Accidents and emergency stops

What to do when an accident has taken place

• When you arrive at a scene of an accident, the first that you should do is surveying the damage and prioritising your tasks. And calling 112, the SOS alarm number, will get you the qualified help required to tell you what you should do.
• The order to prioritise the injuries caused in an accident is summarised as L-ABC; 1) Location: move the person away from life-threatening situations 2) Airway: breathing, such as the respriratory arrest in the question 3) Bleeding 4) Circulatory shock.

This order is determined as per the seriousness of the injury and its effects on someones health. It is important to prioritise these injuries so that there are no drastic complications and all the victims involved can have a fair chance when the help arrives.

• Shock is a life-threatening condition that makes the blood pressure drop significantly which causes a shortage of blood and oxygen in the body. If a person drinks or eats in such condition, they may choke and suffocate. So a person who has just been in an accident and has symptoms of shock should not be given water or food as it may cause more harm.

General regulations and facts regarding accidents

• In case of an accident causing only property damage and someone involved in the damage flees the scene, the penalty for that person will be day-fines. In rare cases, it may lead to a license being revoked. The revoked license is usually a safety measure and is not considered as a penalty.
• A single-vehicle accident means that the accident only involves one moving motor vehicle.
• It could occur that you are the one who is considerd to be the cause of an accident when someone hits you from the rear. For instance in cases where you have not used the blinkers before turning or have suddenly braked without any valid reason, you can be at the most fault or entirely at fault for being hit from behind. For instance; if the red car in this example (image 1) suddenly stopped because the driver just realised that he or she should take a left turn here, then it may not be considered the fault of the driver of the green car.

Image 1: The red car suddenly stopped to turn left

• If a vehicle, due to an accident, is obstructing the traffic and causing hindrance, it may be moved. However, in case of serious injuries or death, the vehicle or any of the traces may not be removed before a thorough investigation is performed, only if the vehicle poses a danger to other traffic you shall move it.
• A rear-end collision is when a vehicle crashes into another vehicle in front of it. Sudden braking and lack of concentration are usually the cause of rear-end collisions.
• Regardless of having the blame or being the case of an accident, a road user that is involved in an accident must remain at the scene. Let’s say you’re driving car C (image 2), and car A has to stop for you, but car B drives in to car A. Then you must remain on the scene, because in this case you're involved since car A had to stop for you to give way to you.

Image 2: Car C is involved and must remain at the scene 

• If you’re involved in a collision, whether it’s only with one or more other vehicles, then you must give your information such as name and address for practical purposes in case someone asks you. This is for instance neceassary for the insurance company(ies) involved in the case. You must take responsibility for what has happened, you can not simply choose to be anonymous when a traffic accident is involved.
• Using mobile phones, even hands-free, distracts and lowers your driving abilities. Therefore the rules against using phones while driving have been more strict and you can be sentenced fines. Even if you were not the cause of an accident but you could have deminished the damage of an accident by not using your phone at that time, you can still be punished. This means that if you were driving and talking on the phone while you were involved in an accident you can still be punished, even if you did not cause the accident.
• When you’re forced to leave your car in a tunnel due to fire, you must leave the vehicle with keeping the keys in the ignition and without locking it. This is so that firefighters can move it much easier if that would be neccessary.
• Whiplash is a neck injury, which is caused by a sudden movement of the head.

Emergency stops

• When you need to make an emergency stop when the speed limit is 50 km/h or less and there is good visibility, you do not have to place a warning triangle. Because other vehicles will be driving at quite slow speeds, which will give them time to spot your vehicle. On the roads with higher speed limits, it is mandatory to place a warning triangle.
• You should place the warning triangle at preferably 100 metres behind your car, but not less than 50 metres so that other vehicles are prepared for the danger ahead and are ready to act accordingly. The exact distance also depends on the situation, for instance if there is a sharp curve 100 metres behind your car, then it's probably better to place it 150 metres behind your car so that traffic can see the triangle already before entering the curve.

Animal accidents

• The owner of a pet that is injured or killed must always be notified. In case the owner is unknown or cannot be found, you must notify the police who can try to find out who the pet's owner is and notify him or her about the incident.
• Collisions with the following animals should always be marked and reported to the police; wolf, wolverine, elk, deer, roe deer, lynx, bear, wild boar, otter, mouflon sheep and eagle. So a collision, even if it's at low speed and without the animal getting hurt, shall be reported.
• You're permitted and should try to move a dead animal off the carriageway to prevent hindrance to the ongoing traffic as wildlife accidents are not investigated in the same way as the other accidents. However, the incident must be reported.