A motor vehicle collision is a very unfortunate event for the fact that people can become very injured and the consequences can be very expensive. You have two or more vehicles that have been damaged and individuals within vehicles who have probably been hurt in some way. And if this happens, there are certain procedures that you need to follow in order to ensure that the accident scene is not compromised in any way. This is important so that when the police arrive, they can see exactly how the accident occurred and cite the right party. This is also important for insurance reasons because it is the insurance company of the person at fault that will pay for the damages done to the person who is not at fault. This includes medical expenses and damages to the car.

So what do you do after a motor vehicle collision?

- If you are okay, you can get out of the car. If something is broken, sprained, or severely injured, do not hurt yourself worse by trying to get out of the car. Wait for the ambulance to come and they will get you out of the car.

- If you can get out of the car, make sure you redirect traffic. If the other individual is not doing it or they are too injured to do it, take it upon yourself to do this. This will keep anyone else from becoming injured and will keep the accident scene from being compromised by other cars.

- If you have a cell phone on you or someone near can get to a telephone, call 911 so that the police and the ambulance can get there as soon as possible.

- Make sure you keep any witnesses around. Witness statements are very important on a police report because they further establish who was at fault.

- In the meantime, if the other individual and yourself are capable, exchange insurance information. This is so you can contact your insurance company after he accident to find out what needs to be done.

- Once the police arrive, tell them what happened. They will write everything down and create a police report. That police report is going to be very important when it comes to claims with the insurance company. If the accident was not your fault, they will need it before submitting a claim to the insurance company of the person at fault.

This is the procedure you need to follow after a motor vehicle collision. If you don't follow this procedure or the other individual involved does not want to follow, then there could be an issue. Don't fight with them over it, though. If they are being belligerent because they are at fault, the police will be able to see this when they arrive.

In the case of a minor fender bender, you do want to pull the vehicles off of the road and secure any witnesses that may have seen it. From there, you must follow the same procedures as you would in a larger accident with the exception of directing traffic. As for how the police can tell what happened, they can actually look at a fender bender and tell how the incident occurred by the location of the dents and the angle in which they were made. They cannot really be thrown off by these things.

So whether it is a fender bender or a major accident, make sure you follow these steps and everything should be okay. Things will be handled the way they are supposed to be so that insurance claims can be made and medical treatment can be paid.