What to do when you are in an collision

Firstly, make sure that you and anyone else involved is not in a life-threatening situation and if so, summon help as quickly as possible and do whatever is necessary to help the injured parties until help arrives. If someone is injured but not in any danger do not remove them from their vehicle. They may have another injury that you are not aware of and moving them could make things worse. Wait for the trained professionals to arrive and remove the person. Go to each vehicle and turn off the ignition keys .

If a vehicle is smoking or on fire, try to extinguish the flames as quickly as possible. If you do not have a fire extinguisher available, ask other motorists, or ask a bystander to run to nearby residences to find one. Truckers generally carry one. If you cannot extinguish the flames and if it looks like the vehicle may become engulfed by the flames before help arrives, you may have no choice but to remove the injured parties. Do this as quickly as possible, but as carefully as possible so as to not make any injuries they have worse. Get as many people involved as possible so that you can support all parts of the person and avoid adding any stresses to already injured parts.

Once you have assured that everyone involved is no longer in any danger (including yourself), then you can go about the process of gathering details. Be careful where you stand as oncoming traffic still presents a danger. Do not stand between two vehicles, or behind a vehicle that is exposed to oncoming traffic.

Ask the people on scene if they witnessed the collision and if they did, ask them for their name and phone number, or get their business card if they have one. If you have a camera with you or you see someone with a camera, have them take pictures from various angles showing the overall scene. Write down the time, date, location, road conditions, weather. Write down the vehicle information for all vehicles involved, the number of people in each vehicle, and where they were sitting (if possible). Write down any additional factors that may have contributed to the collision, such as a pedestrian or animal on the road, oil or debris on the road, another vehicle that is no longer on scene. Do not rely on your memory. Notes and written statements carry more force in law than recalled memories.

What to do after the collision

Make sure you get yourself to a hospital and get checked out. If your car is drivable but you did take a significant hit, do not drive yourself to the hospital. Take advantage of one of the on-scene ambulances, ask for a taxi, or call someone to come and get you. There quite are a number of injuries where symptoms do not manifest themselves until some time after the collision. You could experience one or more of these symptoms on the way to the hospital, possibly resulting in a second collision.

If the collision resulted in injuries to you or to other parties, contact a lawyer as soon as possible. A lawyer can help you at this stage in several ways:

• A lawyer can assist you in establishing and preserving the chain of evidence.
• A lawyer can advise you of your rights and protect you from signing or agreeing to things that may later be used against you in court.
• A lawyer has knowledge and expertise in matters that the general public may not even know exist.

Keep detailed records

Ask for copies of all medical records and tests done on you. If you have wounds or bruises, take pictures of them for several days afterwards and keep track of the dates of the pictures. If X-rays show broken bones or other internal injuries, obtain copies of the X-rays. Keep track of the dates and times of all medical appointments, the names of the people that treated you, what the treatment was, and keep a diary or journal detailing your symptoms, your recovery, and how the injuries have affected your ability to work and do the things you normally need to do. Keep track of all expenditures associated with your treatment, medications, transportation costs fro your appointments, babysitters, lost work time, etc.

Keep copies of everything you gather. If the police or ICBC want witness statements, notes or pictures, give them copies wherever possible and if they demand to have the originals, make copies for yourself before surrendering the originals.

When asked to sign something by anyone involved, such as the ICBC adjuster, the police, the other party's lawyer, etc. exercise extreme caution. The best advice we can give you is wherever possible, do not sign! Ask the person to leave the document with you and you will return it to them signed later. If they insist you sign it right away, tell them you need to speak with your lawyer before signing. Do not be intimidated into signing something, especially if you do not agree with some part of it.