If you’ve ever been in an accident, you know how stressful it can be. Even if it wasn’t your fault, the other driver might try to blame their mistake on you. And if it was your fault, dealing with insurance companies is hard enough without worrying about getting out-of-state help. So what can you do if your car breaks down or gets dented outside your residential state?
Get to a Safe Place
If you find yourself in an accident out of your residential state, follow these steps:
• Get to a safe place. If you are in the vehicle that caused the accident, move it out of traffic until the police arrive. If you are not in your car, get out of harm’s way immediately, as cars may continue to over-correct and cause further accidents if they’re not blocked off.
• Make sure everyone is okay. Call for help if anyone has been injured or if there are any medical issues involved with the crash itself (e.g., broken glass).
Call Your Insurance Company
It is always good to call your insurance company and tell them what happened and how it happened, including:
• What kind of car you were driving (license plate number)
• What kind of car hit you (license plate number)
• If anyone was injured or taken to the hospital, get their names and phone numbers for your records.
Talk to the State Police
If you’re in an accident out of your residential state, for example, Nevada, the next step is to report it to the police. The police will gather information about every party involved and investigate the cause of the accident.
This can take some time, so be patient while doing your job. If a law enforcement officer is not on hand at the scene of your accident, call them immediately and request an officer come out; then provide all relevant information about yourself and any passengers so that they may be contacted later if needed. Afterward, ask for copies of both an accident report and a Nevada highway patrol accident report for yourself so that you have proof in case someone tries to claim otherwise later on.
Get Your Car Repairs Taken Care of as Soon as Possible
If you get involved in an accident out of your residential state, you should get your car to a mechanic as soon as possible. The mechanic will give you a full report on the damage and estimate how much it will cost to repair. You will want to ensure they give you a copy of this estimate; if not, ask for one! They may even be willing to write up two estimates—one with repairs done tomorrow and another scheduled sometime in the future.
If there are parts that need replacing but aren’t available immediately (and they aren’t), ask them whether they can order those parts so that when they arrive, it’ll only take a few days rather than weeks or months before your car is fully functional again.
You’ll also want copies of all correspondence related to this accident: written reports from police officers at the scene or witnesses who saw what happened; any written agreements with other drivers involved in an accident.
Deal with Damage Immediately
You must make sure that any damage gets dealt with quickly. If you’re in a car accident in a state other than where you live, it’s essential to ensure that any damage is dealt with quickly. You need to ensure that your car is safe to drive, so don’t assume a dent or scratch is nothing serious.
You also need to ensure you can get home and get back to work or school because if something happens on the way and your car isn’t up to par anymore, then all bets are off. Finally and most importantly, if there are injuries involved with this accident and they’re not treated right away (or at all), someone could end up seriously injured or even dead!
Conclusion
So, as you can see, getting in an accident out of your residential state is not a big deal. All you need to do is call the police and get your insurance company involved. Then, you can work on getting your car fixed as soon as possible so that it’s ready for when you return home.
