The short version
- At the scene: get to a safe place and call 911 if anyone is hurt. Stay there, trade names, plates and insurance details with the other driver, take photos and write down the names of witnesses. Washington law requires a driver in a crash to stop, give a name, address, insurance company, policy number and license plate, show a driver’s license, and give reasonable help to anyone injured.
- The same day: see a doctor, even if you feel mostly fine, and write down what you remember. One rule is counted in hours. When the other vehicle never touched yours, a claim under underinsured motorist coverage needs evidence beyond your own account, and the crash must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours.
- The first days: unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report, the driver must make a written report within four days after an injury, a death, or $1,000 or more in apparent damage to any one person’s property. The driver’s form is the Motor Vehicle Collision Report. Be careful what you say on a recorded call with an insurance company.
- The first weeks: keep up with your medical care, keep every bill and record in one place, ask for the crash report, and read your own auto policy for coverage you may not know you have.
- Washington’s general deadline to sue for an injury is three years for most injury claims. Some deadlines are much shorter. Before a lawsuit against a city, county or other local government, a tort claim form must be presented to its designated agent, and then 60 calendar days must pass. The form has to be presented within the normal limitation period.
At the scene
Safety comes first. Everything else on this page can wait until people are safe.
The numbered steps on this page are practical. They are not statements of law. Where Washington law sets a duty or a deadline, the rule is set apart under the steps, with its source. The rules were checked against their sources on October 3 and October 4, 2026.
Get to a safe place
Move out of traffic if you can. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, and tell the dispatcher where you are.
Stay at the scene
Do not drive off. The rules under these steps say what Washington law asks of a driver at the scene.
Trade information with the other driver
Write down the name, phone number, license number, plate number, insurance company and policy number. Give your own.
Photograph the scene
Take the whole scene and the details: each vehicle and its plate, the damage, skid marks, signals and signs, and any injury you can see.
Write down the names of witnesses
A name and a phone number is enough. People leave quickly and are hard to find later.
If an officer comes, ask for the report number
Ask which agency the officer works for and how to get a copy of the report.
Say what you saw and did
Leave guesses about who was at fault, and about how badly anyone is hurt, for later.
Washington law sets duties for a driver in a crash.
Duties at the scene. Stop, give your name, address, insurance company, policy number and license plate, show your driver’s license, and give reasonable help to anyone injured. In a crash with only property damage, move the vehicles off the road as soon as you can. Moving them does not affect who is at fault.
RCW 46.52.020The operator of a vehicle that hits an unattended vehicle must stop at once. The operator must find and notify the operator or owner of that vehicle, or leave a written notice in a place in that vehicle where it will be seen, giving the name and address of the operator and of the owner of the vehicle that hit it.
RCW 46.52.010(1)If no one at the scene is in a condition to receive the driver’s information and no police officer is present, the driver must report the accident right away to the nearest police office and give the information there.
RCW 46.52.020(7)These rules are written for drivers. This page has no verified rule on what a passenger, a pedestrian or a person on a bicycle must do at the scene.
If the other driver left, see “The same day” below. This site’s checklist “The first 72 hours after an injury” has steps like these as a list you can tick off and print.
The same day
Once people are safe, the rest of the day is about your health and the record of what happened.
See a doctor, even if you feel mostly fine
Some injuries take hours or days to show. Tell the provider about every part of your body that hurts and how the crash happened, so it is in the record.
Write down what you remember
The time, the place, the weather, what you saw and heard, and what anyone said. Do it today, while it is fresh.
Start one folder for everything
Photos, the report number, claim numbers, the names of adjusters, medical bills and receipts. Paper or on your phone, as long as it is in one place.
Keep the evidence as it is
Do not repair or get rid of the vehicle until it has been photographed. If a store or building camera may have caught the crash, ask in writing that the video be kept.
One Washington rule is counted in hours. It is a condition for insurance, and it applies when the other vehicle never touched yours. Washington’s statute on underinsured motorist coverage calls that a phantom vehicle.
Hit and run and unidentified drivers. When the other vehicle never touched yours (a phantom vehicle), your claim needs evidence beyond your own account, and the crash must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours.
RCW 48.22.030(8)This page has no verified Washington rule on conditions for a hit and run vehicle that did make contact. A policy can carry its own conditions, and no policy was read for this page.
For who must report, to whom and on what form, see this site’s page “Do I have to report a car accident, and to whom?”. For a driver who was never found, see this site’s page “The driver who hit me left and was never found. What now?”.
The first days
In the first days the paperwork starts and insurance companies begin to call.
Make the driver’s report if the rule applies
The rule and the form are under these steps. The deadline is counted in days.
Tell your own insurance company
Give the basic facts: when, where and who was involved.
Find out which company is calling
Two companies may call: your own insurer and the other driver’s insurer. Ask which one is on the line and whether the call is being recorded.
Be careful what you say on a recorded call
Say what you saw and did. Leave out guesses about fault and about how badly you are hurt.
Keep track of missed work and what you spend
The dates you missed, the hours you lost, prescriptions, rides and parking. Keep the receipts in your folder.
