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Check for injuries, and call 911 if needed. After an accident the most important thing is to check for injuries and get help quickly. Check yourself, check your passengers, check the other driver and passengers. If medical treatment is needed call 911 immediately.
If damage is minor, move cars to the side of the road to avoid blocking traffic. If both cars can be safely driven and have only a few scratches and dents, pull to the side of the road allowing traffic to pass.
Exchange information with the other driver. Don’t let anyone take a picture of your driver license. Instead use a car accident checklist and gather the information listed there: name, phone, address, email, driver license state and number. You’ll also need to exchange insurance information. It is fine to take a picture of an insurance card.
Collect contact info from witnesses and passengers in vehicles involved. If there were passengers in the vehicles or other witnesses to the accident, get their contact information. The insurance company or police may need to contact witnesses as they investigate the accident.
Take pictures of vehicles, damage, and accident scene. Use your mobile phone camera to capture several images of the cars and accident scene.
Write down what happened Take a few minutes to sketch out the accident. Your memory might not be as clear in a few days, so draw or write down everything you recall right away.
Get police information. If police are called to the accident, be sure to get the officer’s name, department, report number, and badge number just in case you need to contact them later or your insurance company asks for this information.