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Accident on motorway - what's the protocol?
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this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2024
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Basically 3 points to keep in mind.
Were you involved?
Do you have useful and relevant information (e.g. a dash cam that captured what happened)?
Can you provide additional aid?
The first one is obvious, if you're involved, you stop and at least provide contact details.
The 2nd is harder, but not too hard. If it happened right in front of you, pull over somewhere safe, if possible. If you can't, contact the non-emergency police line afterwards. They will be able to advise.
The last is the complex one. If you're the first on the scene, any aid is better than one. If you're not, then judge whether you can provide more help. E.g. 1 person trying to help multiple victims, or an elderly individual, who might not be physically capable of rendering aid.
A side note is providing protection. I drove a larger vehicle. I recently witnessed a motorway accident (driver fell asleep at the wheel). A depressing number of drivers were dangerous idiots. Several cars drove between stopped vehicles to get past. Some got very close to running over rescuers. I ended up using my van to block off the immediate area, and force traffic well clear.
Basically, keep yourself safe first, keep others safe second, render aid third. If you can't do any of those, either wait patiently, or maintain the traffic flow as best you can.
That's a brilliant point. My car once broke down on the motorway, I managed to limp it along at 25mph until I got to a place to turn off, and then it went on fire at the turn off which is a whole other problem.
But while I was limping along a big articulated lorry came behind me, held my speed, and put their hazards on to protect me, it was so good of them and kept me safe. I wish I could thank that guy/girl.
During the same accident I mentioned, a lorry driver involved possibly saved the other guys life.
The driver fell asleep at the wheel, and drifted into the side of an artic. He then drifted back towards the central reservation. The lorry driver, who was hit, actually forced his way across. This cleared the light traffic (a weirdly manoeuvring lorry gets everyone to back off!). He then deliberately hit/captured the out of control car, and held it straight as they both slowed down to a stop.
I was just behind all of this. However, several people had already jumped out to help, including the lorry driver. I initially gave them as much space as I could. I only moved up when several cars forced their way past, almost side swiping the rescuers. I was told the driver was injured, but fell asleep when I asked if they needed any more help. Last I saw, both were safely manoeuvred onto the hard shoulder.
Artics can be the bane of my day at times, but, when push comes to shove, they are DAMN good at using their rigs! They are not easy to drive, but would put ballerinas to shame, and make boy scouts look selfish.
That's pretty clever. It all could have gone so much worse if you and them hadn't been on your A game that day.
If you're driving any distance, and you're not at your A game, you're doing something very bad. Even a small car, going fast enough, is easily capable of reducing a person to meat paste. If I'm in charge of a larger vehicle, I'm treating it with the respect it deserves.