If you are in a crash: the first ten minutes, and the ten days after
A collision is the moment when most drivers discover what they have never practised. The steps below are the ordinary, universal ones. Your state adds details, especially reporting thresholds and requirements about moving vehicles, so treat this as a structure and check your own handbook for the specifics.
The first ten minutes
- Stop. Leaving the scene of a collision involving injury or damage is a serious offence in every state, and "I panicked" is not a defence that exists.
- Make the scene safe. Hazard lights on. If the vehicles are drivable and the law in your state allows it, move them out of the travel lanes, because a second collision at the same spot is a real and common danger. If someone is injured or the vehicles cannot move, leave them and keep yourself out of the traffic stream.
- Check on people. Ask whether anyone is hurt, and call emergency services if the answer is yes, if anyone is unresponsive, or if you are unsure. Injuries do not always announce themselves; adrenaline is a powerful anaesthetic.
- Call the police for any collision with injury, any collision involving an uninsured or hit-and-run driver, and generally whenever the damage is more than trivial.
- Exchange information. Names, addresses, phone numbers, licence numbers, plate numbers, insurance company and policy numbers, and the vehicle details for everyone involved, including passengers who may be witnesses.
- Do not argue about fault. Nothing you say at the roadside changes the outcome, and it can be used later. Give the facts to the officer and to your insurer, and leave conclusions to them.
Collect what you can not reconstruct later
- Photographs: the position of the vehicles before anything is moved, damage from several angles, the road surface, skid marks, signs and signals, and the general layout.
- Witnesses: names and contact details, taken at the scene, because people leave.
- Conditions: weather, light, and anything about the road that might matter, such as a missing sign or standing water.
- The police report number. Ask how to obtain the report, and note the officer's name and agency.
If the other driver leaves
An unattended collision with a parked car follows the same logic in miniature: leave a note with your details, and report it. Driving away from damage you caused, even damage to an empty car in a car park, is the offence of leaving the scene, and the fact that nobody was around does not change it.
The ten days after
- See a doctor if anything hurts, or if you feel dizzy, foggy or unusually tired. Soft tissue injuries commonly present a day or two later, and early documentation matters to both your health and any claim.
- Notify your insurer promptly. Policies generally require prompt notice, and delay is the most common self-inflicted problem in a claim. Your insurer also handles the interactions with the other side's insurer, which is a conversation you do not need to have alone.
- Report to the state if required. Many states require a separate crash report when damage or injury passes a threshold, and some require it within a short window. Not reporting can cost you your licence even when the collision was not your fault.
- Keep everything. The report number, photographs, medical records, repair estimates, and a simple diary of what happened and when. Claims are decided on documents rather than memory.
- Be careful with quick offers. An early settlement offer, especially one made before you know the extent of an injury, is rarely in your interest, and understand what you are signing before you sign it.
What the test asks about this
Knowledge tests keep to the parts that are settled: stop, help, exchange information, report, and never leave the scene. A common question describes a driver who thinks no one saw the accident and asks what the driver must do, and the answer is always the same one that a bystander would hope for.
RoadCite is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with any DMV or government agency. Reporting thresholds, deadlines and legal duties are state-specific; confirm with your own handbook and, where the advice matters to you, with a qualified professional.
Written for this site · no handbook text is copied; every claim is checked against the official rule it names. Report a mistake.