One report is counted in days. The statute puts it on the driver, unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report. The form for it is the Motor Vehicle Collision Report.
Unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report, the driver must make a written report within four days after the accident. The duty applies when the accident injures or kills any person, or when the apparent damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more. A State Patrol rule has set the amount at $1,000 since January 1, 2015.
RCW 46.52.030(1); WAC 446-85-010The statute sends the report to the chief of police if the accident was inside a city or town. Outside one, it goes to the county sheriff or the State Patrol.
RCW 46.52.030(1); WAC 446-85-010The driver’s form is the Motor Vehicle Collision Report, State Patrol form 3000-345-161. The State Patrol’s instructions say that if a police officer is present and indicates they will submit a collision report, you are not required to submit one. They also say the report will not be investigated by law enforcement.
Washington State Patrol, form 3000-345-161 (R 3/26), Motor Vehicle Collision Report, instructionsThe State Patrol’s instructions say that any driver, pedestrian, pedal cyclist or property owner involved in a collision in Washington with $1,000 or more in damage to any one unit, or an injury to any person, must complete a Motor Vehicle Collision Report. The statute itself names the driver of a vehicle.
Washington State Patrol, form 3000-345-161 (R 3/26), Motor Vehicle Collision Report, instructions; RCW 46.52.030(1)If the driver is physically incapable of making the report, another occupant of the vehicle who is able to make it must make it or have it made. The statute leaves out a passenger for hire. Once recovered, the driver must make the report.
RCW 46.52.040This page has no verified rule that requires a report to the police after every crash in Washington. It has no verified rule that lets an insurance agent or a lawyer file the driver’s report.
This site’s page “Do I have to report a car accident, and to whom?” has the steps for the Motor Vehicle Collision Report and what the statute says if no report is made.
Then the calls. An adjuster may ask to record your account of what happened. We found no Washington statute or insurance regulation that requires a person to give a recorded statement to another driver’s insurer. That is not a rule that a statement is never required. This site has no verified rule either way. Three Washington rules bear on a recorded call.
It is unlawful to record a private phone call without first obtaining the consent of all the participants.
RCW 9.73.030(1)(a)Consent is treated as obtained when one party announces to everyone on the call, in a reasonably effective way, that the call is about to be recorded. If the call is recorded, that announcement must be recorded too.
RCW 9.73.030(3)A statement is not hearsay when it is offered against a party and is the party’s own statement.
Wash. ER 801(d)(2)In plain terms, what you say to an insurance adjuster can later be offered as evidence against you. That does not mean a statement will be used or admitted in any given case.
Your own insurer is a different matter. Your duties to your own insurer normally come from your policy, and no policy was read for this page. One Washington statute speaks to questions under oath.
If a person makes a claim under a policy of insurance, the insurer may require that the person be examined under oath. This site has not verified whether the statute reaches a person claiming against another driver’s policy, or what happens if a person refuses.
RCW 48.18.460This page has no verified Washington rule on how soon notice of a crash must be given to your own insurer. For more on these calls, see this site’s page “The insurance company wants a recorded statement. What should I know first?”.
The first weeks
By now the urgent steps are done. The weeks after are about your treatment, your records and finding out what insurance applies.
Keep up with your medical care
Go to your follow up appointments, and keep the paperwork from each visit.
Keep every bill and record
Medical bills, receipts, repair estimates, letters from insurance companies and the dates you missed work. Put them in your one folder.
Ask for the crash report
The rules under these steps say where to ask.
Read your own auto policy
Look at the declarations page for underinsured motorist coverage and for personal injury protection (PIP). Ask your insurer what your policy has, and whether a signed rejection exists.
Check whether a government agency was involved
A city, a county, another local government or the State, for example. Those claims have a step of their own before a lawsuit, and it is in the last part of this page.
The crash report is the form the investigating officer fills out. In Washington a copy is requested from the State Patrol.
An officer who investigates a crash that has to be reported must submit an investigator’s report.
RCW 46.52.030(3)Collision reports are requested from the Washington State Patrol through its online system, called WRECR, or by mail. The State Patrol says it does not give out collision information over the phone.
Washington State Patrol, “Collision Reports”This site has not confirmed that every city police or sheriff’s report in Washington can be found in the State Patrol’s system. For the fee, the wait and how to read the report, see this site’s page “How do I get the crash report, and what does it tell me?”. For what the police departments of Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma say, see this site’s page “How do I get a crash report from city police?”.
Next, your own policy. Two kinds of coverage on a person’s own auto policy come up after a crash.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. A new auto policy must include underinsured motorist coverage, which in Washington also covers uninsured, hit and run and phantom vehicles, unless the named insured or spouse rejected it in writing.
RCW 48.22.030No new automobile liability insurance policy, and no renewal of one, may be issued unless personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is offered as an optional coverage. A named insured may reject PIP in writing. After a rejection, the insurer need not include PIP in a supplemental, renewal or replacement policy unless a named insured later asks for it in writing.
