After being in a car accident in New York, you must file a police report about the accident within ten days. Each party involved must file a police report and submit it to the DMV. The only time when a police report isn’t required is if the property damage amounts to less than $1,000. If the property damage is less than $1,000 and there are no injuries, then all you need to do is exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver. That information is essential if you need to file a claim following the accident. Be sure that the information you collect is written in a safe spot so it can’t get lost.
In California, you have 24 hours to report an accident to the California Highway Patrol or your local police department. If an officer was present at the scene of the accident, they will file the report. After this, you have 10 days to report the accident to the DMV. You need to report the accident if another person was injured or killed or if the property damage is greater than $1,000.
If you hit a parked vehicle, then you must locate the owner to exchange information. Sometimes, this isn’t possible when the owner of the car is nowhere in sight. If you can’t find the owner, call the police to file a report. When the owner discovers the collision and calls the police later, you won’t have to worry about a possible hit-and-run charge because you already reported the damage to the police.
It’s not always easy to determine the level of property damage and whether it totals $1,000 or not. If you’re not sure, it’s still best to play it safe and file the police report anyway. While some might not want to go through the trouble of calling the police and seeing the DMV, having this report can help tremendously.
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