Do I Have to Report a Car Accident to the DMV in California?

After a fender-bender, most people do three things: make sure everyone is okay, swap insurance information, and call their insurance company. California adds a fourth step that a lot of drivers have never heard of, and skipping it can get your license suspended.

If anyone was hurt, or anyone’s car or property took more than $1,000 in damage, you have to report a car accident to the DMV yourself, on a form called the SR-1, within 10 days. It doesn’t matter who caused the crash. It doesn’t matter that a police officer wrote a report or that your insurance company already knows. Neither one counts.

The SR-1 itself is far less intimidating than it sounds. It doesn’t ask who was at fault or how the crash happened. It asks who was involved, what was damaged, who was hurt, and above all whether everyone had insurance. For most drivers, filing it is simple. Skipping it is what gets people in trouble.

Do you have to report a car accident to the DMV in California?

Yes, if the crash meets any one of these conditions. Under Vehicle Code section 16000, each driver involved generally must file an SR-1 within 10 days, with a few exceptions covered below, when the accident resulted in:

• An injury to anyone. The DMV’s guidance says this applies no matter how minor the injury.
• The death of anyone.
• More than $1,000 in damage to the property of any one person.

A few details trip people up.

The $1,000 is counted per person, not per crash. Damage to everything one person owns is added together, so a car and a fence belonging to the same owner count as one total. But if your car has $700 in damage, the other driver’s has $600, nothing else was damaged, and nobody was hurt, neither of you has crossed the line. If either person’s damage is over $1,000, the report is required. Your own property counts too: the form asks, for each vehicle, whether the damage tops $1,000.

Repair bills add up fast. A scraped bumper that looks cosmetic can hide cracked brackets, damaged sensors, or broken lights. If you’re not sure whether the damage is over $1,000, filing is the safer choice.

Complaints of pain matter. The SR-1 asks you to list anyone you saw was injured or who complained of an injury. If the other driver says their neck hurts, treat it as an injury crash and file, even if nobody went to the hospital.

Each driver has to file, regardless of fault. The DMV’s form says the report is required “regardless of fault.” If the other driver files and you don’t, their report doesn’t cover you. And their report asks for your name, your license number, and your insurance, so staying quiet doesn’t keep the crash off the DMV’s radar.

Three reports, three different rules

Most of the confusion comes from mixing up the reports that can follow a crash. They go to different places, run on different clocks, and none of them substitutes for another.

Report	Required when	Deadline	Does another report count instead?
SR-1 to the DMV	Anyone injured or killed, or more than $1,000 in damage to any one person’s property	10 days	No. Police, CHP, and insurance company reports don’t satisfy it.
Written report to the CHP or city police	Anyone injured or killed	24 hours	If an officer investigates and writes up the crash, you ordinarily don’t need a separate report. Get the report number to confirm one was made.
Notice to your own insurer	Whenever your policy requires it	Usually “promptly” or “as soon as practicable”	No. Telling your insurer doesn’t file your SR-1 unless your agent or broker actually files it for you.

The one people miss is the first. Police reports and insurance claims feel official, so drivers assume one of them takes care of the DMV. It doesn’t. The SR-1 form says those other reports “do not satisfy the filing requirement.”

What the SR-1 asks, and what it doesn’t

People put off the SR-1 because they assume it’s a written statement about the crash that could hurt them later. Look at the form and you’ll see it isn’t. The current version, revised in June 2025, asks for:

• The date, time, and city or county of the accident, and whether it happened on private property
• Your name, address, driver’s license number, vehicle, and the vehicle’s owner
• Your insurance company, policy number, policy period, and the company’s NAIC number
• The same information for the other driver, as far as you know it
• Whether each vehicle had more than $1,000 in damage
• The names and addresses of anyone injured or killed, and any other property damaged, like a fence or a light pole

There’s no box for describing how the crash happened, no diagram, and no question about who was at fault. You sign it under penalty of perjury, so it has to be accurate, but it isn’t your account of the accident. It’s a financial responsibility form. California uses it to check that every driver involved was insured.

The insurance section is the part that matters

The second part of the SR-1 is an insurance form, and the DMV may send it straight to the insurance company you list. If the policy wasn’t in effect, the form asks the insurer to tell the DMV within 20 days.

The form also warns that if the insurance section isn’t fully completed, the DMV will assume you weren’t insured and suspend your license. That’s a real trap for drivers who had coverage but left it blank or got the details wrong. List the company that issued the policy, not your agent or broker. The NAIC number is usually on your insurance ID card; if it isn’t, ask your insurer.

