s unharmed. But, you would think the world had ended to listen to her talk about loosing her truck for a week!

So, do your kids know how to handle an accident? If so, GOOD for you! If not, better take a few and go over this list!

Tagged as: auto accident • teen driver