Car accident in Pakistan: what to do as a passenger or hirer

If you are in a car accident in Pakistan, what to do comes down to four jobs in a fixed order: get everyone out of the traffic line, call for help on 1122 if anyone is hurt, call the police (15 in cities, 130 for the National Highways and Motorway Police on motorways and national highways), and photograph the scene before the vehicles are moved. After that the job splits in two. If you were a passenger in a car with a driver, most of the paperwork belongs to the driver and the operator, and your task is to stay safe, record what you saw and tell the booking platform. If you hired the car to drive yourself, you are the driver in the eyes of the police and the owner, and the reporting duties sit with you.

Most accident guides for Pakistan assume you own the car. This one is for visitors, returning family and anyone in a car with a driver or a self-drive rental.

The decision summary

• Someone injured, trapped or unconscious: call 1122 first. Everything else waits.
• No injuries, vehicles blocking a motorway lane: get people behind the barrier, then call 130.
• No injuries, city street, minor damage: photographs, the other driver’s details, then report to the operator.
• You were a passenger: your driver deals with the other party. You document and message the booking platform.
• You were the self-drive hirer: you report to police and the rental supplier, and follow the supplier’s accident procedure to the letter.
• You are travelling on a UK or other foreign passport: tell your travel insurer early, even if nobody needs a doctor today.

Car accident in Pakistan: what to do in the first five minutes

The first five minutes are about bodies, not bumpers. On an unlit stretch of the GT Road or a motorway at night, the second collision is often worse than the first, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office warns that local driving standards are erratic, especially at night. Assume the traffic behind you has not seen the crash.

1. Hazard lights on, engine off. If the car can still move and nobody is hurt, the driver should pull onto the hard shoulder or verge. If anyone is injured, leave the car where it is unless there is fire or an immediate threat.
2. Get out on the side away from traffic. On a motorway that usually means the left-hand side, then over or behind the crash barrier. Children and elderly passengers go first; luggage stays in the boot.
3. Check for injuries without moving people. Someone complaining of neck or back pain should stay still unless they are in danger where they are.
4. Call 1122 for any injury. Rescue 1122 runs ambulance, fire and rescue services (details in the next section).
5. Warn oncoming traffic. A warning triangle, if the car has one, goes well back from the crash.
6. Do not hand over documents or cash at the roadside. Details are exchanged, not originals. Any settlement discussion waits until the operator or supplier is involved.

Roadside crowds gather fast in towns, and a quick cash offer can look like the easy way out. It rarely is, especially if someone turns out to be hurt later.

Calling Rescue 1122 about a road accident

Rescue 1122 began as a pilot in Lahore in 2004 and became the Punjab Emergency Service under a 2006 provincial Act. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Islamabad have since set up their own 1122 services, and Sindh launched its Sindh Emergency Rescue Service in 2022. The Punjab Emergency Service site lists ambulance, rescue, fire and motorbike rescue among its services, with 1122 as the emergency line. Some directories also list 115 as an ambulance number in Pakistan, but 1122 is the one to remember.

A rescue 1122 road accident call goes faster when the caller has three things ready:

• Where you are, in words a local dispatcher recognises. Motorway name and direction (for example, “M-2, Lahore-bound”), the nearest interchange or service area, and any kilometre marker you can see. In a city, the road name plus a landmark.
• How many people are hurt and how badly. Conscious or not, bleeding or not, trapped or not.
• A phone number that will stay on. Dispatchers call back. If your UK SIM is roaming and patchy, give the driver’s local number too.

If you do not speak Urdu, say “accident” and the location, then hand the phone to your driver or a calm bystander. It is the quickest route to an ambulance.

Keep every hospital receipt, prescription and discharge slip. Your travel insurer will want them, and they are hard to recover from abroad.

Police: 15, 130, and when an FIR for a road accident in Pakistan matters

Pakistan has more than one police force you might meet at a crash scene, and it helps to know which is which.

The numbers above appear in the published list of Pakistan’s emergency numbers, and the Punjab Police website gives 15 as its emergency line. NHMP, formed in 1997 for the new M-2, polices the motorway network and national highways, and its officers are trained to give first aid at the scene. On a motorway they are often the first uniform to arrive.

