If you are in a motor vehicle accident, there are some things that the law requires you to do:
- Stop your vehicle;
- Provide information to any other involved persons, including your name, address, driver’s licence number, ownership and insurance information;
- Offer assistance, where needed;
- Report the accident to the police, if required by law (where the accident involves any complaint of personal injury, death or damage to property in excess of $1,000.00);
There are very severe penalties under the Highway Traffic Act and Criminal Code of Canada, for failing to stop at an accident and provide the necessary information. There are also significant fines for failing to report the accident to the police.
If you are in Toronto, Barrie, Orillia, London, Belleville, Brantford, Owen Sound, North Bay, and Peterborough, you will go to report your accident to a Collision Reporting Centre (“CRC”) located in those communities. If the accident does not involve personal injuries or death, you will attend one of these centres to report the accident. In other locations in Ontario, you would ordinarily attend the nearest police station to report the accident. If the accident is severe or there are personal injuries, you should contact the police and wait for them to arrive.
If you are in a motor vehicle accident, there are things that you should do, to protect yourself:
- If you are speaking to the other driver, or the police, never admit liability or say, “it was my fault” or “sorry” (It sounds harsh, but you MUST protect yourself);
- If your vehicle has been damaged, it will be photographed at a CRC, however you should photograph the damages to your vehicle yourself. It’s not a bad idea to keep a disposable camera in the glove compartment of your car to take photographs of the cars and the scene if you should ever be in an accident;
- If you are injured at all, even if it seems minor, and particularly if you feel pain in the neck, back, shoulders or have any period of unconsciousness or altered consciousness, you should attend an emergency room, walk in clinic or your family doctor as soon as possible after the accident. Remember, sometimes it takes 1 week to 10 days before the real pain sets in because your body goes into shock, so NEVER tell anyone you feel fine. Be guarded and wait to see what develops;
- If an ambulance is called to the accident scene and the ambulance attendants offer to take you to the hospital by ambulance, you should go with them. They are the experts at that time, and if they really didn’t thing there was a risk of some serious injury, they wouldn’t make the offer.
- See a LAWYER as soon as possible after the accident, so all of your rights are explained. Remember to find a lawyer who is an expert in car accidents, as it is a speciality these days, and frankly the fellow that did your will really won’t know how to represent you properly.
There are some things that you should not do if you have been in a motor vehicle accident:
- DON’T argue with the other driver over whose fault it is. This can often escalate into violence and end up with somebody getting hurt and somebody getting charged with assault or threatening;
- DON’T offer or accept an offer to pay for the damages to the other vehicle. You have insurance, so let the insurance company do its job;
- DON’T have the vehicle towed to the collision repair shop recommended by the tow truck driver. The tow truck driver may be paid a bounty by the repair shop for bringing in your damaged vehicle. Have the tow truck driver take your car to the location of your choice, or to a dealer. Your insurance company will pay the same for the repairs no matter where it is taken, so you may as well have the repairs done at some place you trust;
- DON’T try to convince the police officer not to give you that ticket. By the time the officer has her/his ticket book out and is writing the ticket, it’s to late. Just accept the ticket and seek proper legal advice on whether you have a good defence to the charge. Remember, the police do not decide who is at fault in a car accident. The courts do.
There are no problems . . . only solutions