Background

During this year’s National Day holiday, I was riding my e-bike and got distracted, crashing into someone who had stopped on the side of the road on a shared bike. Both of us were injured, and since I was the one who hit him, I was fully at fault. I’d already bought a nice late-night snack to bring home and celebrate, but got sidetracked halfway through. Still, going through this experience taught me a lot about traffic regulations at a relatively low cost.

Below, I’ll summarize how to handle this kind of situation and the approach I took.

What to Do Immediately After an Accident

Protect yourself before helping others

First, check your own injuries — especially whether you’ve hit your head — and assess how serious they are. If you’re bleeding from the head, limbs, or torso, try small movements to check for fractures. If your injuries are serious, call out to bystanders to help dial emergency services. Otherwise, move to a safe area on the side of the road first.

Assess the other person’s condition

Start recording the scene on your phone first, then go check on the other person’s injuries. If the injuries are serious, call 120 (emergency services) right away. Once both parties confirm there are no life-threatening injuries, call 110 or 122 to get traffic police to the scene. Important: don’t move the vehicles at this point, because the police need to determine liability based on the scene. When the police arrive, they’ll verify both parties’ identities — this is when you can share your video recording as supplementary evidence. After the police make their determination, they’ll confirm it with both parties, and everyone signs and prints the traffic accident report.

Don’t settle privately

After the ruling is made, if the other party suggests settling things privately, absolutely do not agree. Any agreement reached without a third party present can’t be proven, and it could create hidden problems down the road. Don’t let urgency lead to bigger mistakes.

Hospital examination

You should immediately suggest taking the other party to the emergency department for an examination. This provides evidence for the subsequent mediation process. Without an immediate examination, any disputes that arise later will become extremely complicated.

You can pay for the hospital examination upfront — this will be well-documented evidence during the claim process. After the initial check-up, take photos of all receipts and medical records, or save them from the hospital’s mini-program.

Post-Accident Mediation Steps

Earlier I mentioned not settling privately — here’s why. From a legal standpoint, proving a private settlement is very troublesome. Unless both parties have signed and sealed an agreement, it’s basically considered one party’s subjective action with no legal precedent to protect it.

Typically, traffic accidents — including those involving injuries — need to be handled through the traffic police station. Most stations have a People’s Mediation Committee. You can book a mediator (lawyer) through the mini-program for a three-party mediation. Before the mediation, organize and compile all relevant documents, clearly inform the mediator of any expenses paid upfront and any proactive steps you took to get the injured party treated. This reduces the mediator’s workload and helps build goodwill.

For specific compensation amounts, I’d recommend referencing similar verdicts on the judicial documents website. If you’re in a hurry to resolve things, try not to exceed 150% of the court-determined amount — we don’t want to disrupt market norms. Of course, lawyers and mediators who regularly handle traffic accidents are practically half orthopedic doctors themselves. Trust that professionals with rich experience can make professional judgments about common accident severities.

The main components of compensation are:

  • Medical expenses: All bills from treatment. If there are unnecessary examinations, ask the other party to provide the hospital’s consultation records.
  • Nutrition allowance: Paid according to local standards, usually around 50 yuan per day.
  • Nursing care: Only required for hospitalization, and needs to be backed by hospitalization records and payment receipts.
  • Lost wages: If the person is employed, they need to prove the income lost from missing work. For example, if their company only pays 80% salary during sick leave, you’d need to compensate the remaining 20%, supported by tax records and bank statements.
  • Personal compensation: Supplementary fees required by legal precedent.

After completing the mediation, make sure to sign an agreement. Pay close attention that the agreement explicitly states that no further lawsuits or claims will be filed regarding related expenses and matters — otherwise, some unscrupulous individuals may use it as leverage to demand more compensation later. The mediation agreement is made in triplicate, held by both parties and the mediator. Both sides sign and seal it, and the mediator’s fee (around 100 yuan) is split equally.