How are you at cleaning your car? Not the exterior, but the stuff you accumulate inside.

Napkins, lip balm, plastic utensils and straws, wipes, tissues, sanitizer, cloth shopping bags, small ice scraper, a miniature umbrella, loose change for tolls, phone chargers, first aid items – all those things it is good to have on hand, just in case. You stick some in the glove compartment. Maybe there are a couple of other places to put things when you run out of room in the dashboard. Sometimes you forget what is in there, as I discovered this week.

I don’t remember the last time I cleaned out the storage space between the front seats of our car. (In my defence, I also don’t remember the last time I put anything there.)

So a purge was long overdue. At the very bottom of the storage area I found this accident record kit. It bore a dealer’s logo, which indicates it is more than 10 years old – the dealership changed its name before I bought the car in 2016. It has been sitting there unused all this time.

That is a good thing. It means I haven’t had an accident in the past decade and didn’t need to use it. But how times have changed!

The measuring tape, pencil, crayon and the forms are still useful. Diagramming the accident is something I might not have thought of doing. And the sheet to take witnesses names and numbers (and other pertinent information) is a good idea.. But a disposable film camera?

It is a reminder of just how much has changed in a short period. Pretty much everyone today carries a digital camera in their pocket or purse. Any information you would need you would record on the same phone that you used to take the pictures. Instant information at your fingertips, and so easy to share with whomever needs it.

I’m not sure what I should do with this now. It seems silly to put it back in the vehicle. But I probably will, without the camera. Just in case.

It is easy to get flustered after an accident. Having a template to help deal with it seems like a good idea – even if it is on that obsolete medium known as paper.