Motorbike accidents can be scary and potentially very dangerous. It’s common knowledge that motorbike riders are at greater risk of severe injury when involved in an accident, as motorbikes expose their riders much more than cars do their drivers. But when you have to make a motorbike accident compensation claim, what should you actually do?
The first and most important step
It’s easy to say and difficult to do, but the very first thing you must do when you or anyone else is involved in motorbike accidents is to keep calm. A level head will help you focus on what you need to do next, avoid panic attacks, and ensure a clear head. So when a motorbike accident has happened, take a deep breath and keep calm.
Next, make sure everyone is safe
When you’ve collected yourself, it’s time to make sure everyone involved is okay. Ascertain who was actually involved in the accident itself and check their condition. If there are several people around, have someone call the emergency services while another checks everyone’s safety and relays the information. This means the emergency services will know what they’re dealing with when they arrive.
Contact the ambulance service and the police. If you’re not sure who you need to call, it’s better to call them and explain the situation; the operator will give you more information.
If anyone is injured, resist the urge to move them. You may think you’re helping by trying to make them more comfortable, but unless you’re medically trained, it’s very easy to actually aggravate an existing condition by moving an injured person. The emergency services will respond as soon as possible and be able to better ascertain their condition then move them as needs be.
Collecting the details of those involved
Once you’re sure everyone is safe, it’s time to start making sense of what happened. It’s important that you try and resist the urge to apportion blame at this point. It’s a natural urge, but it can actually be very counterproductive.
The thing to do is just determine who was actually involved in the accident, how many people, and how many vehicles. Then, get the details of those people and the vehicles. After that, think about getting the details of anyone who happened to see the accident take place. It’s always a good idea to take pictures if you can to show the condition of the vehicles at the accident scene.
When should you start your claim?
It depends on the severity of the accident. For most accidents where everyone is okay, you should be feeling fine to contact your insurance company that very day to get the ball rolling. If the accident was more traumatic, give yourself the day to gather your thoughts and mentally recover a little before contacting the insurance company the following day.
Always keep as calm as possible
Circling back to our first point, the most important thing to do when you’re involved in motorbike accidents, or any kind of accident for that matter, is to keep calm, take a deep breath, and act logically.
