As I was leaving the college parking lot this morning, I saw a traffic collision that had already occur ed on a public road on the west side of the campus. Two campus safety officers were on scene with their patrol cars which had orange traffic advisory light bars on top. They were blocking traffic around this collision. I drove back to the campus parking lot about 10 minutes later. Police traffic investigators were not on scene yet. Obviously this was a low priority non-injury Traffic collision. What were the campus safety officers doing wrong?
In my 6 years of working in Law Enforcement and going on ride a longs with Officers, the first thing the Traffic Officer would say to the parties when they saw their vehicles in the middle of the road is "can you move the vehicle?" If the vehicle is operable, even enough to move it 20 feet to the side of the road then do it. Per the CA DMV Handbook "Move your vehicle out of the traffic lane if no one is injured or killed." It is much safer to do this so that other vehicles won't be confused, possibly crash into your disabled vehicle, and cause a traffic backup. The Traffic investigators will be able to conduct an investigation by looking at skid marks, damage on vehicles, and witness and driver testimony. Also, when you have moved your car to the side of the road, it is safest to get out and stand on the side walk just in case your disabled vehicle is hit by a distracted driver.
The Police department is not required to take reports for non-injury traffic collisions, although most Orange County Agencies will unless they are busy with emergency calls. If you don't want to call the Police, make sure no one is injured, and exchange license, registration, and insurance information.
By following these steps you will get through the situation safer, and more efficiently.
You can view more tips at the CA DMV Website http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/idt_accidents.htm
