In order to be an organ donor, you have to be declared brain dead by 2 doctor's. You will be on a ventilator to keep your organs functioning. If you were to die in a car accident then you will not be a organ donor. You could possibly still donate bone, skin, eyes but no organs. You will be kept alive by the ventilator on your way to the OR. They will then take your organs out, biopsy them, make sure they are suitable. When they cross clamp your heart, that's when you are cardiac dead, remember you are already brain dead at this point. In some cases they will do a rapid recovery if you cardiac die, but in these cases you will not be donating too many organs. Your family will have to go through a lot of questions and the organ procurement organization (these are the ones that procure the organs) will run a lot of tests on you and your body to make sure you are suitable. Your family may want to donate everything but once they actually get you into the OR and inspect your organs, they may decide they are not that suitable and not use them for transplant. In our area if you are a registered donor, that's good, but our organ people will still ask the family for permission. If you do indeed want to donate, you need to let your family know and make them understand how important it is to you, because ultimately it will be up to them.