What are a Connecticut driver’s duties after a car accident?

Every Connecticut car driver is required by law to adhere to certain rules and regulations when involved in a crash. These are duties and obligations that may attract penalties if ignored. An automobile driver is required to stop the person’s car at the site of the crash or as close to the site as possible, such as the side of the road to avoid blocking traffic.

Ideally, a motor vehicle driver should use warning devices such as flares in order to alert other drivers and avoid additional crashes and injuries. Smoking at the site of the crash should also be avoided for safety purposes, lest any oil leaking from one of the vehicles catch fire and cause further damage or injury.

Car accident victims should be helped immediately and police should be made aware of any injuries immediately, so they can deploy rescue squads or emergency medical services to attend to the injuries. Police should also be made aware of fires or the potential of fires.

When reporting the accident, the vehicle driver involved must provide as much information related to the crash as possible to police. This includes the names of people involved in the crash, phone numbers, addresses, witnesses, registration details of the vehicles, driver license and vehicle insurance documents, along with any other relevant information.

A motor vehicle driver involved in a crash must provide all other pertinent information requested by emergency personnel, police officers and other officials. Failure to cooperate or provide information may attract penalties according to state traffic laws.

Source: Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, “Driver’s Manual,” Accessed on Dec. 19, 2014