What should I do after an accident?
It was interesting reading your column about the crash on horse muck. I was going round a sharp left hand bend on a country road at approx. 15 mph a year ago when I came off my Hayabusa in cow muck which was all over the road. The problem was three roads all converged on to this part of the road so proving which farmers cows were responsible would be impossible.
With summer coming, it may be useful if you could, in your column, give us bikers advice on what to do if we have an accident to help make a claim.
Keith Devlin, by e-mail
Answer
The below steps should be taken immediately following the accident, to provide the rider with the best prospects of pursuing a successful claim for injury and any associated financial losses.
- Obviously, in case of serious injury then someone needs to call 999 for ambulance and police;
- Even if it’s not a 999 scenario you should report the accident to the police using the 101 number;
- Take details of any other parties involved in the accident. The more information you can get the better but you need at least their name, address and vehicle registration number (if relevant);
- See it there are any witnesses who will give you their details. Here you want name, address and phone numbers;
- Take photographs of the accident scene and any vehicles and animals involved. In the case of vehicles you should try to get pictures of the number plate, any damage, and its position on the road;
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