How businesses should deal with traffic accidents caused by their vehicles – Small Business Corner

If you start a business, you might enjoy acting as the boss or CEO. You may have a vision for the company you plan to enact. Maybe you’ll reach a point where you can expand your product line, go international, or partner with another like-minded business for an exciting initiative.

If you make physical products, you may also need to have a fleet of vehicles you use to deliver them. Maybe you have physical store locations with your company name on them, or perhaps you’ve found a store chain willing to carry your products.

That means you’ll need to hire competent drivers. However, even if they have prior experience in this niche, they might still cause an accident. Maybe they rear-end a car ahead of them or do something similarly reckless.

You must determine the blame following a rear-end car crash, and that applies whether you have someone driving a company vehicle or a private one. As you might expect, though, as someone running a business, you must approach this situation with a little delicacy.

Let’s talk about how you can deal with the aftermath if there’s an accident involving one of your company’s vehicles.

Talk to the driver and instruct them on what to do

First, you’ll need to deal with the situation that arises right after the crash. If one of your drivers contacts you and tells you they caused an accident, or that another driver hit your company’s vehicle, then you should first ask them whether they’re hurt. If they say that they are, you should tell them to call 911 and get an ambulance immediately.

If they’re not hurt, you might ask them to take some smartphone videos or pictures of the crash. Those might come in handy later for liability purposes.

You can next instruct the driver to cooperate with the police and tell them what happened. You should tell the driver to get a copy of the police car accident report, if possible. That might also come in handy if there’s a lawsuit later.

Contact your company’s insurance provider

Presumably, you will have a vehicle insurance provider that covers your company’s fleet. When you have the driver back in the office, ask them to stay in the room with you while you call your insurance company.

You can explain what happened, and you can have the driver speak to the representative who you talk to, as they will have all the relevant details. Make sure the driver gives the insurance company representative all of the information they need.

You might also instruct them not to speculate on the phone about who caused the accident. You can simply ask that they stick to the facts. If the insurance company representative asks about who caused the crash, the driver can say that they’re not in a position to speculate about that.

Call your lawyer

Next, you might call your lawyer. Most company owners or CEOs have a business lawyer, and you will probably want to get their opinion as to what you should do next.

You can probably follow their advice. If they hear that the driver sustained some injuries, then that probably means they will need to file for worker’s compensation insurance.

Just about all companies need to carry it, with very few exceptions. Your lawyer will probably tell you to make sure that you fill out the paperwork correctly so that the driver can start to collect the money they’re due from your policy.

Talk to Your Other Employees

You may then take the opportunity to talk to your other employees. You can send them an email, or you might address them in person.

You should mention to them not to talk to the press about the accident if any reporters approach them. You may also remind your other drivers about the company’s procedures if anything like this happens again. You want to make sure they act correctly if there’s ever a similar occurrence, and you can use this as a teachable moment.

Deal with the Lawsuit if One Occurs

If the driver of the car that collided with your company vehicle sues your business, you can deal with that, with your lawyer’s help. You can look at the facts of the case to determine your response.

If your driver clearly caused the crash, then you may make a settlement offer. If they didn’t, you must defend your company against the lawsuit in court.