Sandman is absolutely correct that I have been blamed for an accident by stopping to help, but I couldn’t live with myself if I drove past a fresh accident - leaving somebody to die a lonley death on the side of the road next to a betel nut stain would haunt me forever - I still stop.
Moredeth, this is a great contribution and it offers some good advice in the event of an accident.
I do however have to disagree with one (well two, actually) aspects of this information and that is where it says that you should go straight to the victim(s) of the accident - This goes for any accident you happen to encounter, motorcycle, truck, car, skateboard, Scalelectric - whatever.
If you are first at the scene must stress that the most important thing is to protect [color=red]yourself[/color] and the [color=red]scene of the accident[/color] .
Never turn your back to oncoming traffic…ever. If possible, never drive past an accident - if you have enough time stop well before the accident and walk to it like Dragonbones pointed out earlier.
Use your vehicle as your primary source of defence. Place it in a spot where other drivers will see it in good time if possible, and angle the vehicle so it is slightly slanted compared to the road - ie: so it’s side is visible to oncoming traffic. This will make your vehicle more visible to traffic and its odd angle will alert other drivers that something is wrong.
Don’t forget to activate hazards and lights. Motorbikes can also be used in this fashion.
By the time drivers have driven past your vehicle they will be travelling at a slower speed when they reach the scene.
By leaving your vehicle away from the scene, ambulance and fire access will be made easier.
Think.
The time you have between [color=darkblue]walking[/color] from your vehicle to the accident scene will provide valuable seconds to assess the crash scene - what’s been spilled? How many victims? Who is the most injured?
Keep an eye out behind you!
Spillages mean Hazards.
Always approach upwind from a spillage - the fumes could kill you.
Never walk on a spillage.
A true story:
A 23 year old nurse came across an HGV accident (incidently with a motorcycle and two other cars). The cars were crushed by the HGV trailer and the motorcycle rider was thrown clear of the site and was sitting on the grass holding his leg.
The lorry driver was slumped in his cab and seeing as he was the most accessible victim (I presume) she went to attend to him first. She ran across the spillage.
Witnessess to the accident reported that the tyres of the truck and the cars underneath were steaming and bubbling. Bits and pieces of wreckage were throthing.
The nurse, fixated with the accident and helping anyone she could, didn’t assess the situation properly.
The nurses shoes began to melt and she started to cough from the fumes. By now she was pretty close to the tanker. The witnesses heard screams as the nurses shoes melted and the acid started to burn through her feet.
Unable to run and overcome by the fumes she fell over.
By the time police and fire arrived there were a few bones left. They collected the fillings, a pelvis and part of her skull for the burial after they made the scene safe
1). Never rush to an accident, even a small one, until you have had time to assess the situation. Even a small thing like being too excited and leaping off your bike or out of your car into traffic coming from behind can ruin your day.
2). Always protect the scene. Drivers are stupid. So stupid that one driver in a country such as the UK, where drivers are generally very switched on, collided with one of these very colourful cars
which was attending an accident with full blue lights flashing, parked across the road in broad daylight.
The driver said he didn’t see it. He was going 60mph on a dead straight road with the police car visible for 1 mile.
I hope I’m not sounding like a know it all here, but these are things which I was taught were good practice. I was also there when that motorist hit the police car. If someone can do that in England, you’re sure as hell they can do it in Taiwan.