What an FIR is, and when it is worth insisting on one

A First Information Report is the police document that formally records a report of an offence. For a fender-bender where both drivers agree and nobody is hurt, many people settle without one. For visitors and hirers, the calculation is different. An FIR, or at least a written police report, matters when:

• anyone is injured, however lightly it looks at the time;
• the other driver disputes what happened or leaves the scene;
• the vehicle is badly damaged or cannot be driven;
• you were driving a self-drive hire car, because the owner and their insurer will almost certainly ask for police documentation;
• your travel insurer asks for an official report to process a medical or personal-property claim.

Check your own policy wording rather than assuming; insurers differ on what they accept. In Punjab, the provincial Police Khidmat Markaz portal lists requests for a copy of an FIR among its services, which is useful if you need a copy after you have moved on to another city. Other provinces run their own systems, so ask the station that registered the report how copies are issued.

If you are a passenger, the FIR is normally the driver’s and operator’s business. Your role is to give a witness account if the police ask for one, and to ask for the reference number so your insurer can trace it.

Evidence to capture on your phone

Ten minutes of photographs saves weeks of email. Do this once everyone is safe and before the cars are pushed aside, which in city traffic can happen within minutes.

1. The wide shot. Stand back and photograph both vehicles in position, with the road, lane markings and any signals in frame. Take it from two or three angles.
2. Number plates. Every vehicle involved, front and rear if you can. Zoom in until every character is sharp and readable.
3. The damage. Close-ups of every dent, scrape and broken light, on both cars. Include damage that was there before the crash on your own vehicle; you will want to show it was pre-existing.
4. The other driver’s details. Name, phone number, and a photograph of their licence and the vehicle’s registration document if they will show them. If they refuse, note that too.
5. Witnesses. A name and phone number from anyone who saw it. People leave quickly.
6. Location and time. A screenshot of your map with the pin dropped, and the time. On motorways, photograph the nearest kilometre marker or interchange sign.
7. A short voice note. What happened, in your own words, while it is fresh.

Back everything up to cloud storage the same evening.

Accident in a hired car in Pakistan: passenger or hirer?

This is where most confusion starts. “Hired car” can mean two very different arrangements, and the responsibilities are nothing alike. If you have not yet decided between them, our comparison of self-drive and a car with a driver in Pakistan sets out the wider trade-offs; the accident question is one of the sharper ones.

If you were a passenger

Your driver is the professional at the scene. Let them handle the other driver and the police. What you should do:

• Keep your group together and away from the road.
• Take the photographs anyway; your record may matter if accounts differ later.
• Message the booking platform with a short factual note: time, place, whether anyone is hurt, whether the car can continue.
• Do not agree to pay anything at the scene on the driver’s behalf.

With a chauffeur service in Pakistan arranged through iDrive, the driver and vehicle are provided by an independent partner, and the booking record shows which partner, which driver and which vehicle registration were assigned.

If you hired the car to drive yourself

Here you carry the driver’s duties, and the rental supplier’s accident procedure becomes the document that matters most. Before you collect a self-drive car rental in Pakistan, find out three things and save the answers on your phone:

• the supplier’s 24-hour contact number, and whether they want a call, a WhatsApp message or both;
• what insurance the car carries and what excess, if any, falls on you;
• whether they require a police report for every incident, or only above a certain level of damage.

For UK drivers, the FCDO says you need both the 1968 International Driving Permit and your UK licence with you in the car, and warns that driving without the correct documents can lead to detention. After a crash, do not arrange your own repair or sign anything the other party produces. Report first, then follow the supplier’s instructions.

Getting a replacement vehicle and continuing the trip

A family of five with luggage on a motorway verge needs a plan, not sympathy. A reasonable sequence, as an example rather than a promise of timings:

1. Decide whether the original car can continue. Cosmetic damage may be fine. Warning lights, steering pull, fluid leaks or a damaged wheel mean it stops.
2. Tell the booking platform where you are and what you need. Number of passengers, luggage, child seats, and the final destination. On a motorway, the nearest service area is a far better meeting point than the hard shoulder.
3. Move to a safe waiting place. A service area, a petrol station forecourt or a hotel lobby. Do not wait on the roadside longer than you have to.
4. Check the replacement against the booking record. Driver name, photograph and vehicle registration should match what you are sent. A stranger offering a lift at the scene is not your replacement.
5. Keep appointments honest. If you are heading for a flight, tell the platform the departure time straight away. Replacement options narrow quickly late at night and in smaller towns.

