Handling accident in India

[TMUS]

Call it a premonition or what, though I have not been involved in an accident (yet), I got this doubt. I will try to get info locally too.

In US it is very straightforward. Call the cops, exchange insurance info and based on the police report, have your claim adjusted (either your own or the other party).

How to deal with an accident in India? I would like to know the steps involved (like calling the cops, dealing with insurance, etc.)

Please ignore the minor ones where something is just brushed and you just continue. Do not get too philosophical and make random statements sitting in US/abroad.

[Desi_by_Nature]

Ideally, the cops should be called so that there is a paper record of the accident.
However calling the cops can be hard - in India you can dial 100 for police emergency but that may or may not work (i've had the operator hang up on me because I was near the road trying to help an accident victim - there was too much noise from the traffic and she just said that she could not hear anything and disconnected the call.)

The best thing in India is to know someone high up in the police who you can reach out at a personal level.

The other thing i've seen is that those who have insurance usually end up claiming from their own insurance company even when the fault is not theirs. For example if a bus driver hits you, like #2 said forget any chances that you will be paid for damages. Instead drive back home, park your car on the street call the neighborhood cops and make it into a 'hit-and-run' case. Call the insurance co., have them come over and take pictures etc.

[restlessdesi]

The most important thing in India is trying to figure out if its worthwhile stepping out of your car. If you get into a minor fender-bender and there are a bunch of tough looking drunk dudes on the other side, it is prudent to wave a half apology and keep on driving. (This is a significant minorty but greater then 0%). It is not unusual to see people get into fistfights over traffic accidents.

If you hit a pedestrian, your best bet is to apologize profusely and quickly take them to a doctor before a crowd develops, regardless of whose fault it is.

And there is no such rule as to "whose fault is it", the guy could hit you from behind and still believe that its all your fault. Also use common sense in determining if the other party even has insurance, otherwise calling the cops etc. is a waste of time. The cops are usually friendlier with the party at fault because thats where they get some chai-pani.

Not to paint an intentional bleak picture but this is a fact of life. The best thing about insurance is you can claim damages if a tree were to fall on your parked car or if it got damaged in a flood etc. In the cities, people are so used to getting dinged that it is not uncommon for 2 guys to just wave at each other and keep driving if they touch each other at small speeds instead of stopping and exchanging information.

[Tweedledee]

there are some rules

- if involved in a collision with a bus/truck/heavy vehicle dont expect anything
- if involved with a smaller vehicle or pedestrian or animal it's always your fault regardless of what happened
- if involved with an autorick always admit fault and offer to pay, if you want to avoid getting beaten up & then paying the hospital several times more.

[Desi_by_Nature]

And god save you if you get into an accident with a female driver on the other side.

[restlessdesi]

there are some rules
- if involved with an autorick always admit fault and offer to pay, if you want to avoid getting beaten up & then paying the hospital several times more.[/quote]

This works both ways sometimes. It could genuinely be your fault, but you can choose your battles (based on the other guy's size ;) ) and claim that it is his fault and drive away with impunity.

[ARGS]

Imperfections of Indian society cannot be promoted any better than this !!! . . here's news of similar local (US) events reported recently http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/20/crash.assault.ap/index.html

[DosaiLvr]

TMUS,

File an FIR (First information report) and contact the insurance company. Pretty much like in the US... done this in 2003... You pay the deductible and the insurance pays the rest. I however don't have clue about the following year's premium, I guess we are paying more?!

Another time, a driver of ours was involved in a minor accident (our driver's fault). We settled w/ the "aggrieved" party after we insisted that we would rather let him file a case rather than settle w/ him. The aggreived settled for the fair mkt price.

[TMUS]

This works both ways sometimes. It could genuinely be your fault, but you can choose your battles (based on the other guy's size ;) ) and claim that it is his fault and drive away with impunity.

I saw this firsthand. I was in an auto who hit a car's corner and created a dent. The auto guy wa like 5' 2" and the guy in the car was like 6' 2". The car guy came down and took the auto's key and said the auto guy has to settle. I did not know what happened later as the autodriver told me to seek another auto.

TMUS,

File an FIR (First information report) and contact the insurance company. Pretty much like in the US... done this in 2003... You pay the deductible and the insurance pays the rest. I however don't have clue about the following year's premium, I guess we are paying more?!

Another time, a driver of ours was involved in a minor accident (our driver's fault). We settled w/ the "aggrieved" party after we insisted that we would rather let him file a case rather than settle w/ him. The aggreived settled for the fair mkt price.

During college when a car hit my friend's bike (my friend was not at fault), the car guy paid for the damages. What worked in our favor was that we were like 5-6 guys traveling as a group on more than 1 bike. :emsmile:

~~
From the looks of it, based on feedback, here and elsewhere, if one has the upper hand (due to connections/numbers in terms of people/just plain physique), one can "settle" with the other party, else file FIR and claim as "hit & run" case from insurance. Key thing here is nothing to be done until the insurance surveryor comes and takes pictures for assessment. In some cases, people try to make it worse than the accident itself (increasing size of dent, etc.) to get replacement instead of repair.

[shangrila28]

- In India, the "law" is always soft towards the victim (no matter who is at fault). The victim is defined as whoever is driving a smaller vehicle or cheaper vehicle.
- Of course, if you hit a bus or something follow the advice mentioned in other postings.
- If the other person is injured, arrange to have him "auto-lifted" to a hospital. Trust me, this is much cheaper than going thru police/FIR channels.
- In an accident, no matter who is at fault, you have to shout and make the other person feel that he is at fault. This is not easy to do for most R2I folks and needs lots of guts. Even if the fault is yours, ultimately this will help in negotiating a lower settlement.