Each year, over 2 million Americans are injured in car accidents.
If you are a business owner with a number of delivery vehicles, your main concern should be keeping your drivers safe. Performing routine maintenance and repairs on these fleet vehicles is a great way to keep them safe. In some cases, car accidents are unavoidable.
Teaching your delivery drivers how to deal with these accidents when they occur is a great idea. The following are some of the things you need to do when educating your drivers about dealing with car accidents.
1. Protecting the Scene is Essential
Securing the scene of a wreck is one of the main things you need to teach your drivers how to do. Providing each of the delivery drivers you have with a kit that contains flares or safety cones is essential.
These kits will come in handy if a driver is involved in an accident. Using the flares and cones to guard off the area where the accident took place is vital. By doing this, your delivery drivers can keep other cars from colliding with the vehicles involved in the accident.
2. Contact the Police
Once your driver has secured the scene of the crash, the next thing they need to do is contact the police. If either driver has sustained injuries in the accident, calling 911 will allow them to get the ambulance and police department on the way.
What happens when the other driver involved in the accident tries to flee the scene? Teaching your drivers to take pictures of the vehicle’s tag can help you bring the other driver to justice. You can read more about the laws pertaining to hit and run accidents by visiting this website.
3. Get An Accident Report
After the police have arrived on the scene of a car accident, they will begin filling out a report about the collision. This report will detail who was at fault for the accident in question. Usually, the officer working the wreck will ask your delivery driver for a statement.
You need to make sure your driver knows how important it is to remain truthful when giving a statement to the authorities. Trying to mislead the police regarding the cause of the accident can lead to big problems. Getting a copy of this accident report is essential if you are going to be pursuing a lawsuit against the negligent driver.
4. Get Checked Out By Medical Personnel
The biggest mistake a person can make following a car accident is failing to get checked out by medical personnel on scene. Even if your delivery driver feels like they are fine, there may be internal injuries that aren’t immediately noticeable.
Instead of allowing these injuries to go untreated, a person will need to let the EMTs working the wreck help them out. These medical professionals will be able to detect injuries and treat them properly with ease.
Providing your delivery drivers with information on how to properly handle a car accident can help them greatly when disaster strikes. Focusing on keeping your workers safe is not only the right thing to do, it can also save you money.
