The First Hour

Adrenaline makes people skip steps. This is the order worth following, and the items in it are the ones that cause problems when they're missed.

1. Safety, then hazards

Injuries first. Move vehicles out of traffic if they're driveable and it's safe to do so; hazard lights on either way.

2. Call for help if anyone is hurt

If there's any injury, that call comes before anything on this list.

3. Exchange the required information

California's Vehicle Code section 16025 requires drivers involved in an accident to exchange their name and current residence address, driver's license number, vehicle registration number, and — if they aren't the vehicle's owner — the owner's name and address. Evidence of financial responsibility, meaning your insurance information, is part of that exchange. Get theirs, give yours.

4. Do not leave

Leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage or injury is a criminal matter under Vehicle Code sections 20002 and 20003, not a civil inconvenience. Even for a parked car you clipped, the code requires you to locate the owner or leave a written note with your details.

5. Photograph more than you think you need

Both vehicles from several angles, the wider scene, positions, road conditions, signs and signals, license plates, and the other driver's insurance card and license. Photos age well; memories don't.

6. Get witness contact details

Names and phone numbers. Witnesses disperse quickly and are difficult to find later.

7. Be careful with fault

Be civil, check on people, exchange what's required — but resist narrating blame at the roadside. Fault is determined from evidence afterwards, and an apology under stress isn't evidence of anything except decency.

8. Call your insurer

Then the twenty-four hours after

The first hour is about safety and evidence. The next day is about memory and paperwork, and it matters more than people expect.

• Write your own account while it is fresh — direction of travel, speed, lane, signals, weather, light, what you saw first. Date it. Memory degrades fast and this becomes the version you rely on months later.
• Get seen if anything hurts. Delayed symptoms are common, and a gap between the crash and the first medical visit is the most commonly attacked feature of any injury claim.
• Chase cameras now, not next week. Businesses, doorbells and parking structures often overwrite footage within days.
• Start a folder with the claim number, the adjuster's direct line and every document. One place, from the beginning.

Report it even if you're unsure whether you'll file. Reporting is not the same as claiming, and late reporting causes more problems than early reporting. If we placed your policy, call us and we'll walk it with you.