The minutes right after a car accident are disorienting, and what you do in them can affect your health and your claim for months afterward. This is a step-by-step checklist to work through — not a set of rules to memorize, just something to come back to if you ever need it.
1. Get to Safety and Check for Injuries
If your vehicle is drivable and it’s safe to do so, move it out of traffic. If it isn’t safe to move, or anyone is seriously hurt, stay put and focus on getting help. Check yourself and any passengers for injuries before worrying about anything else — vehicle damage and paperwork can wait.
2. Call 911
Call 911 any time there’s an injury, a fatality, or damage that looks like it’s over roughly $2,000 — that’s the general threshold under Arizona law (A.R.S. § 28-667) that triggers an officer’s duty to file a written accident report. When in doubt, call. A responding officer’s report becomes an important, largely neutral record of what happened, and it’s far easier to get one made at the scene than to reconstruct events afterward.
3. Exchange Information
Get the other driver’s name, phone number, address, insurance company and policy number, and license plate. Provide the same information in return. If there are passengers or witnesses, get their contact information too — witnesses in particular are much easier to reach in the first few minutes than days later.
4. Document the Scene
Take photos and video of both vehicles from multiple angles, the overall accident scene, any visible injuries, road conditions, traffic signs or signals, and skid marks if present. This kind of documentation is often more persuasive than anyone’s memory of what happened, and it only exists if someone captures it before the scene clears.
5. Don’t Admit Fault or Apologize
It’s natural to say “I’m sorry” out of instinct, even when you didn’t do anything wrong — but avoid it, along with any statement about who caused the crash. You may not have the full picture yet (a mechanical failure, a third vehicle, a road hazard), and an offhand comment at the scene can follow you into settlement negotiations later.
6. Get Checked Out, Even If You Feel Fine
Adrenaline can mask pain for hours, and injuries like whiplash, concussions, and internal bleeding don’t always announce themselves right away. Getting evaluated — whether that’s an ambulance at the scene, an urgent care visit, or your regular doctor within the next day or two — does two things: it catches injuries early, and it creates a medical record tied to the date of the accident, which matters if you later need to show the injury came from this crash and not something else.
7. Notify Your Own Insurance Company
Most policies require you to report an accident, so let your insurer know it happened. Keep this factual and brief — the date, location, and basic facts — rather than a detailed recorded statement about fault or injuries. You can always provide more information later once you know the full picture; you can’t easily walk back an early, incomplete statement.
8. Be Careful With the Other Driver’s Insurance Company
The at-fault driver’s insurer will likely reach out, sometimes within a day or two, asking for a recorded statement. Their adjuster’s job is to minimize what they pay, not to look out for you. You’re not obligated to give a recorded statement before you’ve spoken with an attorney, and it’s one of the easiest ways an early, casual answer gets used to shrink a claim later.
9. Keep Everything
Save the police report number, medical bills and records, repair estimates, photos, pay stubs if you miss work, and any correspondence with insurance companies. None of this needs to be organized perfectly — just don’t let it get lost. If you end up needing an attorney, this is exactly what they’ll ask for first.
10. Know Where You Stand Legally
Arizona is a pure comparative negligence state under A.R.S. § 12-2505 — you can still recover compensation even if you were partially at fault, with your recovery reduced by your percentage of fault rather than eliminated. And Arizona’s statute of limitations for a personal injury claim from a car accident is generally two years from the date of the crash. Neither of those facts should change what you do in the first hour after an accident, but they’re worth knowing as you decide what to do next.
Common Questions
Do I have to call the police for every accident?
Not every fender-bender requires it, but any accident involving injury, death, or damage around $2,000 or more generally does under Arizona law. If you’re unsure, it’s safer to call.
What if I don’t feel injured at the scene?
Get checked out anyway if you can. Some of the most common accident injuries don’t show symptoms for hours or even days, and a prompt medical record protects both your health and any future claim.
Do I have to give the other insurance company a statement right away?
No. You’re not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, and it’s generally worth talking to an attorney first — the free case review carries zero obligation.
What if I’m not sure who was at fault?
You don’t need to figure that out at the scene, and you shouldn’t guess out loud. Arizona’s comparative negligence rules mean fault doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing, and it’s something to sort out with evidence, not with an off-the-cuff statement right after the crash.