The Insurance Report - April 2007

PROPER ACCIDENT REPORTING
By Roland L. Enz - President, California Plus Insurance Service, Inc.

It is important to report any accident you have, however small, immediately to your insurance agent or insurance company. Unreported small incidents soon become large unwelcome problems. Every incident should be reported immediately and with complete details. You should have obtained complete reporting information, provided by your insurance company, when you first received your insurance policy.

Throughout my career specializing in the truck and transportation industry, two critical components are almost always lacking when a client is involved in an accident: lack of information and lack of concern for reporting the accident. Since you are driving the largest target on the road, you will be regarded as the responsible party in any accident. You can not and should not ignore or minimize any incident.

Treat every incident with importance and detail. I work with many fleet operations that have had drivers wait until they return to the terminal to report an accident. I also have clients that did not find out about accidents that their drivers were involved in until legal action was presented to the company (the drivers never bothered to report the incidents). Report all accidents immediately, and make sure your drivers do it, too.

Information is key. Always remember to get all the basic information from the other party, including their address, the make and model of their vehicle, the license plate number and their insurance information. Details and pictures are important, too. Complete a narrative as soon as possible before you begin to forget small details. If you are an owner-operator, make sure that you have an accident reporting kit in your glove box. Take the time to purchase a disposable camera (film speed of 1,000 with a flash is recommended) or be sure to always carry a digital one with you. If you are a fleet operator or if you use hired drivers, take the time to train them in the importance of properly reporting and documenting an accident.

Document all information. When talking to any witnesses at the scene, be sure to get their name, address and phone numbers. Also, be sure to get the names, titles, badge numbers and contact information of any police officers at the scene. If there are news personnel at the scene, get the names of the reporters and photographers, and the names and/or stations of all the news organizations covering the accident.

The following was taken from one of our insurance companies and details what should be considered in photographing the accident scene. 1) Photograph both damaged and undamaged portions of all vehicles and the license plate on each vehicle; 2) Focus on details, like steering gears, brakes and tires; 3) Photograph the interiors of all the vehicles: speedometers, signal lights, accelerator and brake pedals, steering wheels and columns, seats and seat belt assemblies, and deployed air bags; 4) Photograph the roadway: skid marks (or lack thereof), nearby stationary objects, and the collision scene from various angles; 5) Drivers should not take photographs of any gory scenes or injured or dead people at the crash scene, since these photographs would not help their defense and could possibly be used against them (if they are named in any legal action).

Accident reports, from the investigating officers, are very important, but not always accurate. Many times the conclusion of the report is mere conjecture or simply an understatement of facts. False information can also taint an accident report. Make sure that you take the time to get the report from the police jurisdiction that handled the accident and always take the time to review it, and if it is wrong, challenge it. Keep a copy of the accident report in your insurance file, as you will be asked for it in the future when you are out shopping for insurance.

Every 16 minutes of every day, a person will be injured or killed in a truck-related accident. The industry itself has a lot of work to do in the reduction of accidents. Speed contributes to 20% of all truck-related accidents, and fatigue contributes to 30% more. Reckless driving, mechanical failure and improper driver training accounts for many accidents as well. I am concerned that many of you that earn a living driving do not take the profession serious enough. Attitude should also be included in those statistics contributing to accidents.

For those of you that take your profession seriously, treat it so and prepare yourself in advance for any incident you might encounter. If you have any comments or would like to discuss an insurance matter, I can be reached at California Plus Insurance Service at 1-800-699-7101.