CREDIT: DALLSCARCRASH.COM
If you happen to be in a car crash, make sure you exchange information with the other driver, including licence and insurance details, to protect yourself.

London Police are warning motorists that with the changing weather, driving conditions change as well.

Londoners are asked to check their vehicles to ensure all the safety measures on the vehicle are up to date. This isn't just for their own safety but for other motorists as well. London Police Sgt. Tom O'Brien said lights, signals and windshield wipers should always be in working condition.

But what happens should a collision occur?

A collision must be reported if the damage to all vehicles involved is over $1,000 or City property has been damaged, such as a fence or a sign along the highway. Many drivers may not know what would constitute $1,000 in damage just by looking at the car. O'Brien laid out the general guidelines of how to know.

"With the cars out there now, I would suggest that if you do even the slightest amount of damage to certain parts of that car, it's going to be $1,000. For example, if the headlight is smashed out as a result of this collision but there's no other damage to any of the other parts of the car … in all likelihood that's going to be less than $1,000," he said. However, he continued, "if you dent one of the doors, that's probably going to be anywhere from $400 to $600 or $700, so if two car doors are dented, then you're looking at something well over $1,000. If a fender and a door are dented, you're looking at $1,000. So it's pretty hard not to cause $1,000 (worth of) damage in a crash."

All collisions that face these circumstances must be reported to the Police Reporting Centre on Brydges Street. O'Brien warned that in the case of a crash, "before you get out, make sure it's safe to do so — you wouldn't want to jump out of your car and get hit by another car."

He said the first thing to do when a collision occurs is to get out of the car and ensure nobody is hurt. If there are injuries to a driver, passenger or pedestrian, 9-1-1 should be dialed immediately so police can report to the scene.

If there are no injuries, the drivers can meet with each other. "Oftentimes what happens is they have a quick conversation and say, "Let's pull around the corner … and everyone jumps in the car,'" said O'Brien. "Very often, believe it or not, one of those people doesn't follow through with their promise to meet you and they take off."

Make sure to always introduce yourself and obtain their license plate number at minimum before meeting around the corner. O'Brien suggested to take a picture with your cellphone or keep a pen and paper handy in your glovebox to document the license plate number. "The last thing you want to do is say, "Let's pull over into that gas station lot,' you pull over, and they just keep driving by," said O'Brien. "Then you come and report that crash and you're asked who the other person was, you have no idea and you have no information that would lead the police to find them. Whereas, if you had the license plate at least then (police) could do an investigation."

If a driver chooses not to report a collision even when the damage is over $1,000, "you run the risk, unfortunately, of entering into an agreement with (the other person involved) … If they don't follow through with the promise of paying for (the damage), then you're going to have to go through your insurance to get it paid for," said O'Brien. "They may ask you to come to the police to make a report because the damage amount might be $600 or $700, and then you run the risk of being charged with failing to report a collision."

Of course police know that people don't report collisions or go through insurance every time because "people realize that, after a collision, someone's insurance rates are likely to go up," according to O'Brien.

There are about 10,000 reported collisions each year in London.