RCW 48.22.085(1), (2)The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says buying PIP is your choice, and that by law your insurer must offer it. It says that if you do not reject PIP in writing, your auto insurer will add it to your policy and charge you for it.
Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, “Personal injury protection (PIP)”This page has no verified rule on which coverage pays first. What it has is how the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner describes medical bills after a crash. It is a general description, and it is not a rule of law.
The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner says PIP can help pay medical and hospital costs, and that it applies no matter who is at fault.
Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, “Personal injury protection (PIP)”None of this says what is on your own policy. PIP can be rejected in writing in Washington.
This site’s Washington page, “Washington injury law: the rules that matter”, has the state’s other rules, including the rule on shared fault and what drivers must carry. This site’s page “Is California, Texas or Washington a no fault state?” has more on PIP.
The deadlines for a claim
The reports above are counted in hours and days. The deadlines for a claim are longer. These are Washington’s general rules. This page does not say what your own deadline is, and some deadlines are much shorter than the general rule.
Deadline to sue for an injury. Three years for most injury claims.
RCW 4.16.080(2)Deadline for vehicle and property damage. Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property.
RCW 4.16.080(2)Claims against a government agency. Before suing a city, county or other local government, you must present a tort claim form to its designated agent and then wait 60 calendar days. Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management with the same 60 day wait. The form has to be presented within the normal limitation period, and that period is paused during the 60 days.
RCW 4.96.020; RCW 4.92.100; RCW 4.92.110This page has no verified time limit for a claim under your own policy in Washington. This site’s page “How long do I have to sue after an injury in Washington?” goes through every Washington deadline one at a time.
These are general rules. Exceptions exist, and some deadlines are much shorter. If a child was hurt, see this site’s page “My child was hurt. Who brings the claim, and how long is there?”.
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 intake team can tell you whether the firm can help: 800-411-9049.
Questions and answers
Do I have to call the police after a car accident in Washington?
Washington law requires a written report within four days after an injury, a death, or $1,000 or more in apparent damage to one person’s property, unless an officer is to make a report. If no one at the scene is in a condition to receive the driver’s information and no police officer is present, the driver must report the accident right away to the nearest police office. This page has no verified rule that requires a report to the police after every crash. As a practical step, call 911 if anyone is hurt.
How soon does a car accident have to be reported in Washington?
Unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report, the driver must make a written report within four days after the accident when it injures or kills any person, or when the apparent damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more. The statute sends the report to the chief of police if the accident was inside a city or town, and otherwise to the county sheriff or the State Patrol. A separate rule, for insurance, is counted in hours: when the other vehicle never touched yours, the crash must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours.
Do I have to file a report in Washington if an officer came to the scene?
The statute puts the written report on the driver unless a law enforcement officer is to make a report. The State Patrol’s instructions for the driver’s form, the Motor Vehicle Collision Report, say that if a police officer is present and indicates they will submit a collision report, you are not required to submit one. This page does not say which applies to your crash.
After a crash in Washington, do I have to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement?
This site has no verified rule either way. We found no Washington statute or insurance regulation that requires a person to give a recorded statement to another driver’s insurer. That is not a rule that a statement is never required. What you say can later be offered as evidence against you. A lawyer can advise on your facts.
What is the deadline to sue after a car accident in Washington?
Washington’s general deadline to sue for an injury is three years for most injury claims. The deadline for damage to a vehicle or other personal property is three years. Some deadlines are much shorter. Before a lawsuit against a city, county or other local government, a tort claim form must be presented to its designated agent, and then 60 calendar days must pass. Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management with the same 60 day wait. These are general rules. This page does not say what your own deadline is.
What if the other driver left and was never identified?
A new auto policy must include underinsured motorist coverage, which in Washington also covers uninsured, hit and run and phantom vehicles, unless the named insured or spouse rejected it in writing. When the other vehicle never touched yours (a phantom vehicle), your claim needs evidence beyond your own account, and the crash must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours. This page has no verified Washington rule on conditions for a hit and run vehicle that did make contact. This site’s page on a driver who left and was never found covers the rest.
Sources
Primary sources for the rules on this page. Checked on October 3, 2026.
Also cited
- RCW 46.52.020
- RCW 46.52.010(1)
- RCW 46.52.020(7)
- RCW 48.22.030(8)
- RCW 46.52.030(1); WAC 446-85-010
- Washington State Patrol, form 3000-345-161 (R 3/26), Motor Vehicle Collision Report, instructions
- Washington State Patrol, form 3000-345-161 (R 3/26), Motor Vehicle Collision Report, instructions; RCW 46.52.030(1)
- RCW 46.52.040
- RCW 9.73.030(1)(a)
- RCW 9.73.030(3)
- Wash. ER 801(d)(2)
- RCW 48.18.460
- RCW 46.52.030(3)
- Washington State Patrol, “Collision Reports”
- RCW 48.22.030
- RCW 48.22.085(1), (2)
- Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner, “Personal injury protection (PIP)”
- RCW 4.16.080(2)
- RCW 4.96.020; RCW 4.92.100; RCW 4.92.110
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.
