Inspired partly by Dane Cook's comedy routine about car accidents. ("..nobody ever has a f**in' pen!") I suggest people either do this themselves (it's simple enough), or that this service be provided by someone else (online would be nice), establishing a standard format.
The idea is that drivers prepare all the relevant information pre-written (typed/printed is best) on convenient cards. These cards should be kept in cars or wallets, in case of collisions. They would contain all the relevant information (name, license, insurance, phone numbers, etc.) that people need to swap. It's faster and works even if the collision is so bad that one of the parties is unconscious and/or dead.
Nobody likes to think about the possibility of disaster, but just in case, having these babies on hand before it happens is a good way to ensure that nothing is missed in all the confusion and drama of the event.-- XSarenkaX, Oct 10 2003 Dane Cook http://www.danecook.com/You can buy a CD of his comedy routine here, too. "Harmful If Swallowed". (Click "Buy Stuff" link on left.) He so funny. :) [XSarenkaX, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] surely a bluetooth version, or one linked with the fatal auto collision, that automatically beams the details to nearby vehicles and emergency services (+)-- neilp, Oct 10 2003 sp. collision.
Eminently sensible, but wouldn't most people take it as a bad omen to carry them around?-- DrCurry, Oct 10 2003 perhapse "dog tags" for cars ... all the vital operator information, etc. on a metal tag located strategicaly on the car?-- Letsbuildafort, Oct 10 2003 I actually got into a situation like this. I happened to have "personal" business cards on me that had all of the information...save for my license plate number. I actually got those business for free on-line!-- muzer, Oct 10 2003 Include a music preference during any ambulance ride.-- FarmerJohn, Oct 10 2003 +, but I'll pass. I have enough stuff in my wallet and my car already.
In twenty some odd years of driving, most of those years in a big city, I've only needed this once. A few weeks ago a teenager's Mustang introduced itself to my car's rear bumper.-- half, Oct 10 2003 Please understand, this is in addition to the insurance card you already have with policy information on it.-- XSarenkaX, Oct 10 2003 The way people drive around here they should get them printed like business cards. In boxes of 500.-- Cedar Park, Oct 11 2003 It's bad luck. It taunts the car accident demons.-- waugsqueke, Oct 11 2003 Go all the way and build a system in to the car? Using accelerometers and other sensors, a link to the car's computer and a gps system...[CRASH...bzzz bzzz...whir...DING], out pops a card from the integrated printer (maybe 2 copies) complete with date/timestamp, geographic coordinates, your vehicle's speed and direction, impact statistics (location and severity), insurance company info and your personal info. That would save a lot of time.-- half, Oct 11 2003 I’d like to have the information embossed on my bumper, mirror imaged, so when I hit someone, they could read the impression in their door or bumper. That way, I wouldn’t even have to get out—I could just drive off. Gosh, that would save me an hour or more every day. -- pluterday, Oct 11 2003 Funny you should write that, [pluterday]. I was recently rear-ended and the offending driver left an imprint of her license plate in my bumper.
Tell me why I didn't have a collision card handy when this happened. I half-baked the things. Fact is, I always keep a notepad, pen, and pencil in my car. Turns out, the cops handled all the info anyway.-- XSarenkaX, Nov 28 2006 random, halfbakery