Came up on a big car crash this week on SH1. Lessons for anyone who ends up being the first on a scene...

Be prepared.

I was driving along a couple of days ago up state highway one in a patch of forest north of Wellsford. I was the third vehicle to come upon a fresh accident. I’m guessing I was about 45 seconds behind the crashed cars. The cars had hit one another head on.

This article won't be about any specifics of the accident but it will be about themes you can apply to any accident. I'll go through it in chronological order.

When you come up on an accident you might be lulled into a false sense of security. I was.

There have been times in my life that I assumed everything was well underhand with lots of people standing next to crashed vehicles. One time years ago I saw a vehicle on its side, on fire. The bottom of the car was burning, a small fire about half a meter across. There were about 5 people, bystanders, standing round the car. I assumed they’d got the situation controlled and were waiting for police to show up. They were just standing there.