If you just hit someone’s car, stop immediately, stay at the scene, check on everyone involved, and exchange names, contact details, and insurance information with the other driver before you do anything else. What you do in the next few minutes decides whether this stays a civil insurance matter or becomes a criminal one, and whether you keep the ability to dispute fault later.
Stop and Secure the Scene
Every state requires you to stop after a collision, no matter how minor. Pull over as close to the accident location as safely possible. If the crash happened in a travel lane and both cars are drivable, move them to the shoulder or a nearby parking lot so you don’t block traffic and cause a second accident. Turn on your hazard lights.
Stay put until you’ve worked through every step below. Leaving before you exchange information, or before police arrive when they’ve been called, is what turns a routine accident into a hit-and-run.
Check for Injuries
Check yourself, your passengers, and anyone in the other vehicle. If anyone appears hurt, call 911. Don’t try to move someone who might have a neck or back injury unless there’s an immediate danger like fire.
Even if everyone seems fine, adrenaline can mask pain for hours. Soft-tissue injuries, concussions, and whiplash often don’t show up until the next day. Getting checked out by a doctor within 24 to 48 hours protects your health and creates a medical record that ties any injuries directly to the accident, which matters a great deal if a claim arises later.
Watch What You Say
This is where most people hurt themselves without realizing it. In the stress of the moment, it’s natural to apologize or blurt out something like “I didn’t see you” or “That was my fault.” Insurance adjusters and attorneys can treat those statements as admissions of liability, even if a full investigation would show the other driver shared responsibility.
Stick to factual information: your name, your contact details, your insurance information. When police arrive, describe what happened without speculating about fault. You can be polite and ask whether the other driver is okay without accepting blame. Save the detailed account for your insurance company, where the conversation is protected by your policy’s cooperation clause.
Exchange Information and Document the Damage
Swap the following with the other driver:
- Full name and phone number
- Driver’s license number
- License plate number
- Insurance company and policy number
- Vehicle make, model, and color
If anyone witnessed the accident, get their name and phone number too. Witness accounts carry real weight when the two drivers tell different stories.
Then photograph everything. Take wide shots of the full scene showing both vehicles in context, close-ups of all damage on every car involved, skid marks, traffic signs, traffic signals, and anything else relevant. Capture the other driver’s license plate and insurance card. Note the time, date, weather, and road conditions. Your phone timestamps photos automatically, which helps establish a timeline later. If you have a dashcam, save the footage immediately so a loop recording doesn’t overwrite it.
If You Hit a Parked or Unattended Car
Hitting an empty car in a parking lot might feel less serious, but the legal obligation is the same. You must make a reasonable effort to find the owner. Check nearby businesses or residences. If the car is in a store’s lot, ask inside whether anyone owns it.
When you can’t find the owner, leave a note in a visible, secure spot, such as under the windshield wiper or tucked into the door handle. The note should include your name, phone number, and insurance information. A vague “sorry about the scratch” with no contact details doesn’t satisfy the legal requirement and can still be treated as a hit-and-run. Photograph the damage and the note before you leave, so you have proof you made the effort.
Report the incident to local police as well. Many states require a police report any time you hit an unattended vehicle and can’t locate the owner, regardless of how minor the damage looks. Filing it protects you if the owner later claims you fled.
Report to Police and Your State’s DMV
Call police to the scene whenever there are injuries, significant vehicle damage, a dispute about what happened, or if the other driver seems impaired. A police report creates an official, third-party record that insurance companies rely on heavily when assigning fault.
Beyond the police report, most states require you to file a separate accident report with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles if property damage exceeds a certain dollar amount or if anyone was injured. The damage threshold varies and typically falls between $500 and $1,500 depending on where you live. The filing deadline is usually within 10 days of the crash, though some states give you longer. Check your state’s DMV website for the specific threshold and deadline. Missing this filing can trigger a license suspension in some states, even if the accident itself was minor.
Call Your Insurance Company
Report the accident to your insurer as soon as possible, ideally the same day. Most auto policies include a “prompt notice” clause requiring you to report accidents within a reasonable time. Some insurers expect notification within 24 hours; others allow a few days. Waiting too long can give your insurer grounds to deny coverage for the claim.
Report it even if you believe you weren’t at fault. Your insurer needs to know so they can defend you if the other driver files a claim against your policy. Give the facts: what happened, where, the other driver’s information, and the police report number. Don’t volunteer opinions about fault. Let the adjuster make that call.