The coverage that matters here is liability insurance. As the form points out, comprehensive and collision coverage alone don’t meet California’s financial responsibility requirement. The minimum liability limits under Vehicle Code 16056 are now $30,000 for the injury or death of one person, $60,000 for two or more people, and $15,000 for property damage.

How to file

You can file online through the DMV’s accident reporting page, or print the form and mail it to the DMV in Sacramento. The DMV says paper reports take longer to process. Your insurance agent, broker, or lawyer can file it for you, but only if they actually do it. If you don’t know something about the other driver, the form tells you to write “unk” for unknown or “none.”

What happens if you don’t file

The penalty is your license, not a fine. Under Vehicle Code section 16004, the DMV suspends the driving privilege of anyone who fails to make a required report. The suspension lasts until the DMV receives the report or acceptable proof of insurance. So if you’ve already missed the 10 days, file now and keep proof that you did. A late report can end a suspension for not reporting, though it won’t fix a problem with insurance.

If you didn’t have insurance

The consequences are much heavier for a driver who was uninsured at the time of the crash. When an accident report tells the DMV that a driver lacked insurance, the DMV mails that driver a notice of intent to suspend. The suspension takes effect 30 days later unless the driver proves they were insured, and the driver has a right to a hearing (Vehicle Code 16070).

That suspension lasts at least one year. To end it, the driver has to file proof of insurance, usually an SR-22 certificate from an insurer, and keep it on file for three years, or the suspension comes back (Vehicle Code 16072). That adds up to the “four years” you’ll often see quoted: one year of suspension, then three years of proof.

There is a middle option. Instead of the suspension, the driver can apply for a restricted license that allows driving to and from work, driving required for the job, and taking a dependent child to and from school when no public transit or school bus is available. It requires filing and keeping proof of insurance and paying a $250 penalty fee, and it isn’t available on a commercial driver’s license.

If it was the other driver who had no insurance, none of that is your problem, but your own coverage may be the answer. Our guide to being hit by an uninsured driver in California explains how to use it.

Parking lots and private property

Crashes off the road still count. Vehicle Code section 16000.1 applies the same thresholds to an off-highway accident, like one in a parking lot or a private driveway, as long as it involves a vehicle that has to be registered and causes an injury, a death, or more than $1,000 in damage to any one person’s property. A collision in a grocery store lot that leaves $1,500 of damage on someone else’s car has to be reported, just as if it happened on the street.

There is one real exception. If the crash happened off the road, the only property damaged belongs to the driver or the vehicle’s owner, and nobody was hurt, no report is required. Backing into your own garage door is the classic example. Crashes involving off-road vehicles that don’t have to be registered aren’t covered either, and the DMV’s form also lists accidents on a military base as not reportable.

Situations with different rules

You were driving a company car

If you were driving a vehicle your employer owns or leases, with permission, California uses a separate procedure. You report the accident to your employer within five days, and your employer generally sends a report to the DMV within 10 days of getting yours (Vehicle Code 16002). Ask how your employer handles it and keep a copy of what you submit.

The other vehicle belonged to the government

No SR-1 is required when the vehicle involved was owned or leased by, or under the direction of, the federal government, the state, another state, or a local agency. The statute ties that exemption to the government’s vehicle and doesn’t say other drivers are excused, so if your own car was involved, file anyway. If you have a claim against a city, a transit agency, or another public entity, a much shorter deadline applies: a written claim generally has to be filed within six months. Our guide to the California statute of limitations for car accidents explains how that works.

The driver can’t file

If the driver is physically unable to make the report and doesn’t own the car, the owner has to report the accident as soon as they learn about it (Vehicle Code 16003). A lawyer or insurance agent can also file on the driver’s behalf, and the form includes instructions for a passenger who files.

You’re from out of state

The SR-1 covers accidents that happen in California, so a qualifying crash here can trigger the reporting and insurance rules even for drivers from other states. A nonresident who can’t show proof of insurance can lose the privilege to drive in California. If you’re a California driver who crashed in another state, that state’s reporting rules apply.

Will reporting the accident add points or raise your insurance?

Filing an SR-1 isn’t an admission of fault, and neither the DMV nor your insurer is supposed to treat it as one.

Your DMV record. A reported accident can appear on your driving record, but the accident adds a negligent operator point only when the DMV deems you responsible for it (Vehicle Code 12810). Under Vehicle Code 1806, the DMV also leaves an accident off your record when, in the reporting officer’s opinion, another driver was at fault.

