Car Accident Checklist to Print: CA, TX, WA

The short version

At the scene: get safe, call 911 if anyone is hurt, stay, trade information, take photographs, get witnesses’ names.
The same day: see a doctor, write down what you remember, start one folder.
The first week: make any report the state requires, tell your own insurer, keep every bill.
A small crash can still carry a duty to report. The tests differ by state and are in the last part.
To print, use your browser’s print command. The page prints without the menus.

At the scene

Nothing in this list is law. It is the order people find useful.

Get to a safe place
Move out of traffic if you can. Turn on your hazard lights.
Call 911 if anyone is hurt
Tell the dispatcher where you are and how many people are hurt.
Stay at the scene
Do not drive off before information has been traded and anyone hurt has help.
Trade information
Name, address, driver’s license number, plate number, insurance company and policy number. This site has a page on what each state’s law lists.
Take photographs
Each vehicle and its plate, the damage, the whole scene, signals and signs, the other driver’s license and insurance card.
Get the names of witnesses
A name and a phone number is enough.
If an officer comes, ask for the report number
Ask which agency the officer works for.

The same day

Nothing in this list is law either.

See a doctor, even if you feel mostly fine. Some injuries take hours or days to show.
Write down what you remember: the time, the place, the weather, what you saw and heard.
Start one folder for everything: photos, the report number, claim numbers, bills and receipts.
Leave the vehicle as it is until it has been photographed.

The first week

This list is practical too. The reports it mentions are the ones in the last part of this page.

Make any report your state requires. The deadlines are counted in hours or days.
Tell your own insurance company the basic facts: when, where and who was involved.
When an insurance company calls, ask which company it is and whether the call is recorded.
Keep track of missed work and of what you spend.
Go to your follow up appointments and keep the paperwork from each one.

A minor crash: what still applies

People call a small crash a fender bender. The statutes do not use that word. They use tests: whether anyone was hurt, how much damage there was, and whether a vehicle can still be driven. Those tests can be met by a crash that looks small.

The tests each state’s reporting rules use. As read on October 4, 2026.
California	Texas	Washington
California The driver must report an accident to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was injured or killed, or if the damage to any one person’s property was over $1,000. Cal. Veh. Code § 16000, subd. (a) When an accident injures or kills anyone, the driver must make a written report within 24 hours to the California Highway Patrol or the city police. Cal. Veh. Code § 20008, subd. (a)	Texas The operator of a vehicle must give notice of a collision immediately when it injures or kills a person, or damages a vehicle so much that it cannot be normally and safely driven. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026(a) An officer who investigates a collision that caused an injury, a death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to any one person’s property must write a report. That duty is the officer’s. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.062(a), (b)	Washington Unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report, the driver must make a written report within four days when an accident injures or kills anyone, or when the apparent damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more. RCW 46.52.030(1); WAC 446-85-010

This page has no verified rule, in any of the three states, that requires a report to the police after every crash. The rules above are the ones it found.

The lists at the top of this page apply to a small crash as they do to a large one. An injury that shows up the next day is still an injury.

This page gives the rules as they are written. It does not say how they apply to your crash. If you were hurt in a crash someone else caused, the firm can tell you whether it can help: 800-411-9049.

Questions and answers

What is the procedure after a fender bender?

The same list as after any crash: get safe, call 911 if anyone is hurt, stay, trade information, take photographs and get witnesses’ names. Whether a report is required depends on the state’s tests, such as an injury, the amount of damage, or a vehicle that cannot be driven. Those tests were read on October 4, 2026.

Do I have to report a minor car accident in California?

A California driver must report an accident to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was injured or killed, or if the damage to any one person’s property was over $1,000. When anyone is injured or killed, a written report to the California Highway Patrol or the city police is due within 24 hours.

Do I have to report a minor car accident in Texas?

A Texas operator must give notice of a collision immediately when it injures or kills a person, or damages a vehicle so much that it cannot be normally and safely driven. This page has no verified rule that requires a report to the police after every crash.

Do I have to report a minor car accident in Washington?

Unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report, a Washington driver must make a written report within four days when an accident injures or kills anyone, or when the apparent damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more.

Can I print this checklist?

Yes. Use your browser’s print command. The page prints without the menus, and you can save it as a PDF from the same dialog.

Sources

Primary sources for the rules on this page. Checked on October 4, 2026.

California

Texas

Washington

RCW 46.52.030(1); WAC 446-85-010

This site gives general legal information. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. Deadlines depend on the facts. Some are much shorter than the general rule. Do not rely on this page to decide how long you can wait.