If You Witness an Accident, Do You Stop And Give Your Info As Witness?
 

Seems like most people don't, otherwise you wouldn't see posts like "need a witness" or see those signs on the road asking if someone saw an accident on such and such a date.

Last night I was driving home and I saw an accident which was clearly 100% the fault of one driver (pulled out in front of another car without looking). The accident was minor and definitely no injuries - just scrapes and dents down the sides of the cars.

So I see the two cars pull over and I'm thinking should I even stop? I decide to circle the block and come back and see if anyone has bothered to stop. When I get back around I see the driver of the at fault vehicle and her husband are arguing and getting in the face of the young girl who was hit.

So I pull over and walk up to give the young girl my info and I hear some bits of the conversation. The older lady was saying things like "it's your fault" and "you have to pay". The young girl was saying "I can't afford to pay" and the older guy responds "then you have to get your insurance to pay".

I found this quite odd since the older lady was clearly at fault. I also found it odd the young girl was being pressured so easily and instead of saying "it's not my fault - I don't have to pay" she was making comments like "I can't afford to pay". Clearly the older couple was bullying her and she was flustered to the point of questioning whether she might actually be at fault.


So I walk up to them and I ask who was driving which car (I already knew, just wanted to see responses). The older lady pointed out her car and so did the young girl. So I handed my card to the young girl and told her I saw the accident and it was 100% the fault of the older lady (meanwhile pointing my finger straight at her). I told her to call ICBC and file a claim and don't listen to anyone who says to handle it privately. I also told her even if the older lady agrees to pay for the damages, she still has to call ICBC to file a claim and ICBC and the lady can settle on payments terms later.

The reaction of the older lady and her husband was priceless. The guy starts whining shit like "this isn't your business, why are you getting involved" blah blah blah. I plainly told him I did because his wife caused an accident and was trying to blame the other driver and it was people like her that caused my insurance rates to go up.

Off to the side when talking to the young girl I made absolutely sure she understood to call ICBC and never accept any offers to repair, money or anything from the older lady until after the claim was filed. I also let her know I do investigations under contract for ICBC so she would take my word for it, since she was still flustered and questioning what to do.

So now I'm waiting to see if ICBC calls me for my witness statement to see if she really did file a claim.

Good job, Eric. :thumbsup:

Wish there were more people like you.

picture of the accident and the young girl ? lol


good job anyways

old couple probably thought you wanted to get lucky with the young girl LOL

This world could use more people like you

Depends if I'm in a rush..etc. but yeah, I've stopped for a couple accidents.
Good on you, guy

What a clever way to get the girl's number.

need pics to better assess the situation ;)

good on you man,

sucks when people push the blame just because they think they are "older" and never wrong.

Yep, I've definitely done it a couple times before.

THere was one similar situation... I was pulling up to a light that had just turned red, and someone turning left got hit by someone running the red very late on the curb lane. It was also an older woman driving the car that ran the red, and she also had her husband in the passenger seat. They also tried to push the blame to the other party, saying the light was green still, blah blah. I told the older couple that the light was definitely red, and the red light camera flash even went off, so there's no disputing it. I told the younger guy I could be his witness... but I never ended up getting contacted.

karma points to u op.

we really do need more ppl like you.

You might have to follow up on the accident yourself if ICBC doesn't contact you.

1: The at fault party will say you came out of nowhere, and you didn't see the accident, making your statement void.
2: The at fault party will admit to the fault, so your statement is not needed.
3: The girl might forget to mention that she has you as a witness.

Sometimes most witnesses are flaky, or they don't follow up on an accident after they give thier number to either one of the parties. ICBC doesn't really care for minor accidents, so it's better if you call in yourself. This is why people who get into minor accidents always get screwed over.

Location/Time/Date/Cars involved.
You should be put in through Dial-a-Claim, and then they file it into the case.

Pic of the young girl only please.


I will stop to offer any first aid help since I am a level II FA.

One time I was behind a mini van that pulled out of a side street causing a car to run up the island on Rupert st. She took off and I had to chase her down, and a few minutes later the other car came creeping up the street with 4 flat tires. Gave the guy my business card and carried on my way to work. A week later ICBC called and I told her everything that I saw/remembered.

I stopped and gave a police statement at a accident i witnessed not to long ago, the guy hit a pole and flipped up side down. He was drunk and luckily didn't hit any one else.

Witnessed a few accidents, stopped once because it looked pretty bad. Other times, it was just a fender bender. Everyone looked fine so I kept on driving and called it into ICBC later on. As long as ICBC knows what you saw and can contact you later on if needed..

either i'll stay to be a witness or call it in to ICBC on my own and give the details. i know i'd want someone to do the same if i was the one involved in the accident.

I wish I was there just to see the old couples reaction but good job. :thumbsup:

I'll do you one better.

Last time I witnessed an accident, I watched in disbelief as the SUV that sideswiped the other guy in a failed lane-change decided to DRIVE OFF. So I chased him down, and eventually got his plate and a thorough description of the vehicle, including verification that there was damage to the vehicle matching up with where I saw them collide.

What sucks is that by the time I caught up to the hit-and-runner, then fought my way through traffic to return to the scene of the accident, the other guy had already left.

In hindsight, I probably could've directly called this in to ICBC and they would've been able to match it up by the plates. I didn't realize at the time.

You're a hero, OP! Good job :thumbsup:

+100 karma points.

Good job - world needs more people like you. :thumbsup:

+1. good job OP

yes
cause i expect others to do the same.

It depends on the situation.

If I were driving home to take a big shit witnessed the accident, I would probably not stop since I don't want to shit in my pants.

If I were driving to an interview or an school exam, then I would probably ignore the accident and keep on driving (depends on the time).


If I'm not in a rush, then I would probably stop (depends on the situation..).

I always stop and give a statement to police or business card to both parties. Always. It was due to witnesses when I had my accident (taxi ran a red light and t-boned me) that it was deemed not my fault. Had it not been for them, ICBC was going to deem it a 50-50.

Always. I have the urge to do the right thing :D

I see some hit and runs usually and I'll take their plate down right away and put a paper with their plate # on their windshield wipers.