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Collisions and Incidents Involving State Vehicles

PPD-0404

Regulations concerning the actions to be taken when there is a collision or similar incident involving vehicles owned or leased by the State are determined by the State Police.  Specific details are available from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Department of Facilities Management.

The following are the actions generally required in the event of a collision or similar incident involving a vehicle owned or leased by the State.  Much of this information is presented on the “When You Have An Accident” card which is in the glove compartment of every state vehicle.

  1. Take whatever actions are necessary to assure the safety of all parties and contact local Emergency Services to dispatch an ambulance or fire apparatus if there is any chance they might be needed.
  2. Notify the Vehicle Management Control Center (VMCC) at 1-866-857-6866.
  • The VMCC will contact the Virginia State Police (VSP). All Accidents involving a state vehicle are required to be investigated by the VSP.
  • The VMCC will dispatch a towing service to pick up your vehicle if it is not drivable.
  • If incident is local to VIMS, Facilities Management may be able to help.
  1. If the collision or incident occurs in areas under the jurisdiction of any Virginia university or college, notify the Campus Police for that institution.
  2. Complete the Accident Forms found in the “If You Have An Accident” envelope and contact the VIMS Risk Manager.
  3. Inform the VIMS Department of Facilities Management as soon as possible. The staff in Facilities Management may be able to provide assistance and can coordinate impacted reservations for impacted pool vehicles.
  4. Upon return to VIMS, notify your supervisor and department head.
  5. Inform Facilities Management whether or not you were issued a summons (ticket) for the incident and the final disposition of any court action.

As required by state regulation, the circumstances of the collision or incident will be presented to the Institute’s Accident Review Committee.  The members of the Accident Review Committee are appointed by the Dean and Director of VIMS.

In those cases where it is determined that the cause of the collision or incident involving the state vehicle was due to the negligence or gross negligence on the part of the driver, one of the following may apply:

  1. In the case of negligence on the part of the VIMS staff member driving either a vehicle owned by VIMS or the State, they will require the driver to pay the first $100 beyond anything covered by insurance of the cost of vehicle repairs; the driver’s administrative department at VIMS may be required to bear the remainder of the costs repair.
  2. In the case of negligence on the part of the VIMS staff member driving a vehicle owned by VIMS, at the discretion of the Dean and Director of VIMS, with the advice of the Accident Review Committee, appropriate charges under the employee Standards of Conduct may be placed against the employee. The driver’s administrative department at VIMS may be required to bear the costs of the insurance deductible for repairing the vehicle.
  3. In the case of negligence on the part of the VIMS staff member driving a vehicle from the state motor pool (central garage), at the discretion of the appropriate charges under the employee Standards of Conduct may be placed against the employee and the driver’s administrative department at VIMS may be required to bear the costs of repair of the vehicle.
  4. In the case of negligence on the part of the VIMS staff member driving a vehicle involved in a collision or other incident, upon recommendation of the Accident Review Committee, the Dean and Director of VIMS may ban the staff member from operating any VIMS vehicle. Such a ban might be permanent, might be for a specific period, or might continue until some action, such as successful completion of a driver improvement course, is accomplished.