It’s hard to think clearly after being in an accident. As you may know, there are many steps to take but most are forgotten or ignored due to priority of checking to make sure everyone is okay. It may not seem important in the moment but later on when it comes to accident reports, insurance and claims, these steps are crucial in saving you time and money. As you may not know, there is an app for that!
There are a variety of free apps to choose from that will help walk you through the process of creating hazard signals, collecting information needed and taking pictures to document. Many of the apps even offer an option to call for local help, some even go as far as to offer the form for the accident report. ConsumerReports.org took some time to research 2 of the more popular apps and reveal their findings:
The two apps share many similarities as they both have an option to pre-load things like emergency contact information, personal data, vehicle make and model as well as insurance information. Each of them also have the ability to keep track of where you are based on your GPS location. They will both provide you with a list of steps to take and the order in which you should take them. Their accident report screens are easy to fill out as they provide you with the fields you need to complete about your vehicle and the other drivers involved.
Car Accident Report takes it a step further by accessing your iPhone camera to take pictures of the scene and include them in the report. Users of Help I Crashed My Car benefit from this app by receiving links to nearby auto body shops and rental car companies.
While they both provide a great amount of useful information, sometimes it’s too much information. The overwhelming amount of information makes for a smaller font and much more time spent reading. With the adrenaline pumping through your veins and the million of other things consuming you at that very moment, it’s going to make it nearly impossible for you to read. We would suggest reading through all of it now so you have an idea of what to expect.
A more recent study done by a law group in the California/Nevada area suggests Accident Wizard. While this free app provides many of the same things as all the other ones provide, this one is like on-star in that it provides on-the-scene, live assistance to those involved in a car accident. The live assistance is free to anyone on this app. Accident Wizard also allows users to scan their license, insurance card and vehicle registration to store in case it is needed in the future. it can even send your information to the other drivers of the crash with just one touch.
As we hope you never have to use any of these apps, we encourage you to download one of them, upload all your necessary information to it and read up on it so you can be better prepared.
