St. George Police Stress Importance Of Involving Authorities After Accidents

Let me paint you a picture. You’re driving home from work, you don’t notice the driver in your blind spot as you change lanes, and a small traffic accident ensues. What do you do next? 

Public Information Officer Tiffany Mitchell from the St. George Police Department was joined by Officer David McDaniel as a part of their Motor Minute series on Facebook to teach residents about traffic laws in Southern Utah.  

The topic for the week on March 7 was about this type of situation. What should you do after getting into a crash? According to Officer McDaniel, some residents aren’t sure if they should even call the police. 

Officer McDaniel said, “We’ve had a ton of hit and run crashes lately. The big thing for most people is, ‘I don’t know what to do. I thought all I needed to do was give them my phone number or I just gave them insurance and that was it.’ They don’t think they need to call us.” 

The police are here to gather the facts when it comes to any kind of traffic accident, no matter the severity. Officer McDaniel said if you don’t want to have a confrontation with the other driver, or drivers, involved in the crash, then just call the police and they will take care of the situation. 

Officer McDaniel said, “What you need to do is stay, don’t leave. If you disagree with the other person or you’re getting heated with each other, just stay in your car, that’s fine. Call dispatch and we’ll come handle it.” 

While an officer is handling the situation, you’ll need to prepare some information to provide to the other drivers in the crash. It doesn’t matter how severe the crash is, you need to provide the information regardless. 

Officer McDaniel said, “If you don’t want to call us if it’s a small crash, like in the Target’s parking lot or Lowe’s or at Walmart, you got to leave your driver’s license number, your name, your phone number, and your current insurance information. I always suggest getting lots of photos. We’re in the digital age and photos are free. You can take 20 photos that fast.” 

A whole bunch of information was covered in the video that wasn't listed here, so be sure to check out the full stream if you’d like to learn more about what to do after getting into a crash in Southern Utah.