What to do after a car accident in California

Some symptoms are not obvious at the roadside or may change over the following days. A collision's appearance cannot tell you whether someone has a concussion, neck injury or other condition. Seek emergency care for urgent symptoms, and arrange medical evaluation when an injury is possible; a clinician, not an insurance deadline, should guide treatment.

Accurate clinical notes can also establish when symptoms arose and what treatment was recommended. An insurer may ask about a gap in care, but delay does not by itself prove that the person was uninjured. Tell the healthcare professional what happened, what you are experiencing and what you do not know; do not exaggerate symptoms to create a stronger claim.

Follow medical advice as appropriate, and tell your care team if appointments, insurance coverage, cost or transportation make the recommended plan difficult to follow. That explanation can matter for both recovery and an accurate claim record.

At the scene, if you are physically able: both vehicles from several angles, the wider intersection or stretch of road, skid marks, debris, traffic controls, the other car's plate, and any damage to property that is not a vehicle.

The one people skip is the wide shot. Close-ups of a crumpled bumper prove there was a crash. A wide photo showing where the vehicles ended up, which lane, how far past the limit line, is what actually helps when somebody later disputes how it happened.

Some things will still be there in six months. Some will not.

Nearby camera footage is a frequent time-sensitive source. Businesses and private cameras have different policies: footage might be kept briefly, longer, or not recorded at all. Record who controls a camera and ask promptly about lawful preservation instead of assuming a standard retention window. If you think a business had a view of the road, note the name and address while you are still there.

Witnesses fade in a different way. People do not forget that they saw a crash, but they stop being findable. A phone number written down at the scene is worth more than a detailed statement you try to collect a month later.

You will get a call, often within a day or two, from the other driver's insurer. They will be pleasant and they will ask how you are doing.

You do not have to give a recorded statement to the other side's insurance company. You also do not have to answer "how are you feeling" with "I'm fine," which is what almost everyone says out of reflex. It is entirely reasonable to say you are still being evaluated and will follow up in writing once you know more.

Be equally careful with anything you are asked to sign. A broad medical authorization can open your entire history rather than the treatment related to this crash. A settlement payment may be conditioned on signing a release. Read the precise scope of any proposed release before accepting it, especially when the extent of an injury or the need for additional treatment is still uncertain.

Medical bills are the easy part because someone else generates the paperwork. The losses people fail to document are the ones with no invoice attached.

Missed shifts and used sick days. The overtime you turned down. The side work you could not take. If you are self-employed, the jobs you turned away. If you are a student, a dropped class or a delayed graduation is a real loss even though no paycheck stopped.

Then the things that are harder to put a number on but matter just as much: the sleep you are not getting, the hobby you have stopped, the help you now need around the house. A short note on your phone every few days is more convincing six months later than trying to reconstruct it from memory.

California uses comparative fault, which means responsibility can be divided rather than assigned entirely to one driver. Being found partly at fault does not end a claim; it reduces what you can recover by your share.

Worth knowing: the insurance adjuster's view of fault is not a legal ruling. It is one company's opinion, usually formed early and from limited information. It can and does change when better evidence turns up.

The general rule in California is two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. That sounds like plenty of time and it disappears quickly once treatment runs long.

The trap is claims involving a government entity, which can include a city vehicle, a public bus, or a dangerous road condition. Those can require a written claim in a matter of months, not years. If any part of your crash involves a public agency, check that deadline immediately rather than assuming the two-year rule protects you.

Not every crash needs a lawyer. If you were not hurt and the property damage is straightforward, you can usually handle it yourself.

It is worth a conversation when any of these are true: the injury needed more than one visit, you are losing income, fault is being disputed, more than two vehicles were involved, a commercial vehicle or rideshare was involved, or the insurer is pushing you toward a quick settlement. Most consultations cost nothing, and the early questions are cheap to ask and expensive to skip.

Start one folder with five things: the collision date and location, the incident or police report number if one exists, original photos, insurance contact information, and a dated description of your symptoms and the care you actually sought. Do not alter photo timestamps or 'improve' descriptions after discussing the event with someone else. An unpolished but accurate record is more useful than a polished narrative that changes over time.

If you discover a nearby camera, note who controls it, which way it points, the collision time and how long the owner says footage may be retained. Asking for preservation is different from being legally entitled to a copy. A lawyer can advise about the appropriate process when the recording may disappear. Create a short list of witnesses with numbers and where they stood, not just a generic statement that other people were nearby.

California DMV guidance describes a separate SR-1 accident-reporting requirement for certain crashes causing injury, death or property damage above the applicable statutory threshold, typically due within ten days for a reportable accident. A police report and an insurance claim are not substitutes for the DMV report when the SR-1 requirement applies. Check the current DMV instructions for your circumstances and confirm whether you must file rather than assuming a responding officer handled it.

The official California Courts personal-injury materials also distinguish the time to bring a lawsuit from the steps involved in handling an insurer's claim. A claim involving a public agency may follow a special, earlier government-claim process. These are three different clocks: evidence preservation, insurance or administrative notice, and court filing.

Maintain a communication log with date, person's name, insurer, claim number, key questions asked and documents requested. Save the original emails and letters. Ask whether an authorization is limited to relevant treatment or covers unrelated medical history, and whether a recorded statement is required under the applicable policy. Duties to cooperate can differ between your own insurer and another driver's carrier; blanket advice that no statement is ever necessary can be wrong.

