Car Accidents Procedures

I have had the misfortune to have had four accidents in Doha in just over a year. However, in my defence I will say that for three of the accidents I was parked and not even in the car! The other one I was shunted from behind while I was stopped at a junction, however that is all part of the Doha experience!

In an accident you should generally wait for the police who will come and issue red or green tickets to you. If it is red it is your fault and if it is green it is not your fault. However for minor accidents you can go to the police station nearest to the accident and do the paperwork there. The police will want to see your driving licence, insurance policy and maybe your ID/passport.

From my experience when someone hit my car in a car park then drove off without my catching them, I just reported this at the local police station. I was given a from in Arabic to give to the lease company. As the car is leased I had to have a statement from the leasing company to say that they had seen the accident form. I then took this back to the police station and had to wait for one week in case someone owned up to hitting my car. After one week of waiting I then got the red form (as there was no one else to pin the blame on). I then gave the paperwork to the lease company, the damage was repaired but unfortunately I had to pay the insurance excess.

Going to the police station should be the one nearest to the accident. Speaking Arabic is a big advantage too. For two of my accidents I was "lucky" to have had Arabic speakers hitting my car. This made it much easier! Also you need to pay a small fee (I believe it was 20 Riyals or it may have been 15 Riyals) to process the red or green forms. If you are female, then I would suggest you will feel more comfortable with a man with you at the police station.