No platform can guarantee a replacement car within a set time on every road in Pakistan. A well-run operator can look for options, tell you honestly how long they may take, and keep a record for any refund or partial-journey questions later. If you are booking through iDrive, reach the team through the iDrive contact page and include your booking reference.

If anyone has a head injury, chest pain or is badly shaken, stop for the night and see a doctor before the next leg.

Insurance: the vehicle’s cover and your own travel policy

Two separate insurance questions follow any crash, and visitors tend to muddle them.

The vehicle’s insurance

This belongs to the owner: the partner who supplied the car with a driver, or the rental supplier. In Pakistan, insurance companies, brokers and surveyors are licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). As a passenger you will rarely deal with the vehicle’s insurer directly. As a self-drive hirer you may, and the supplier should tell you how any claim is lodged and what you are asked to sign. If you believe an insurer has handled a claim unfairly, SECP runs an online complaint portal, SECP XS.

Your travel insurance

This one is yours, and it is the policy that pays for doctors, hospital bills and, in the worst case, getting you home. The FCDO’s position is plain: get appropriate travel insurance that covers your itinerary, activities and emergency expenses. Most policies expect you to call their emergency assistance line before, or as soon as possible after, any significant medical treatment. Do that from the hospital, not from home a week later.

When you call, have ready:

• your policy number and passport details;
• the date, time and place of the accident;
• the hospital or clinic name and a contact number for the treating doctor;
• whether a police report or FIR exists, and its reference number;
• whether you were a passenger or the driver, and, if driving, whether the policy covers you driving abroad.

That last line catches people out: read the driving clause before you pick up a self-drive car, not after.

Where the FCDO advice changes the picture

The FCDO advises against all travel to parts of Pakistan, including Balochistan Province, many districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar city among them), specified sections of the Karakoram Highway and the N45, and areas within 10 miles of the Afghan border. It advises against all but essential travel to further areas, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Sindh north of and including Nawabshah, and Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. The full, current list is on the FCDO Pakistan travel advice page, and it changes, so read it for your own dates.

Two consequences follow for accidents. First, the FCDO warns that your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against its advice. Second, help and replacement vehicles are harder to arrange there. This guide does not suggest leisure travel to any of them.

The FCDO also notes that outside the major motorways road quality is variable, that landslides frequently block or destroy roads, and that some routes in Gilgit-Baltistan, such as the N15 between Chilas and Babusar, are closed at times of year by weather. On mountain roads, expect longer waits for help.

What to set up before the trip starts

What to do after a road accident in Pakistan is much easier if a few things are already on your phone. Treat this as a fifteen-minute job the night before you land or collect the car.

• Save the numbers: 1122, 15, 130, your booking platform’s contact, your rental supplier’s 24-hour line, and your travel insurer’s emergency line.
• Save the booking record offline: a screenshot of the driver’s name, photograph and vehicle registration, or the rental agreement and handover photographs.
• Photograph the car before you set off: for self-drive especially, a walk-round video at collection settles most later arguments about which scratch came first.
• Share your route: send the day’s plan to someone who is not in the car, with the expected arrival time. If you are arranging a ride for relatives landing late, our sister service Pakistan Taxi has a practical guide to building a contact plan for a late-night arrival in Pakistan that works just as well for road days.
• Carry the documents the police may ask for: passport or CNIC, and for self-drive, your licence and IDP.

If you are planning journeys now, you can start a booking request on iDrive and see which options are available for your route and dates. Every request is confirmed by a partner before it is a booking, and the confirmation carries the driver and vehicle details you will want to hand if anything goes wrong on the road.

Questions people ask

Do I have to call the police after a minor accident in Pakistan?

Not always, but for visitors and self-drive hirers it is usually wise. If anyone is hurt, the other driver disputes events, or you are driving a rental, get police documentation. Your supplier and insurer are likely to ask for it.

What number do I call for a motorway accident?

Call 1122 if anyone is injured and 130 for the National Highways and Motorway Police. Give the motorway name, direction and nearest interchange or kilometre marker.

Who pays for damage if I was only a passenger?

Normally not you. Repair and insurance matters sit with the vehicle owner and driver, subject to your booking terms. Do not agree to pay anything at the roadside.

Will my travel insurance cover an accident in Pakistan?

It depends on the policy. Check the driving and medical sections, call the insurer’s emergency line early, and remember the FCDO warns cover may be invalid if you travel against its advice.