Although you have perfectly planned your trip and done everything right in terms of safety checks and making sure that you know what you do when it comes to towing your hired trailer, this is South Africa and road accidents happen a lot more frequently than you might want to believe.
Just one lapse in concentration can result in a car or trailer wreck, while sharing the roads with some of our drivers can result in an accident in which you are a mere participant rather than the instigator. Basically, although you can do everything in your power to avoid a collision, accidents happen, whether as a result of negligence or something as silly as being distracted at the wrong moment.
To help you prepare for any eventuality, we are going to share a couple of helpful tips that you can keep in mind should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident with your rented trailer.
What to do after an accident
- Make sure all parties are okay
Even the most minor of accidents can be quite the shock to the system. And whether you are on your own, with a companion or involved in an accident which involves another party, it is important that first thing you do is make sure that no one is physically hurt. If someone has been hurt, medical assistance should be called for. Anything can be repaired but a life cannot be replaced, so if the accident has been severe, calling for aid should be priority number 1.
- Document the scene
Luckily we’re all carrying around cameras in our pockets these days, because in this next step you are going to need to take a walk around the trailer and photograph the whole thing. You should be looking for and specifically photographing any damage, and even if you don’t see damage still take the photos. This will back you up later on if the rental company claims there is damage when the damage was perhaps there before the accident. If you have been hit by (or have hit) someone else’s car, be sure that you photograph their damage too.
At this stage, you should also exchange your contact details with the other person, if another was involved.
- Understand insurance
Insurance is an absolute must but it is unlikely to cover all the costs incurred when there is damage, especially if the damage is extensive or if the trailer has to be written off. This means you should expect to have to pay something in to cover the costs.
- Contact the trailer hire company
When you have the top steps out of the way, you can contact the trailer hire company and let them know what happened. They will be able to guide you on what you will need to do next and could even want to arrange for the trailer to be collected from the accident scene. Each rental company will have their own approach following an accident, so giving them a call would be the smart decision rather than making assumptions.
