The first five minutes
Stop. Leaving the scene of a collision is a crime in every state, even when the damage looks trivial. Turn on your hazard lights and check yourself and your passengers for injuries. If the cars can be driven and nobody is seriously hurt, move them to the shoulder or a parking lot, which many states require and which prevents the second crash. If anyone is hurt, leave them still unless there is fire or oncoming traffic, and call 911. Call the police as well if the road is blocked, if the other driver seems impaired or has no insurance, or if they try to leave.
What to collect
Your phone does most of this work. Photograph rather than copy wherever you can.
- Get the other driver's name, phone number, driver's license, insurance card and license plate.
- Get the make, model and color of each vehicle, and the owner's name if it is not the driver.
- Photograph all four sides of every car, the close damage, the position of the vehicles, skid marks, traffic signs and the wider intersection.
- Get the names and numbers of witnesses, who will not wait around for long.
- Get the responding officer's name, badge number and the report number.
What not to say
Be polite and say little. Do not apologize, do not admit fault, and do not announce that you are fine, since all three statements can resurface in a claim. Fault gets determined later from the evidence. Decline any offer to settle privately in cash, because hidden damage and late injuries routinely cost several times the handshake figure.
The days after
Notify your own insurer the same day, even if you were plainly not at fault, because most policies require prompt notice. States differ on when a crash must be reported to the police or the motor vehicle agency, usually based on injury or a dollar amount of damage, so check your state agency's website. Adrenaline hides injuries. Neck pain, headaches and stiffness often appear a day or two later, and you should see a doctor when they do and keep every record. You may be contacted by the other driver's insurer, and you are entitled to refer them to your own company instead of giving a recorded statement. You also have the right to choose your own repair shop.
Tip Keep your current insurance card, your registration and a pen in the glove box, and know where they are. Fumbling for documents beside traffic is a bad moment to discover they expired.
