Serious car crashes can happen in an instant. One moment you’re in the car with family or friends, joking around, and then suddenly, another driver veers into your lane and hits your car head-on. In the minutes and hours immediately following serious car crashes, it’s normal to feel shaken and scared. It’s also ok if you don’t know what to do next.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through what to do in the first 24 hours following a serious car crash. You’ll know what you can expect and what mistakes to avoid so you can protect your health, your finances, and your legal rights.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious car crash, you don’t have to handle this alone.
Take Care of Your Health and Safety First
You might not realize it at first, but adrenaline is a powerful thing. It can mask pain and injury symptoms for hours, so you might feel “fine” even when you’re not. After a serious car crash, your first priority is to get medical attention for your injuries.
Many serious car accident injuries don’t show symptoms right away. Whiplash, concussions, herniated discs, and even internal bleeding can take hours or days to fully surface. By the time the pain sets in, people often struggle to connect it back to the accident, which can hurt both their health and their claim.
Getting checked out by a doctor within 24 hours does two things:
- It catches injuries early, when treatment is most effective.
- It creates a medical record that directly ties your injuries to the accident.
That second point matters more than most people realize. Insurance companies look closely at timing. A gap between the accident and your first doctor’s visit can be used to argue your injuries came from something else. Getting checked out immediately protects your health and your legal and financial interests.
At your appointment, ask for documentation of your visit and your injuries and schedule a follow-up appointment for a week or two later. If you’ve already received medical attention, call the hospital or medical provider who examined you and ask for the same. There are a couple of reasons to do this:
- The full effects of many serious car accident injuries aren’t known until you try to return to normal life. Scheduling a follow-up appointment helps to ensure you’ll receive prompt treatment should your symptoms worsen or new ones arise.
- Documenting your medical diagnosis and treatment can help you recover full compensation later should you need to file a claim.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car crash, read our complete guide on what to do after a serious injury here.
Call the Police and Get the Car Crash Report
It’s typically a good idea to call the police if you’re in a car crash, even if it was a minor “fender bender”. The police officer is a neutral third party that can create an official, unbiased record of what happened and document it in the form of a crash report. This report could be an important piece of evidence should the other driver’s insurance company try to dispute your claim.
When police officers arrive, they’ll typically:
- Talk to everyone involved and any witnesses
- Document the scene including the damage to the vehicles, their positions, and any debris
- Note any citations that were issued like driving under the influence
If a police officer came to the scene of your car crash and you weren’t able to ask for their name or the report number, this is how to obtain a copy of the crash report:
- Gather important details like the date, time, and location of the car crash, and the identifying details of your car and the other parties involved.
- Contact the police department that responded to the car crash and ask for the traffic and accident records division, then give them the crash date and location and your name.
- Ask for the report number, when they expect the report to be available, and how you will be able to obtain it (e.g. online, pick it up in person, etc.). Some agencies will require you to provide ID and pay a fee.
- If you can’t find the report through the police department, you can search the county/state crash records office or the DMV. If that fails, you can file a public records request (FOIA).
- If you file a claim through your insurance carrier, they can sometimes obtain the report themselves.
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Exchange Contact Information with the Other Parties
Collecting contact and insurance information for the other parties involved is crucial to protecting your legal and financial interests. When you have contact information for the other driver(s), passenger(s) and witness(es), it’s easier to determine fault for the crash, and to what degree they are liable. Collecting insurance information is essential to filing a claim with the other driver(s) company. Retrieving compensation for the car crash will be difficult if you can’t contact the other parties involved.
Specifically, you want to document:
- Full name and contact information for the driver(s) and passenger(s) of the other vehicle(s)
- The other drivers’ insurance company and policy number, and their driver’s license number(s)
- Identifying information for the other vehicle(s) involved including license plate number(s), and the vehicle(s) make, model, and color
An easy way to collect and store this information can be to take a photo of the other driver(s)’ driver’s license(s), insurance card(s), license plate(s), and the actual vehicle(s) involved in the crash. If the other parties involved aren’t comfortable with you taking a picture of their identifying information, you can document it as a “Note” in your phone or on a piece of paper.
It’s understandable if you feel shy asking for this information. But don’t worry, you’re not being intrusive. This information is essential to ensuring you can hold the responsible parties accountable for a serious car crash.
