Car accidents can take many forms, from a "fender-bender" with only minor vehicle damage, to a multiple-vehicle accident resulting in serious car accident injuries, even death.
If you drive a car, it’s important to understand what to do after a car accident—both immediately and in the longer term—to ensure that your well-being and your legal rights are protected (especially if you end up filing a car insurance claim).
What To Do Immediately After a Car Accident
Even the most minor of accidents can cause major stress. It’s important to stay as calm as possible, and follow a few key steps.
Follow Your Legal Obligations At the Car Accident Scene
In every state, drivers are required to stop at the scene any time they're involved in an accident, and exchange certain information (including their contacts, driver’s license, and insurance details) with the other driver and anyone else involved in the accident.
Get Witness Information
If anyone witnessed any part of the accident and is willing to stop and talk with you, make sure you get their contact information as well.
Get Medical Attention After the Car Accident
If you feel even the slightest inkling of injury, get medical attention as soon as possible. Pay particular attention to your neck and back, watching for any pain, stiffness, or just the sense that something is “off.” Car accident injuries are notorious for being late-appearing, meaning you may not be aware of them right away.
Take Pictures At the Car Accident Scene
At the scene, use your phone camera to take pictures of anything that might be relevant to how the car accident happened and who might be at fault for the crash, including:
- the vehicles, before they are moved, to show their positions on the roadway
- the damage to both vehicles
- injuries that can be shown on a photo, such as a bruise or a cut
- skid marks
- vehicle debris on the road, and
- conditions that contributed to the accident, such as an obscured traffic sign.
Collecting Information At the Car Accident Scene
While you're still at the scene, try to gather and write down information about:
- the vehicles involved in the accident (plate numbers, make and model)
- the drivers involved (full name and contact info, driver's license number, insurance carrier and policy number)
- the collision (details as to how it happened)
- vehicle damage
- passengers and witnesses (names and contact information)
- the accident scene and conditions
- injuries (your own, and anyone else's)
- police information (names and badge numbers of responding officers)
- ambulance information, and
- towing information.
Gathering Additional Car Accident Evidence
In the days and weeks after the accident, and especially if an injury or vehicle damage claim is made after an accident—whether in the form of a car insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit—documentation will become crucial, especially on issues of fault for the accident, and the extent (and dollar cost) of injuries and other losses.
Here are some records to gather and prepare:
- Vehicle damage inspection reports, repair estimates, valuations, and invoices for work done.
- Any police report generated in connection with the accident, if law enforcement came to the scene.
- All records related to any injuries and medical care you received in connection with the accident, including medical bills and treatment records (you’ll need to request these) from emergency medical services, the ER, your own physician, specialists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and other health care professionals.
- A journal in which you record your recollections about the accident itself, your injuries (including the impact they're having on your emotional health and your daily activities) and any other effects of the accident.
- Employment and income-related records that document your earnings as well as the amount of time you have missed at work because of your injuries, physical limitations, and doctor appointments.
Talking to the Car Insurance Company After a Car Accident
It’s sometimes a good idea to contact your car insurance company right at the scene of the accident. In any event (and as we touched on earlier) you’re most likely contractually obligated—in the fine print of your policy, in other words—to report any incident that could trigger a claim under the policy "promptly" or within a "reasonable time." Learn more about contacting your car insurance company after a car accident.
No matter how minor a car accident appears to be, and how tempting it might be to sidestep the insurance process altogether, it’s wise to report any crash to your car insurance company. You never know if:
- you'll end up experiencing late-appearing injuries
- your vehicle is damaged much worse than you initially thought, or
- the other driver will decide to escalate things by suing you over the accident (despite what you promised one another at the scene).
If any of those things happen, and it’s now a month or more after the accident, you may run into trouble when you do finally tell your insurance company about the accident.
Do I Have to Talk to the Other Driver's Car Insurance Company After an Accident?
The answer here is usually no, unless you're filing a claim directly with the other driver's insurance company (called a "third party" car insurance claim). Learn more about talking to the other driver's car insurance company after an accident.
Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer?
The steps you take immediately after a car accident—and soon afterward—can be crucial to protecting your options when it comes to making an injury claim. And if you decide to move forward with a claim, having an experienced legal professional on your side can be crucial to putting your best case together and getting a fair result. Learn more about when you might need a lawyer for a car accident case and get in-depth information on working with a personal injury lawyer.