What should you do after a car crash?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a concise list of the items you should obtain after a car crash.

First, right after the accident, be safe! If you and your passenger(s) are ok, then you may want to safely exit your vehicle and check on the other driver(s) that were also in the accident. You should always ask if they are OK, and if someone is injured, then you should contact your local authorities and follow their instructions while they dispatch help to your location. In the United States, that number for the local authorities is 911, but only use in an emergency situation.

If it is safe to do so, you and the other parties involved should move your vehicles off to the side of the road so that traffic can resume flowing. Always be careful walking around while traffic goes by. You were just in an accident; you do not want to be in another one.

You should always try to ask for the following information at the scene from the other party after your car accident:

1. Name, address, phone number(s) and email address of the other party or parties involved in the car accident.

2. The driver’s license number of the other party involved. I’m also going to add, now that most people have their mobile phones on them at all times, snap a picture of the license plate as soon as you are able to. Don’t go out of your way to show that is what you are doing, I’m always going to recommend that you go out of your way to stay calm and avoid confrontation while you are in this situation. But just in case the other driver jumps back in their car and speeds away before you are able to exchange information with that person (which is the law), you will have a readable picture of their license plate. You can turn that over to the police for hit and run, and you can send it to your insurance company as well to assist in their representative’s pursuit of subrogation and recovery of your deductible if possible. In many states, the insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver. So even if the driver did not have a driver’s license or there was something else weird about the situation, the vehicle insurance may still apply to you anyway if the other party is at fault for the accident. Plus, if you were injured, having the license plate of the vehicle driven by the one that may have caused your injuries comes into play later on in the claims process.

3. The license plate number of the vehicle (and the Vehicle Identification Number or “VIN” if possible), but don’t worry too much about the VIN because it should show up on a DMV search of the license plate). If you cannot get any other piece of information, get the license plate number. Most Important! Your insurance can run it to see who the owner is, and in some cases, who insures the vehicle.

4. The Year/Make/Model of the other vehicle in the car accident. If the driver doesn’t know this and doesn’t give you their registration which shows this information, then you can take a picture of the car manufacture’s emblems, the name of the model usually displayed on the car somewhere, and with their permission, you can take a picture of the sticker on the inside of the driver’s door which has the name of the manufacturer, the date that the vehicle was produced at the factory, and the VIN. Sometimes this sticker has been removed, but in most cases it should be there.

5. The other party’s or parties’ insurance company(ies), including the policy number(s) and claims reporting phone number. If the other driver is driving someone else’s vehicle, you should get the insurance information for the vehicle first, and then get it for the driver if they have their own insurance. In most states, the insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver. However, the driver’s information comes in handy if for some reason the coverage for the vehicle is denied for this car accident by the adverse (other party’s) insurance company. In that situation the driver’s insurance coverage may kick in as secondary coverage. Even if the insurance card is expired, take that information down anyway, the new car may have not been placed in the car yet by the owner, but the other information on that card may remain the same.

6. If there were witnesses, get their contact information including their name, address, phone number(s) and email address so that your insurance company can contact them to secure a statement as part of the liability investigation as to how the accident occurred.

-In some states, the police will not respond to a non-injury car accident, yet in other states you are required to call the police immediately after an accident whether there were injuries or not. Also in my home state, we have what is referred to as “Cold Reporting” or “Accident Alert,” and this occurs when there is severe weather. In this situation, if there are no injuries or no drugs/alcohol involved in the car accident, then you are to exchange information with the other party or parties and contact the police department to file a counter report within a certain time limit to satisfy your reporting requirement. I suggest to people that they call the police right after the car accident and see if the officer is going to come out or not to write the police report.

• If the vehicles are still operable, move the vehicles over to the side of the road out of the way of traffic, and in such a way that you and the other party will be safe from the traffic. If one of the vehicles is not safe to drive, call your insurance company and ask them what to do from the scene of the accident, or call the police and report that one or both of the vehicles is not safe to drive. The police can contact a tow truck company that will assist you in getting the vehicle out of the road.
• You will need to exchange information with the other party. Before that, I suggest the first thing you do is obtain the other party’s license plate number (reiterating this from above because this can be vital on how your insurance claim goes). If you forget to obtain all of the other party’s information, at least your insurance company, or perhaps the police will be able to run the license plate and obtain the owner’s information which is always useful for the recovery process. Most insurance companies have access to databases that can even find the insurance company that insures the other party’s vehicle if you are able to give your claims adjuster the license plate of the other vehicle involved.
• You should avoid confrontations with the other party and do not sign any statement that the other party is asking you to complete. Just politely tell the other party you will report the car accident to your insurance company and he or she can deal with them.
• Since most everyone has a cell phone with a camera, feel free to take pictures of the damage to both of the vehicles and the scene of the accident. You should be able to e-mail these pictures later to your insurance company which can be used in the liability investigation of the accident.
• After you have exchanged information with the other party and finished with the police officer that responded to the car accident, and if the vehicle is drivable, you should go to a secure location and contact your insurance company to report the accident. If the police respond to the accident, make sure you get the case number or event number of the police report so you can give that to your insurance company.

Your insurance company will tell you the next steps and/or set up services for you depending on the coverage you carry on your automobile policy.

Here is a concise list of the items you should obtain from all parties involved after a car crash.

1. Call 911 immediately to report injuries or if you suspect alcohol or drugs were involved.
2. Name, address and phone number(s) of all parties involved in the car accident.
3. The driver’s license number of the other parties involved.
4. The license plate number of the vehicle(s) and the VIN if possible.
5. The Year/Make/Model of the other vehicle(s) in the car accident.
6. The other party’s or parties’ (each person’s may be needed so this is the best time to obtain) insurance company, including the policy number, claims contact phone number.
7. Police report case number if a police report was completed. Get the officer’s name and identification number as well.
8. If there were witnesses, get their contact information including their name, address, phone number(s) and email address.
9. Take photos of the damage, of the scene of the accident and remember to avoid confrontation.

*I am not an attorney. The information on this site is not legal advice and should not be taken as such by the reader. What I post on here are my opinions based on my experience as an auto claims adjuster.

Thank you for reading this article! Feel free to leave a comment or question in the box below.

-Mr. Helper