Snap your fingers. That is how long it takes for a misjudgment when driving to cause a collision that will forever change the lives of everyone involved in the accident. Yes, being involved in a car accident can come down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The most recent data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation (D0T) finds that there were 5,930,496 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes across the country in 2022. That breaks down to over 16,000 accidents every day.
If you are lucky enough to miss a collision by seconds, you could still be a witness, and that is a vital role. Every driver needs to know what to do if they witness a car accident. These are the steps you should follow if you witness a car accident:
Step 1: Ensure Your Own Safety
Rubbernecking happens when drivers slow down to get a look at an accident scene. Sadly, that “look” can set off a chain reaction of more accidents. If you witness an accident and intend to help, you need to immediately pull over at a reasonable distance from the crash site and turn on your hazard lights. Your priority as a witness is to ensure your safety and not complicate matters for the first responders.
Step 2: Call 911
You want to check on the approaching traffic and make sure you can safely approach the scene of the accident. As you approach, you should call 911 and tell them where you are, who was involved in the accident, and what to look for. You can provide a general description of any of the injured people involved.
Step 3: Check on the Victims
Next, you want to go to the vehicles. If it is safe to do so, turn off the engines if they are still running. You can take a quick assessment of the injured parties. You should check on everyone before you help one person.
Step 4: Don’t Move Anyone
If you are not a medical professional, you should not move anyone from the wreck unless they are in immediate danger, such as being trapped in a burning car. Moving the victim of an accident could complicate their injuries, and that might make you liable, no matter how well-intended you are.
Step 5: Provide Basic Care
You should not try to treat any injury beyond basic care as described by the Red Cross. That should only be limited to applying direct pressure on a laceration with napkins or clothing to slow the blood loss. Despite what you might have seen on TV, you don’t want to improvise a tourniquet or give out any medications.
Step 6: Offer Your Statement
When the first responders arrive, you can clear away and let them tend to the injured. You can let the responding officer know you were a witness and are ready to offer your statement. They have a lot to sort through before they get to your statement, so you have to be patient.
When the officer does ask to take your statement, you don’t need to try and figure out what happened; you just need to share what you saw. In other words, you have no way of knowing what the drivers were doing during the accident, but you could have observed one car swerving across two lanes or another speeding. You’ll also want to tell them what you did immediately after the accident.
Step 7: Ask Permission to Leave
If you are going to provide support as a witness to a car accident, you need to ask for permission to leave the scene. That will happen after the responding officer takes your statement and gets your contact information. You should also take down the information for that officer so that you can follow up.
Being Called to Testify
In the weeks after the accident, you might be called on to give a deposition or testify in a trial. You will most likely be contacted by a car accident attorney who is working for the victim who is seeking compensation. You are under no obligation to provide testimony unless you are subpoenaed.
You can speak to Owen, Owen & Smith, PLLC, if you have questions. We have decades of experience working with car accident claims. In that time, we’ve prepared dozens of witnesses to help with their testimony and ensure they get to share what they saw. Being a witness is not about choosing sides; it is about sharing what you saw.
