5 Tips For Inspecting Your Car After An Accident

One of the most unsettling experiences a driver can experience is a car accident as it challenges the safety of the involved party and structural damage to the car. A car accident becomes a major cause of both visible and invisible injuries to the car as well as the driver and other involved parties. So, you need to know a few tips on how to inspect a car after an accident and we are right here to help you with that. We also mentioned a tip about assessing yourself after a car accident before inspecting your car and contacting the authorities. See our guide to know all the important tips you need to follow after a car accident.

How To Inspect A Car After An Accident?

1. Ensuring Your Safety

Prioritising your safety is a crucial tip before you start the car inspection after an accident. Firstly, you need to assess your surroundings for potential dangers like hazards, fire and oncoming traffic. So, choose a safe location that has less traffic flow to move your car over there and set up warning triangles or cones. Place these warming cones are triangles strategically right behind your car to alert other vehicles approaching your car. Ensure that the warning signs are positioned at least 50 feet, 100 feet and 150 feet from the accident to alert other drivers to take necessary diversions and precautions. However, if the accident happened on a busy highway where it is not safe to exit your car, remain inside the car and fasten your seatbelt. Then, call for emergency assistance provided in the nearby surroundings. 

2. Assess Yourself For Injuries

It's not enough to alert your surroundings about the car accident and its location but you also need to assess yourself for injuries. If there is another person who experienced the car accident along with you in the car, make sure to communicate with the person and check for his or her well-being. Check for signs of discomfort, pain, shock and rapid heartbeat to move slowly and avoid jerky movements. Inspect for any visible injuries like bleeding, bruises, swelling and cuts on your body. Also, make sure to pay special attention to non-visible injuries like dizziness, nausea, headache, body pains, etc. Most importantly, you need to pay special attention to your mental state as this can help you face the situation you are experiencing. 

3. Inspect Various Car Components

The next important tip in the process of how to inspect the car after an accident is to inspect various car components ranging from lights, and tires to testing alignment, frame and body. Here is how to inspect various car components after an accident.

• Check The Lights- By turning on and off, verify all the lights such as headlights, tail lights, brake lights and turn signals of the car. 


• Assess Tires- Inspect each car tyre for any kind of visible nails, punctures or any other sharp objects that cause damage to the car tires. Look for signs of bubbles or bulges in the car tire sidewalls. Later, measure the pressure of the car tire using a pressure gauge. 


• Test The Alignment- You test the alignment of your car by driving it in a straight line at a slow pace and see if the car is maintaining its trajectory without pulling onto one side. 


• Examine Both Car Body And Frame- Check for structural damages to the car like uneven gaps between the car doors, hood, and fenders and signs of misalignment in the frame etc. In addition to this, make sure to inspect for scratches and dents that cause fresh damage to the car body and frame. 

4. Contact Authorities

Once you are mentally calm and inspected for physical injuries, take the immediate step of contacting the authorities that are accountable for car accidents. So, dial the emergency number to get the necessary assistance from the police and let the dispatched officers reach your location of the car accident. Upon reaching the site of the accident, police get down to the business of inspecting the severity of damages and the situation. If any queries are asked by the police, answer them concisely and clearly to follow the instructions if there are any. How to obtain a police report copy upon reporting the accident to the authorities?

• Ask for the name and batch number of the police officer.


• Enquire details about when and where you can obtain the police report.


• Visit the police station on the scheduled date and obtain the police report copy.


• Review the police report carefully to verify its accuracy and understand the contents included in it.


• Remember to show an insurance copy of your car to the police as it can serve as one of the crucial documents for insurance claims in the future. 

5. Exchange Information

Your last tip to the question, “How to inspect a car after an accident”, is to exchange the information with all the parties involved. The mentioned parties are authorities like police, insurance companies and vehicle manufacturers. So make sure you are exchanging the right information when it comes to providing your name, address and phone number. If you are contacting the insurance company, make sure to share your full name with the company and the insurance policy number along with your contact information with your agent. Moreover, when you are sharing your vehicle information with the manufacturer of the car, share the car model, licence plate number and
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

Conclusion 

If you are afraid of inspecting the car on your own, then you can seek a professional assessment from a certified auto body repair specialist. When you get in touch with professionals, they have the right tools to assess your damage and determine the apparent condition of your car after an accident. Even if you are sure about your car and the issues it is facing, you can still ask for an inspection service from a professional.