Car accident checklist

• Check everyone for injuries. Call Triple Zero (000) if anyone is hurt or in danger.
• Hazard lights on. Move vehicles out of live traffic only if it is safe and they are driveable.
• Photograph the positions of the vehicles before moving anything.
• Exchange names, phone numbers, addresses, licence numbers, registrations and insurers.
• Photograph damage, plates, signage, road markings and conditions.
• Get the name and mobile of any independent witness.
• Note the exact time, street, nearest intersection and direction you were travelling.
• If police attend, get the officer's name, station and the event or report number.

• Is your vehicle safe to drive? Check for fluid leaks, tyre damage, anything rubbing on a wheel, and whether your lights still work.
• If it is not driveable, arrange a tow and note where the vehicle is being taken.
• Retrieve anything you need from the vehicle — licence, keys, medication, child seat, work tools.
• Do not sign anything the other driver or a tow operator puts in front of you without reading it.

Be careful with tow operators who arrive uninvited. Ask where your vehicle is being taken, what the storage costs are, and whether you are signing an authority to repair as well as an authority to tow. You are entitled to decide where your vehicle goes.

• Contact your insurer to report the accident.
• See a doctor if you have any pain, stiffness, headache, nausea or dizziness — symptoms often appear the next morning.
• Write down your account of what happened while you still remember the detail.
• Back up your photos somewhere other than the phone that took them.
• If you need a vehicle to keep working or get to appointments, start sorting that now rather than in a week.

• Lodge your claim, or confirm the other party has lodged theirs.
• Get your repair quote, or attend the assessment your insurer arranges.
• Keep every receipt — towing, storage, taxis, hire, medical, prescriptions.
• Record any time you have missed at work.
• Follow up anything your insurer asked for; unreturned paperwork is the most common cause of delay.