What Should You Do After A Fender Bender?
Everyone has been there at one time or another. You miscalculated while parallel parking and bumped the car next to you, or a car mistakenly hit you from behind when you were waiting at a stop light. Whatever the case, you wound up in a fender bender and you weren't sure exactly what to do.
Fender benders happen everyday and most of them are no big deal. In most cases, everyone involved will walk away without a scratch and both cars will still function. The problem comes when you go to get the damage fixed and what looked like a simple dent in the bumper leaves you with an expensive repair bill.
Therefore, it is important to know how to handle a fender bender so that you can avoid surprises and possibly being taken advantage of following the incident.
When this sort of accident occurs, the first thing you should do is exchange basic information with the other driver, including the license plate number and car insurance information. Also consider taking pictures of the damage and the position of the cars.
Depending on the situation, the two of you may decide not to contact the insurance companies and settle it yourselves. However, you must realize that there is a lot of risk in having a verbal agreement with a stranger as there is no guarantee that they will honor the agreement. You must use your best judgement when deciding if this is worth the risk.
If the other driver is not being cooperative, or if the damage appears to be fairly severe, you should notify public safety authorities so that they can have the incident on record.
Being involved in a fender bender can be a pain, but knowing out to react to the situation can make things a lot easier on yourself and your wallet.
