what to do when having an accident?

Call garda, they will determine who's faulty, don't forget to write down insurance details of the other car so in case they flee.
Or if damage is cosmetic and not worth it, just settle it out without garda.

arleitiss wrote: »

Call garda, they will determine who's faulty, don't forget to write down insurance details of the other car so in case they flee.
Or if damage is cosmetic and not worth it, just settle it out without garda.

That Gardai will not determine who is at fault (unless they physically witnessed the accident take place). They will come down, take statements and document the scene. They will relay this information to the insurance companies if requested, who will then use it to make their own judgement on fault.

peace2804 wrote: »

I heard different stories when there was only cosmetic damage, both drivers settled and then a couple of days later one driver will receive a letter that there was more damage to the car bla bla bla.....really can we trust everybody these days??

Happened to me last July, a lady claimed i reversed into her ( smashed into her like a madman were her exact words ) in a parking spot and damaged her front bumper+ licence plate, there was not a scratch on my car, not even the dirt was sumgged! I called the local Garda station and asked if they would send a car if they were not too busy, the guard was very helpful and about 20 mins later a squad car showed up..

I explained to the guard in private that i believed i did not hit her, was happy to let the insurance handle any claim, but wanted a witness to the damage as i believe she was pulling a fast one, the insurance company had an engineer assess both cars.. long story short, 9 months later the claim was dropped..

use your judgement, i could easily tell by the type of person that i was dealing with that she was gonna try and screw me and called the guards to protect my self.. take loads of photos of the cars, look for CCTV ask for witnesses, also take photos of skid marks etc... do not admit to any responsibility, even if it is 100% your fault, leave all that stuff to your insurance company.

sunrise2013 wrote: »

I would be very wary of not calling the gardai even for something minor. Going back about ten years now I was involved in a minor crash (both reversing out at same time). Small trap both got out and both agreed no damage done and left it at that. A week later a garda arrived at my door informing me the other lady was claiming for a broken bumper. Wouldn't believe we had agreed nothing wrong with either car if anything there was a small scratch on mine from her towbar so how I broke her bumper is a mystery. Long story short my insurance company paid out to her but luckily I paid them back so I didn't loose my no claims. Moral of the story always calls the gardai

While I agree about calling the Gardai (they might not want to come out, but in my experience they usually do), regardless of whether or not they come out its an absolute must that you take a wealth of pictures of every angle of your car, the other car, the scene, the road etc. Document every detail you can. At least that way if the other party starts playing silly buggers you have something to fall back on.

kceire wrote: »

Garda will generally not attend a RTA unless they are close by, people injured, suspected drink/drugs involvement, and they certainly will not determine who is at fault unless they witnessed the actual accident, and even then it will only be an opinion.

My recommendations would be :

make sure you and passengers are ok
check other driver
call gardai if required *see above
get their details from the window stickers
ask for name and address and phone number
take pictures, even on a stupid old camera phone, crappy pictures are better than no pictures

All Good points to note mentioned above. I would add dont admit liability (usually says so on your insurance policy guidelines)
Any witness's - get their contact details
Regardless of what people say at the time of the incident if they are ok or to leave it - nearly all of them come back with a claim at some point. Ive heard of minor cases being blown way out of portion but at the time the driver swore it was nothing and just forget about it.
Get all the details!!

+1 for don't admit any liability, my previous insurance company told me this.

Henry Ford III wrote: »

If nobody is hurt, and nobody has obviously broken a law, it's a civil matter.

How could accident happen if nobody broke the law?

djimi wrote: »

Sometimes **** happens; thats why they are called accidents!

To be honest car crashes very very very seldom happen completely accidentally without any fault of the drivers.
Only circumastances I can think of is a mechanical failure or some really impossible to predict events like strong wind gust blowing the car off the road or lighting hitting the car.

You could, for example, end up in a collision after skidding on black ice, even at low speed.

That still would be braking the law.
F.e. this

53.—(1) A person shall not drive a vehicle in a public place at a speed or in a manner which, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including the nature, condition and use of the place and the amount of traffic which then actually is or might reasonably be expected then to be therein) is dangerous to the public.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1961/en/act/pub/0024/print.html

If you skid on black ice, it means you didn't obey the law quote above.

djimi wrote: »

Ive skidded on ice at 10mph before; it happens.

Quite often in accidents, especially smaller ones, its one thing to say that one party broke the law but its a different matter entirely to prove it. For the most part, accidents happen and insurance sorts it out. I cant speak for everyone but I for one would not want to live in a country where you could face criminal prosecution for a minor fender bender.

What country does that?

djimi wrote: »

Not this one; thats all I care about!

But I doubt there is even one country in the world where you would face criminal prosecution for causing a fender-bender.

Ireland in my opinion has very wrong system of dealing with fender benders (accidents with no one injured or killed).
Why on earth are insurers nominated to decide who was at fault. It's their business in paying or not paying for damage, so they should be the last ones to decide who was at fault.
I also can't understand why gardai can't assess who was in wrong.
And why people who cause accident, don't get penalised for it.