Your insurance rates. California regulations limit when an insurer can treat an accident as your fault for rating purposes. Under 10 CCR 2632.13, you aren’t “principally at fault” unless your actions were at least 51 percent of the legal cause, and the rule covers accidents involving an injury, a death, or more than $1,000 in property damage. You’re presumed not to be at fault, unless the insurer has evidence otherwise, when:

• Your car was lawfully parked
• You were rear-ended and weren’t convicted of a moving violation for the accident
• The other driver was convicted of a moving violation and you weren’t
• You were hit by a hit-and-run driver and reported it to the authorities within a reasonable time
• The crash came from contact with an animal or a falling object

That doesn’t mean your premium can never change. Rates move for plenty of other reasons, and renewal decisions are a separate question. But filing an SR-1 doesn’t make an accident your fault for rating purposes. That question turns on what actually happened.

Can what you report be used against you?

This is the question that should actually worry you, and the answer depends on which report you mean.

The SR-1. California law says the SR-1 is filed “without prejudice” to the person reporting and is for the DMV’s confidential use. It isn’t a public narrative, but the statute does let the DMV release specified basic facts, like names, addresses, vehicles, insurance companies, and the date, time, and place of the crash, to people with a proper interest, such as the other driver, an injured person, or their lawyer (Vehicle Code 16005). The form doesn’t ask for your version of events, so don’t add speculation or conclusions it doesn’t request. It is still signed under penalty of perjury, so make sure everything on it is accurate.

Your own 24-hour report to the police. Vehicle Code 20013 says a driver’s required accident report can’t be used as evidence in a trial arising out of the accident. The one exception is a DMV certificate showing whether a report was filed. The California Supreme Court has described that rule as “quite narrow” in Davies v. Superior Court (1984) 36 Cal.3d 291. It covers the reports drivers, passengers, and witnesses are required to make, not everything connected to the crash.

The officer’s report. A police or CHP collision report isn’t automatically admissible at trial. Courts look at each part of it and the reason it’s being offered. What the officer personally observed may come in under the public-records exception to the hearsay rule (Evidence Code 1280), while statements from witnesses usually need a separate exception. The officer’s conclusion about what caused the crash can shape an insurer’s first view of the claim, but it doesn’t decide who is legally at fault.

What you say at the scene. This is usually where the real risk is. Statements you make to the officer, the other driver, or an insurance adjuster may be used against you as your own statements (Evidence Code 1220). “I looked down for a second” can end up in the officer’s notes and, later, in front of a jury.

California does protect basic decency. Under Evidence Code 1160, an expression of sympathy, like “I’m so sorry you’re hurt,” can’t be used as an admission of liability in a civil case. A statement of fault isn’t protected, even when it comes with an apology. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you” is a statement of fault, and the apology in front of it doesn’t help.

None of this means you should refuse to talk to the police. Give the officer your information, answer honestly, and stick to what you actually know. Don’t guess at speeds or distances, and don’t volunteer conclusions about whose fault it was.

What you have to do at the scene

The DMV report is the deadline people miss, but the duties at the scene come first.

• Stop and exchange information. With the other driver or property owner who is present, you must exchange your name and address, driver’s license number, vehicle identification number, the registered owner’s address, and your insurance company and policy number, unless you’re physically unable to (Vehicle Code 16025). Failing to do it is an infraction with a fine of up to $250.
• If anyone is hurt or killed, stop, give your information, and give reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging a ride to a hospital if treatment is clearly needed or they ask for it (Vehicle Code 20003). Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime.
• If you hit a parked car or other property and can’t find the owner, leave a note in a visible place with your name, address, and what happened, and notify the city police or the CHP without unnecessary delay (Vehicle Code 20002). Skipping either step is a misdemeanor.
• Calling the police. For a crash with only property damage, California has no general requirement to call the police. If anyone is hurt or killed, the driver must make, or cause to be made, a written report to the CHP or the city police within 24 hours (Vehicle Code 20008). If an officer investigates and writes up the crash, you ordinarily won’t need to make a separate report. If no officer takes a report, file one yourself, and either way, write down the report number so you know one was made.

If the other driver drove off, an uninsured motorist claim has its own reporting rules under Insurance Code 11580.2, including a police report within 24 hours and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days. Our guide to a hit and run in California covers them.

