What Should I Do If a Driver for My Company Gets in a Wreck?

Having someone who works for you get into a car accident can be a major problem. There could be serious financial, logistical, and legal implications for your company. However, there are steps you should take in order to minimize the negative long-term repercussions from this event.

Assess Injuries

First and foremost, make sure no one is hurt. If there are even the smallest signs of injury in anyone involved, it may be worth visiting the Emergency Room immediately. You want to make sure no one is hurt, and you want to make sure that you are legally protected in the event of an injury. If your employee visits an emergency room, is released uninjured, and later claims they are hurt, they will have a harder time pursuing legal action against you.

Contact Your Insurance Company

You should absolutely contact your insurance company as quickly as possible following an accident. In all probability, they will want you to collect certain pieces of information. This includes pictures of the accident, contact information, and insurance information from those who were involved. Furthermore, if there were any witnesses, make sure to get their name and contact information as well. It may also be worth giving a statement into your phone about what happened, and doing so as quickly as possible, while your memories are still fresh.

Contact Authorities

Lawyers recommend that the first thing you should do is call authorities if an accident occurs with a company vehicle. This can help when it comes to assessing the damage and getting any damaged cars towed away. In the long run, you are much more likely to be held liable for the accident if you fail to contact the appropriate authorities. They can also make quick determinations about what happened and provide medical care if any is needed.

Make Changes

Unfortunately, in many cases, you may need to make changes to your policies. Was the driver behaving in an unsafe manner that your company could have prevented? Do you need to engage in additional monitoring of your employees? If a policy was violated, is a personnel change necessary? What about additional training? These are all important questions you need to answer.

A car accident caused by someone who works for you can cause major problems. However, it doesn’t have to be devastating for your injured employee, or you. Taking the four steps above can help minimize the issues and challenges you face.