Car Accidents & Vehicle-Related Incidents

It happens to all of us - the odd accident or traffic incident, that is - but what should we expect after we experience the unexpected? This section lists the different sorts of incidents that a person may encounter while owning and operating a vehicle, what these incidents generally entail, and what can be expected to result from the incident with respect to a person's driving record and future car insurance prices.

This section will not address how to interact with your insurance provider about the incident. That process, which is known as the claims process, is covered in the claims section.

Before we begin, let's first discuss the difference between an accident and an incident. It may sound like we're splitting hairs here, but all accidents are incidents whereas not all incidents are accidents. No, this isn't a setup for a question on the SATs - there is simply a major difference between the two.

• Traffic accidents generally result in vehicular damage, property damage or, heaven forbid, a casualty. This usually means someone's insurance prices are going up (the at-fault party, the affected party, or sometimes both.)
• Traffic incidents might result in damage, but they may also be minor citations for incidents that do not result in damages. These may result in increased insurance prices, but will generally be to a lesser-degree.

For our purposes, we will call all events which result in vehicle damage, tickets, citations, or in any way modify your insurance policy or driving record an "incident." With that in mind, we've prepared articles to help you prepare for or respond to incidents in which you are involved; describe the various sorts of incidents you could expect on the road; and explain what you can expect should one of these incidents happen to you. Select the article that best-describes the incident or information you're looking for from the list below.