To get a copy of a collision report later, request it from the agency that wrote it. The CHP takes requests through its online Crash Portal or on form CHP 190 (see the CHP’s crash report page), and LAPD accepts requests online or by mail. Drivers, injured people, vehicle and property owners, and their lawyers are among those entitled to a copy (Vehicle Code 20012).

Telling your own insurance company

Your duty to tell your own insurer comes mainly from your policy, not from the DMV’s rules. Auto policies typically require notice “promptly” or “as soon as practicable,” along with your cooperation in the investigation.

Report the crash even if it wasn’t your fault. Your own policy may be what pays to fix your car (collision coverage), your medical bills (MedPay), or your injuries if the other driver turns out to be uninsured or underinsured. Those benefits depend on your insurer knowing about the crash.

If you report late, California gives you some protection. In Campbell v. Allstate Insurance Co. (1963) 60 Cal.2d 303, the California Supreme Court held that an insured’s breach of a policy condition, in that case the duty to cooperate, isn’t a defense to coverage unless the insurer was substantially prejudiced, and the insurer has to prove it. California courts apply the same rule to late notice. That doesn’t excuse a late report or stop an insurer from denying coverage on other grounds, so don’t count on it.

Your insurer and the DMV are separate. Telling one doesn’t satisfy the other, unless your agent or broker actually files the SR-1 for you. The other driver’s insurance company is a different matter again. You have no contract with them, and it’s worth talking to a lawyer before you give them a recorded statement.

What to do in the 10 days after a crash

1. At the scene, exchange information and photograph the other driver’s license, insurance card, and license plate rather than relying on what you’re told. Photograph both cars and the scene.
2. If anyone was hurt, make sure a police report is made within 24 hours and write down the report number.
3. Get checked by a doctor, even if you feel fine. If you don’t have health insurance, see our guide to getting medical treatment after a car accident with no insurance.
4. Notify your own insurance company.
5. File the SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days if anyone was hurt or anyone’s property damage is over $1,000. Complete the insurance section fully and keep a copy.
6. Request the collision report once it’s available.
7. Talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, especially if you were hurt.

Frequently asked questions

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

Only if it meets the threshold: anyone injured, anyone killed, or more than $1,000 in damage to any one person’s property. Plenty of crashes that look minor cross $1,000 once the repair estimate comes in, so if you’re unsure, file within 10 days.

What happens if I don’t file an SR-1 within 10 days?

The DMV suspends the license of a driver who fails to make a required report, and the suspension lasts until the DMV receives the report or acceptable proof of insurance. If you’ve missed the deadline, file as soon as you can. If you were uninsured at the time of the crash, the suspension rules are much stricter.

Does a police report count as an SR-1?

No. The SR-1 is a separate report to the DMV, and the DMV’s form says reports to the police, the CHP, or an insurance company don’t satisfy it. If the crash meets the threshold, you have to file the SR-1 yourself or through your agent, broker, or lawyer.

Do I have to report a parking lot accident in California?

Usually, if it meets the same thresholds. A parking lot crash that injures someone or causes more than $1,000 in damage to any one person’s property must be reported. The exception is an off-road crash where only your own property was damaged and nobody was hurt.

Will filing an SR-1 raise my insurance?

Filing isn’t an admission of fault. Under California’s rating rules, an insurer can’t treat an accident as your fault unless you were at least 51 percent responsible for it, and there are presumptions in your favor if you were lawfully parked or were rear-ended without being convicted of a moving violation. Rates can still change for other reasons.

What if the other driver won’t report the accident?

Your duty is your own, so file your SR-1 either way. The other driver’s failure to report is between them and the DMV, and your report will list them anyway.

Do I need to call the police after a minor accident in California?

Not if only property was damaged and everyone exchanged information. If anyone was hurt or killed, a written report to the CHP or the city police is required within 24 hours. If you hit an unattended car and can’t find the owner, you have to leave a note and notify the police.

Can I file an SR-1 online?

Yes. The DMV accepts SR-1 reports online, and your insurance agent, broker, or lawyer can file one for you. Paper forms are still accepted, but the DMV says they take longer to process.

Hurt in a crash? Get the paperwork right from the start

The SR-1 is a small form, but it sits at the start of everything that follows: your insurance claim, the other driver’s claim, and sometimes your license. Getting it right, and being careful about what you say before it’s filed, is part of protecting an injury case.

If you were hurt in a car accident in Los Angeles or anywhere in Southern California, Power Legal Group can handle the reports, deal with the insurance companies, and keep track of every deadline. Contact us for a free consultation. Every case is different and nothing here guarantees a particular result, but the earlier you get help, the more options you usually have.