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By Harriette Halepis

Car accidents happen. Almost every day someone is injured or killed in a car accident. While you can’t prevent accidents from occurring (most of the time), you can make sure that you are prepared in case an accident occurs.

The first thing that you should do if you are involved in an accident is to look around you. Are any of your passengers injured? Have you collided with another car or pedestrian? Getting needed medical attention to those that need it is vital.

If nobody appears to be hurt, take a few moments to figure out whether or not you are hurt. Sometimes whiplash won’t surface until the initial shock and adrenaline have worn off. If you are feeling any kind of pain, try not to move around too much until rescue crews can arrive.

If you are fine (and everyone around you is fine), then it’s best to walk as far away from your car as possible. Sometimes gas tanks can become punctured during a bad accident, and this can spark a fire. In almost every car accident case, it’s best to stay away from any damaged vehicle until proper authorities arrive.

Try and warn other motorists on the road of an accident. Often, people are not aware that an accident has just occurred, which means that they might not be paying attention. By waving your hands and slowing down traffic (from the side of the road), you can prevent another driver from colliding with your car.

If you have emergency flares, it is a good idea to place these on the road surrounding your car. If you don’t have flares, turn on your hazard lights – this will notify other motorists of the problem at hand. Once these steps have been taken, you can then wait for emergency and police crews to arrive.

All motorists should consider equipping their vehicles with GPS tracking systems. In the event that you are not conscious following an accident, authorities will be able to locate your car via GPS. This is often helpful in a number of situations.

While most people are only concerned with car insurance issues following an accident, there are more practical matters to consider. Those that know how to react after an accident often remain uninjured. Believe it or not, by simply knowing what to do in case of an accident, you can save lives.