Car crashes happen every day in every US state. Texas car wrecks can injure or even kill you, so you need to exercise caution on your way to work, while dropping the kids off at school, or when you’re on the road for any other reason.
If you hit another vehicle in Fort Worth, or one hits you, you might not know what to do in the moments directly after. We’ll talk about the steps you should take in the following article.
How Often Do Texas Car Crashes Occur?
Texas saw almost 240,000 car crash injuries in 2021. It’s a large state and a densely populated one in some areas. Cities like Houston and Dallas have major highways running through them, and Fort Worth does as well.
Highway accidents can occur if a driver isn’t paying attention or if they ingest alcohol or recreational drugs. Speeding or aggressive driving cause accidents sometimes. You can also hit another car on a quiet, residential street, though. Accidents can happen at any time, day or night.
Call 911
If you hit another vehicle in Fort Worth, or if one strikes your car, you should first try to pull over to the side of the road and out of traffic. You don’t want another vehicle to hit you while you’re surveying the accident scene and pulling yourself together.
If you can’t drive your car because it’s damaged or you’ve sustained an injury that makes driving impossible, you can leave your vehicle where it is. You want to get it off the road, but your personal safety matters more.
Once you’re off the road and out of danger, use your smartphone to call 911. Most people carry smartphones these days, but if you don’t have one, you can ask the other driver to call instead. If they don’t have a phone either, or if they fled the scene, you’ll need to ask any passing driver or pedestrian to do it for you.
Wait for the Police and Medical Personnel
You’ll need to wait for the Fort Worth authorities to arrive. Remember that you can’t leave the scene, or the police will consider that a hit and run. They will definitely issue a warrant for your arrest if you do that, regardless of whether you caused the accident or not.
Once the police come, you can tell them all about what happened. You can also get any medical attention you need. You might decide to go to a hospital in an ambulance if the accident injured you.
Some people choose not to take an ambulance to the hospital because they know they’ll have to pay for it. That’s up to you, but if the accident clearly injured you and you don’t feel you can drive safely, it’s best to take the ambulance to a hospital where a doctor can check you out.
Deal with Your Car
If you don’t feel you need to go to the hospital, you can usually leave in your vehicle once you tell the police all the relevant accident details. Before you leave the scene, though, make sure you get all of the other driver’s contact and insurance information.
If you can drive your car away from the accident scene, you might do that, but if your vehicle sustained serious damage, you probably need to call for a tow truck at this point. If you use your smartphone, you can find a nearby Fort Worth tow truck company and see if they’ll come to the crash site to help you.
You might catch a ride to the garage with the tow truck driver, or if they won’t take you, you can always call for an Uber or a Lyft. You’ll need to head to the garage where the tow truck takes your car to see about its condition.
If the mechanic has the parts to fix your car that day, you might retrieve it and head home once the vehicle is drivable again. If you need to leave the car in the shop while the parts for it come, you probably need to call a family member to come take you home, or you can call for an Uber or Lyft again.
At home, you can call your insurance company and file a report. You must follow these steps as best you can if a Fort Worth car accident occurs. Don’t neglect any of the steps we mentioned since they’re all crucial.