Which Coverage Pays When You’re at Fault
If you caused the accident, two coverages come into play. Your liability insurance pays for the other driver’s vehicle repairs and medical bills, up to your policy limits. Your collision coverage, if you carry it, pays to repair your own vehicle, minus your deductible. If you only carry the state-required minimum liability and no collision coverage, you’ll pay for your own car’s repairs entirely out of pocket.
When you file under your collision coverage, you pay your deductible upfront. That deductible, commonly $500 or $1,000, is your share of the repair cost. Unlike situations where the other driver is at fault and their insurer reimburses your deductible through subrogation, an at-fault deductible is simply yours to bear.
Pay Out of Pocket or File a Claim?
When the damage is genuinely minor, a small dent or a scuffed bumper, some drivers consider paying the other person directly instead of involving insurance. The logic is straightforward: avoid a rate increase that could cost more over several years than the repair itself.
This approach carries real risks. Damage that looks cosmetic can hide structural problems underneath, and repair costs can balloon once a body shop opens things up. If you settle with cash and the other driver later finds more damage, you’ve lost your leverage. Injuries are a bigger concern still. Symptoms that seem minor at the scene can develop into something serious days later, and an informal cash agreement won’t protect you from a lawsuit.
If you do pay out of pocket, get a written release signed by both parties stating the amount paid and that it settles all claims from the incident. Even then, understand that this provides only limited protection. For anything beyond a truly cosmetic scratch where both drivers are clearly uninjured, filing a claim is the safer path.
How the Claims Process Works
After you report the accident, your insurer assigns a claims adjuster. The adjuster investigates what happened, determines fault, and figures out the repair cost. They’ll review the police report, your photos, statements from both drivers, and any witness accounts.1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators
The adjuster will either inspect your vehicle in person or arrange for a damage appraiser to do so. You’ll receive a repair estimate, and in most cases your insurer will let you choose a body shop, though they may have a list of preferred shops that offer guaranteed work. If the repair cost exceeds the vehicle’s actual cash value, the insurer will likely declare it a total loss and pay you the car’s pre-accident market value minus your deductible.
The whole process typically takes a few weeks for straightforward claims. Complicated or disputed cases can stretch longer. Respond to your adjuster’s requests promptly; delays on your end slow everything down.
How an At-Fault Accident Affects Your Premiums
An at-fault accident typically raises your auto insurance premiums by roughly 45%, though the exact increase depends on your insurer, your driving history, and the severity of the crash. That could mean an extra $30 to $40 per month on an average policy, money that compounds over the three to five years the accident stays on your insurance record.
Minor fender benders tend to drop off your record after about three years if you stay claim-free. Accidents involving injuries or major property damage can affect your rates for five years or longer. The clock starts from the date of the accident, not from when the claim is resolved.
Some insurers offer accident forgiveness programs that prevent a rate increase after your first at-fault accident. These programs vary. Some are free rewards for long-term customers with clean records; others are paid add-ons you purchase before any accident happens. If you already have accident forgiveness on your policy, this is when it pays off.
Why You Can’t Just Drive Away
Leaving the scene of an accident without stopping to exchange information is a criminal offense in every state. The severity depends on whether anyone was hurt.
- Property damage only: leaving when only vehicles or property were damaged is typically charged as a misdemeanor. Penalties generally include fines, possible jail time, license suspension, and points on your driving record.
- Injuries involved: when someone is injured and you leave without stopping, the charge escalates, in many states to a felony. Penalties increase sharply and often include mandatory jail time, larger fines, longer license suspensions, and a felony record that follows you well beyond the driving context.
- Death involved: leaving the scene of a fatal accident is a felony everywhere and carries the most severe penalties, potentially including years in state prison.
Beyond criminal charges, a hit-and-run conviction can prompt your insurer to cancel your policy outright or refuse to renew it. Getting insured afterward usually means high-risk coverage at dramatically higher rates. The financial consequences of fleeing almost always dwarf whatever rate increase or repair cost you were trying to avoid.
The same rules apply to parked cars. Hitting someone’s car in a parking lot and driving off without leaving a note or contacting police is still a hit-and-run. Surveillance cameras in parking lots and nearby businesses catch these incidents more often than people expect.