Before accepting money for either property damage or injury, identify exactly which claims are being released. A release may be broader than the check's description suggests. If your symptoms or treatment plan remain uncertain, understanding the legal consequences of the specific release matters more than trying to pick a settlement number from an online average.

Imagine a driver argues the other car suddenly changed lanes. The early file includes one close-up bumper photograph, while a week later a nearby business confirms it recorded the lane positions. That wide footage, if still retained, could be more useful to the liability dispute than the repair invoice alone. Conversely, if the recording has been overwritten, the parties may be left with incompatible recollections.

Now consider the injury record. The emergency visit documents neck pain, the later records document improvement, and a temporary work restriction explains three missed shifts. Those facts are more informative than assuming the total claim must be large or small because the bumper looked damaged. The example illustrates evidence handling, not a prediction of legal outcome.

First attend to immediate safety, then document. Move away from moving traffic when safe; call emergency services when injuries, fire, danger or other circumstances warrant a response. If a person may have a serious head, neck or spinal injury, avoid moving them except when necessary for immediate safety and follow emergency responders' guidance. A collision scene is not the place to negotiate fault or make a medical diagnosis.

Record the location precisely: nearest intersection, direction of travel, lane, traffic controls, weather, and approximate time. Exchange identifying and insurance information as required; if a person cannot do so because of injury or a dangerous situation, explain that accurately when speaking to responders. Where available, record vehicle plate numbers, owners and the insurer's policy and claim identifiers. Photograph the scene only if doing so does not create danger or interfere with emergency care.

Keep an original set of photographs and videos. If you later draw on an image to explain an intersection, save the annotated copy separately. The difference matters: an original image contains context and metadata that can be lost through cropping, filters or messaging apps.

California DMV states that the driver, insurance agent, broker or legal representative must submit an SR-1 within ten days when anyone was injured or killed or when the collision caused more than $1,000 in property damage. A report to police, CHP or an insurer does not take the place of an SR-1 where the rule applies. The amount is a reporting threshold, not a determination of fault or of how valuable the claim may be.

The DMV's official SR-1 page explains the form and information needed. If it is unclear whether an injury or property-damage threshold has been reached, check current DMV instructions immediately rather than waiting for the other driver to report. The crash report number and DMV SR-1 are separate records: label them separately in your case folder.

Start by identifying the responsible parties and the actual policies; do not assume there is only one insurance company. The California Department of Insurance explains that standard private-passenger minimum liability limits increased in 2025 to $30,000 for bodily injury to one person, $60,000 for an accident involving multiple injuries, and $15,000 for property damage. Those figures are minimum limits for standard policies, not the amount payable for every collision, and special insurance programs and policy circumstances may differ.

Ask the insurer which coverage is being evaluated: at-fault driver's liability, your collision or other vehicle coverage, optional medical payments, or your uninsured/underinsured motorist protection where purchased and applicable. Separate the property-damage adjuster from the bodily-injury adjuster when different people handle them. The correct notice and cooperation obligations depend on the policy and on whether the insurer is yours or someone else's.

Use four labeled groups. Accident evidence: unedited photographs, report numbers, witnesses, scene notes, dashcam files and identifying vehicle information. Medical chronology: visit dates, diagnoses, referrals, provider names, restrictions and what the clinician actually said. Financial impact: invoices, receipts, missed work shifts, employer correspondence, transportation expenses and household help. Insurance correspondence: policy excerpts, claim numbers, letters, authorization requests, adjuster contact information and any proposed release.

For every document, record where it came from and the date obtained. A short dated timeline may reveal unanswered questions: who controlled the traffic signal, whether a nearby business retained video, which insurer acknowledged the claim, or which work restriction has not yet been documented. Do not fill the gaps with confident guesses. Mark unknowns as unknown so they can be investigated.

Does a police report prove fault? No. A report may contain important factual observations, witness accounts and diagrams, but its conclusions do not necessarily determine civil negligence. Test the reported narrative against photographs, timestamps and direct witness observations.

Can you fix the car before resolving the injury claim? Repairs may proceed on a separate track, but preserve photographs, estimates and relevant physical evidence first. Read any vehicle-related settlement language carefully: do not assume a property-damage payment is always limited to property damage.

Does a pending insurance claim extend the lawsuit deadline? Ordinarily not. California Courts describes a general two-year filing period for personal injury actions, with important exceptions; claims involving public entities often have a substantially earlier administrative claim process. Have the deadline calculated from the actual accident facts before extended negotiations consume the available time.

What if you notice symptoms later? Seek medical advice appropriate to the symptoms and describe the timeline accurately. A delayed report is not the same as proof that the crash caused an injury; medical evaluation, other possible causes and the full record still matter.

California DMV's Report of Traffic Accident (SR-1) explains the ten-day report rule and $1,000 property-damage threshold. California Department of Insurance's Automobile Insurance Guide explains liability, medical payments and uninsured-motorist coverage and the current standard minimum limits. California Courts' personal-injury and statute-of-limitations pages explain who may be liable and why a lawsuit deadline differs from an insurance negotiation. Read these original agency materials alongside the guide's sources panel, not an unverified settlement-duration chart.

These steps are general information. Local circumstances, policy language, medical findings and public-agency involvement can change the best next action.