California
Accident Reports

Most accidents will require you to file a police accident report in California. Unlike other states, the law is clear that you must file a report with the DMV within ten days of your accident. If your accident meets any of the following criteria, you are required to call the police and file a report:

• Multiple injuries
• Any fatalities
• More than one vehicle was involved
• Property damage in excess of $1,000

Practically speaking, this will cover nearly every accident in California. Only a limited number of accidents wouldn’t qualify, such as a minor scrape on private land.

Even so, getting an official report for insurance and legal purposes is vital. These are the documents that claim adjusters and lawyers rely on when determining who was at fault.

California Law requires you to file an accident report titled ‘SR-1 Accident Report’ when there has been property damage of more than $1,000, any injuries, or any deaths.

This report must be filed within 10 days of the accident and in addition to any other report filed with a law enforcement agency, insurance company, or the California Highway Patrol (CHP) as their reports do not satisfy the filing requirement.

To file an accident report, you must complete the SR-1 and send it to the DMV. The SR-1 will require the following information:

1. Insurance information that correctly and fully identifies the company that issued the policy.
2. The NAIC number for your insurance company.
3. Who else was involved in the accident.
4. Any other property damage (telephone poles, fences, street signs, trees, animals, etc.)

Once you’ve completed the form, you will send it to the DMV at the following address:

Department of Motor VehiclesFinancial ResponsibilityMail Station J237P.O. Box 94284Sacramento, CA 94284–0884

The SR-1 has complete instructions and can access the SR-1 through this link: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/web/eng_pdf/sr1.pdf

A proper Party of Interest can find an accident report by mailing a completed ‘CHP-190’ request form to your nearest CHP office:

You can find the CHP-190 request form here: https://www.chp.ca.gov/EnforcementAndPlanningDivisionSite/Documents/CHP190.pdf

You can find your nearest office by using the search tool on the CHP’s website: https://www.chp.ca.gov/find-an-office

Only a proper ‘Party of Interest’ is allowed to request an official accident report. The California Highway Patrol gives the following examples of a proper Party of Interest:

• Driver
• Passenger
• Property Owner (that was damaged in the crash)
• Vehicle Owner
• Parent of Minor
• Legal Guardian

For more information about the CHP-190, please visit the California Highway Patrol’s website: https://www.chp.ca.gov/notify-chp/collision-report-chp-190

Traffic collisions are a fact of life. With more vehicles on the road than ever before, it is a fact of life that there will be more accidents. Traffic patrols across the nation are stepping up their enforcement and are having considerable success in bringing the rate of fatal and nonfatal accidents down.

The CHP incident report archives are used to develop hard-hitting statistics highlighting the extent of safety on the roadways of California. By using the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), CHP builds regular reports to provide a deep and reliable source of information on accidents in California.

The most recent SWITRS report reveals that over 260,000 people were injured in 187,211 crashes in California. Additionally, 3,737 people were killed in 3,438 fatal crashes.

Several vital statistics declined from 2018 to 2019, including:

• Total fatalities dropped by more than 5%
• Fatal crashes involving alcohol declined by 4.5%
• Fatalities involving people not wearing in-car restraints decreased by more than 2%
• Motorcycle fatalities involving not wearing a helmet decreased
• Fatalities involving teenage drivers and passengers decreased by double-digits.

No, California is an at-fault state. What this means is that following an accident, fault will be apportioned to one or more drivers. This means that the at-fault driver’s insurance company is required to pay the costs of the accident.

Note that blame isn't necessarily clear-cut. A court may judge that a driver is merely 75% responsible for an accident, which will impact who pays what accordingly. This will be defined based on factors like:

• Police reports
• Traffic laws
• Security cameras
• Eyewitness accounts
• Any other mitigating circumstances

But the issue doesn't end there. California drivers still retain the right to sue for any additional damages.

Yes, you do; otherwise, you have zero chance of succeeding in the claims process. While it’s not technically against the law to not report an accident to your insurer, the fact that most accidents require both a police and DMV report means your insurer will quickly find out.

As always, you should report your accident as soon as humanly possible, but the requirements will depend on your policy and the insurance provider.

If you fail to report your accident, your insurer may consider it a violation of your policy and thus refuse to cover the costs of your accident.

If you're unsure how and what to report to your insurer, consult a specialist for more information or your insurer directly.

Obtaining an accident report from the Los Angeles Police Department involves the same process as obtaining a report from the CHP: you will fill out a request and mail it to the LAPD.

For specific information regarding Accident Reports from the LAPD, please visit the following website: http://www.lapdonline.org/obtain_a_traffic_collision_report

Your privacy and security are integral to any California accident report. Not just anyone is able to see the details of what happened. To obtain your crash report information, you must demonstrate that you are what’s known as a “Party of Interest.”

A proper Party of Interest is someone who was either involved in the accident, someone directly connected with the accident, or someone who was connected to someone involved.

In other words, if you were a driver, passenger, vehicle owner, property owner, parent of a minor in the car, or a legal guardian, you could get your CHP accident report without visiting an office in person.

You will need to print and complete Form CHP 190 and send it to your nearest office or hand it in in person. Note that this is the process of applying for an incident report, and following the formal process is your only option.

The same process also applies to getting a copy of an accident report from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

If you have worked with the California DMV, you are aware that the Golden State is stricter than others when it comes to traffic laws.

According to the statistics, California is the fifth strictest state in the country. In particular, many drivers get caught out by the Basic Speed Law.

California’s Basic Speed Law states that drivers may never drive faster than is safe for the current conditions. In other words, many a CHP report lookup has originated from exceeding an acceptable speed, even if within the bounds of the posted speed limit.

The Basic Speed Law states that speed must be limited based on the road surface, the number of other vehicles, pedestrians crossing the roadway, and the weather conditions.