Document the Scene of the Car Crash
If you’ve been seriously injured in a car crash, it’s likely that the other cars and perhaps nearby street signs, trees, fences, and other objects along the road were damaged as well. This evidence can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to recreate later and can help create a full picture of what happened beyond your injuries.
For example, seeing broken glass on the road and a bent street sign can help a judge or insurance claims adjuster visualize the crash and prevent the other side from minimizing your injuries. So, if you’re physically able, use your phone to document everything you can. If you’re not physically able, ask a loved one to do this for you. If you’ve already left the scene of the car crash, try to go back as soon as possible before the debris is cleaned up and other damage is repaired.
Try to capture:
- Photos of all vehicles involved, from multiple angles
- Close-ups of any visible injuries
- Road conditions, weather, skid marks, and traffic signals
- Debris from the crash including broken glass, car parts, and any objects along the road that were damaged.
It’s also helpful to write down or record a voice memo of what happened while it’s fresh in your memory.
Notify Your Insurance Company
You’ll need to report the accident to your insurer, but keep a few things in mind:
- Stick to the facts: date, time, location, and what happened. Avoid speculating about fault or injuries.
- Don’t give a recorded statement, especially to the other driver’s insurance company. You’re not required to, and you might want to speak with a car crash lawyer first.
- Don’t accept a quick settlement offer. Early offers are often far less than what a claim is actually worth, especially before you know the full extent of your injuries.
Insurance companies are businesses and their goal is to close claims for as little as possible. Anything you say, even an off-hand comment, can be used to try to prove your injuries are less serious or that you’re at least partially responsible for the crash.
Keep All of Your Records Together
If you keep all your records for the accident in one place, it will be easier to locate the documentation you need later. You can start by building a simple file– a folder, a shoebox, a notes app, whatever works for you. Whenever you get a new piece of information, you add it to the file. Make sure a loved one knows where the file is as well in case they need to communicate with the insurance company or a car crash lawyer on your behalf.
Records you want to collect include:
- Medical bills and treatment records
- Photos from the scene
- The police report
- Repair estimates
- Notes on missed work or income
- Any letters or emails from insurance companies
- Notes about pain you’re experiencing, hobbies and tasks you can no longer do, and other impacts to your life
- Notes about how the crash has impacted your loved ones
The more organized you are early on, the easier it is to show the full impact the accident has had on your life physically, financially, and emotionally.
What NOT to Do in the First 24 Hours After a Serious Car Crash
After a serious car crash, you’re probably not feeling like yourself. It can be difficult to think straight and manage requests coming from the insurance companies, it can be difficult to keep track of details and not to misspeak. Because of this, we’ve compiled a list of things not to do in the first 24 hours after a serious car crash that can help protect your health and legal and financial interests.
- Don’t post about the accident on social media. Even a simple update can be taken out of context.
- Don’t sign anything from the other driver’s insurance company without talking to a car crash lawyer.
- Don’t skip follow-up medical care, even if you’re feeling a little better.
- Don’t wait too long to talk to a car crash attorney, evidence can disappear and memories can fade fast.
- Don’t talk about fault with the other parties to the accident. Even a simple “I’m sorry” can be misread later as an admission of fault. You don’t need to accuse anyone or defend yourself, just stick to swapping information and let the evidence speak for itself.
- Don’t accept an early settlement. Accepting a settlement before the full effects of your injuries are known can leave you with less compensation than you need and deserve.
It’s completely normal to feel disoriented and overwhelmed right now. You might be dealing with a lot of pain, and you might not be thinking clearly. It’s ok if you’ve already made one of these mistakes; a serious car crash lawyer can help you try to fix it.
Contact a Serious Car Crash Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been in a serious car crash where you’ve experienced major injuries, especially if you’re a disputed fault situation, talking to a serious car crash lawyer early can help protect you legally and financially.
Insurance companies often start building their case for a limited payout within days of the crash. Having someone in your corner from the beginning can help make sure key evidence is preserved; it also allows you to focus on healing while your legal team handles communications, and it can prevent you from making mistakes that affect your case.
Many serious car crash lawyers like Chaffin Luhana offer a free case review to see if they can help. Then, if we take your case, we work on contingency which means we only get paid if you win.
You Don’t Have to Face This Alone
The first 24 hours after a crash can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to have all the answers today. Take care of yourself, lean on these steps when you can, and know that help is available whenever you’re ready for it.
At Chaffin Luhana, you’ll be heard — and if there’s a way we can help, we will.
Contact us today for your free, no-obligation case evaluation.