First Steps After Being Injured in a Car Accident

Attorney Answer

Your next step is medical and documentary, not legal. Get properly evaluated, tell your own insurer, and preserve the record of how the crash happened. Those three things protect a claim whatever it later turns out to be worth, and they get harder to do every week you wait.

Here is the framework the rest of it sits in. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) provides: "Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself." California is a fault state: whoever failed to use ordinary care pays for the harm that follows. Cal. Civ. Code § 3333 then measures that as the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused, whether or not it could have been anticipated — treatment, lost earnings, and the other losses you can prove.

If you are worried that some of this was your fault, know that California uses pure comparative fault. Your share reduces what you recover in proportion to it, and it does not bar the claim, even when your share is the larger one. The California Supreme Court applied and reaffirmed that system in Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal. 3d 725 (1978). This is why it is a mistake to decide you have no claim before anyone has looked at the facts.

Two practical points about insurance. For a crash in 2023, the minimum liability coverage a California driver was required to carry under Cal. Veh. Code § 16056(a) was $15,000 for one person's injuries, $30,000 per accident and $5,000 for property damage — those minimums rose to $30,000, $60,000 and $15,000 only for accidents on or after January 1, 2025. Minimum limits run out quickly against a real injury, which is why your own policy matters: Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(a)(1) requires that bodily injury liability policies issued in California include uninsured motorist coverage unless it has been deleted in the manner the statute allows. Check whether yours has it.

Insurers also work to deadlines. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(e), an insurer must acknowledge a claim, provide the necessary forms and assistance, and begin any necessary investigation within fifteen calendar days of notice. Under § 2695.7(b) it must accept or deny the claim, in whole or in part, within forty calendar days of receiving proof of claim, and under § 2695.7(h) it must tender payment within thirty calendar days of accepting it.

What you can do

1. Get examined now, even if you felt able to walk away. Neck, back and head symptoms commonly surface days later, and a gap in treatment becomes an argument that nothing was wrong.

2. Report the crash to your own insurer promptly. Most policies require it, and late notice creates a problem of its own.

3. Get the police report number, and request a copy once it is available.

4. Preserve the record: photographs of both vehicles, the scene and your visible injuries; the other driver's insurance and contact details; and the names of any witnesses.

5. Keep a file of every bill, receipt, and day of missed work.

6. Speak with a local attorney before you give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, and before you sign any release or accept any early payment.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. An injury claim in California runs on Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1: "Within two years: An action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another." A claim for damage to your vehicle gets the longer three years of Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) — people miss the shorter one. And if a city, county, state or transit vehicle was involved, Cal. Gov't Code § 911.2(a) generally requires a written claim within six months of accrual. When each period started depends on your facts, so have a local attorney check the dates rather than counting them yourself. Separate from any claim deadline, California requires a driver involved in the crash to report it to the DMV on form SR-1 within 10 days when anyone is hurt — or when any one person's property damage exceeds $1,000 — regardless of fault, and whether or not police attended (Cal. Veh. Code § 16000(a)). If that report was never filed, raise it with your lawyer or the DMV now, because an unfiled report can lead to license suspension.