You have just been in a car accident, either as a driver or passenger. What should you do first? We all know the answer: call 911 to summon the police and ambulance to the accident scene.

What should you do while you’re waiting for the police? You’re not bleeding, no obvious signs of injury, no bones poking through your skin. You are not sure if you are seriously hurt, but you have heard that often people do not feel pain immediately following a car accident. Should you wait inside or outside of the car?

First of all, consider your own safety. If your car is stopped in a position where an approaching vehicle may not see it in enough time to avoid a collision and you can get out and walk to a safer location off the road, you may want to do that to avoid being hurt in a second accident. Or, if your car is smoking and you think it may catch on fire, you should get out.

After your have evaluated safety issues, consider this:

Assume that the driver or passengers from the other vehicle have cell phones. Assume that someone’s cell phone is filming you. For years, people have been using their cell phone cameras at the scene of accidents to take photographs of the damage to the vehicles or to record license plate numbers. Smart phones also allow a good quality video to be made of the people at the accident scene! So, please do not get out of your car and do a set of jumping jacks just to make sure your leg is not broken.

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In conclusion, in most cases it is best to wait inside the car for first responders to arrive.