What do you do if you are the first on the scene of a crash, or arrive before emergency services?

Some people do, many people don’t.

Do I get out and help?

It’s an individual’s choice to stop at a crash scene.

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Most people should stop if they feel confident.

The reason for that is because they may at some stage render life-saving assistance or at least evaluate the scene and provide that information to emergency services or police.

Whether a motorist should stop can also depend on the location.

For example, on a bridge it’d be fairly difficult, you’re going to create a lot of disruption there.

If you come across a crash there the best thing to do is ring triple zero as we can get the emergency services there before it becomes congested.

It can also depend on conditions and whether it’s safe.

Not only do you have to consider the safety of the persons in the crash, your own safety has to be paramount as well, because you’re no good to us or anyone else if you’ve been run over.

Do I direct the traffic?

Most police would prefer members of the public did not get out and direct traffic at a crash scene.

That’s the job of emergency services, in particular police and sometimes TfNSW and Councils.

Directing traffic is quite difficult and quite dangerous — you’ll never see police doing it without wearing hi-vis protective clothing, a torch, a wand, a police vehicle parked nearby with emergency lights flashing so we can warn people. Some cars nowadays come with cones and triangles, etcetera, that you can put out in an emergency-type situation.

Don’t forget to call triple-0

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