What to Do After a Car Accident in New York: A Step-by-Step Guide

Car accidents are disorienting, frightening, and physically and emotionally overwhelming. In the aftermath of a crash, most people have no idea what they should be doing — and the decisions made in the first minutes, hours, and days after a collision can make or break a personal injury claim. This guide walks you through every critical step, from the scene of the accident through the weeks that follow.

Step 1: Stay at the Scene — Leaving Is a Crime

The first and most critical rule: do not leave the scene of the accident. Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 600, any driver involved in an accident must stop their vehicle at or as close to the scene as possible, provide their name, address, license plate number, and driver’s license information to any other involved parties, and render reasonable assistance to anyone who is injured. Leaving the scene of an accident involving injury, death, or property damage is a crime — hit-and-run under VTL Section 600 can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony depending on the severity. Even if you believe you were not at fault, leaving the scene destroys your legal position entirely. Stay until police arrive and authorize your departure.

Step 2: Call 911

Call 911 immediately, even if injuries appear minor. This accomplishes three things. First, it dispatches emergency medical services to evaluate and treat anyone who is injured. Second, it brings law enforcement to the scene to create a police accident report — a document that is essential for both your insurance claim and any lawsuit that follows. Third, it creates an official contemporaneous record of the crash that is very difficult for the other driver or their insurance company to contradict later.

Do not rely on a verbal agreement between drivers to “handle this privately” without police involvement. That agreement provides you no protection and means there will be no official record of the crash, the condition of the vehicles, or the other driver’s statements at the scene.

Step 3: Check for Injuries and Move to Safety Only If Necessary

If you are physically able to do so safely, check yourself and your passengers for injuries. Do not attempt to move an injured person unless they are in immediate danger — moving a person with a spinal injury incorrectly can worsen the injury significantly. If the vehicles are in a dangerous position on a highway or in live traffic, and if it is safe to do so, move them to the shoulder. In most other circumstances, leave the vehicles where they came to rest until police arrive and document the scene.

Step 4: What to Say — and What Not to Say

This is one of the most important and most frequently misunderstood rules of post-accident conduct. Do not apologize. Do not say “I’m sorry” under any circumstances, even as a social reflex. In New York, an apology or expression of fault made at the scene can be used against you in litigation as an admission of liability. Give factual statements to the police only — what happened, where you were going, what you observed. If you do not know something, say “I don’t know.” Do not speculate about your speed, the other driver’s speed, road conditions, or anything else you are not certain about.

When speaking to the police officer, stick to observable facts: “I was traveling east on Route 110 when the other vehicle crossed into my lane.” Do not editorialize, theorize about fault, or get into an argument with the other driver in front of the officer. Anything you say at the scene can appear in the police report and can be used by the other driver’s insurance company to minimize your claim.

Step 5: Document Everything at the Scene

Evidence from the accident scene disappears quickly. Skid marks fade. Debris is cleared. Vehicles are moved. Weather conditions change. Use your phone to photograph and video everything you can while you are still at the scene.

Photograph all four sides of every vehicle involved, including close-up shots of all damage and wide shots showing the overall positions of the vehicles. Photograph all license plates. Photograph the road surface — pavement condition, lane markings, traffic controls (stop signs, traffic lights, speed limit signs), skid marks, and debris fields. Photograph any visible injuries on yourself or your passengers immediately — bruising, cuts, abrasions. Photograph the weather and lighting conditions. Take a video walkthrough of the entire scene if possible.

Evidence photographs taken immediately after the crash are among the most powerful tools available to your attorney. They lock in the physical evidence before it disappears and provide a visual record that is far more compelling to a jury than testimony alone.

Step 6: Exchange Information — Get Everything

Before leaving the scene, exchange the following information with every driver involved in the collision: full legal name; home address; insurance company and policy number; driver’s license number; vehicle registration number; and vehicle identification number (VIN). Get contact information — name and phone number — from every witness at the scene. Witnesses often leave before police arrive, so approach them immediately and ask for their contact information.

If the other driver is uncooperative or flees the scene, get their license plate number and as much vehicle description as possible. Call 911 immediately if the at-fault driver attempts to leave.

Step 7: Request the Police Report Number

When the responding officer is finished taking information, ask for the police report number and the name and badge number of the responding officer. The full written police accident report (in New York, MV-104 form) will be available from the police department or DMV within a few days to weeks after the accident.

Under VTL Section 605, accidents involving personal injury, death, or property damage exceeding $1,000 must be reported to the New York DMV within 10 days on an MV-104 form if no police report was filed. Your attorney can assist with this filing.

Step 8: Seek Medical Attention Immediately — This Is the Most Critical Step

Go to the emergency room immediately after the accident — or as soon as possible if you were not transported by ambulance. This step is non-negotiable for both your health and your legal claim, and the two reasons are equally important.

From a health standpoint, many serious injuries are not immediately apparent at the scene. Whiplash symptoms (cervical strain and soft tissue injury) commonly peak 24 to 48 hours after the crash. Disc herniations may not produce significant radicular symptoms until hours or days later. Internal bleeding — from solid organ lacerations to the spleen, liver, or kidneys — can be silent for hours before producing symptoms of hemorrhagic shock. Traumatic brain injuries, including epidural and subdural hematomas, can have a “lucid interval” during which the injured person appears normal before rapidly deteriorating. Going to the emergency room immediately protects you from these delayed presentations.

From a legal standpoint, a gap between the accident and your first documented medical evaluation is one of the most powerful weapons in an insurance company’s arsenal. Defense lawyers and insurance adjusters will argue that because you did not seek immediate medical attention, your injuries are not serious, were not caused by the accident, or are being exaggerated. There is no substitute for an emergency room record dated the day of the accident documenting your complaints, your physical examination findings, and the imaging performed. Do not wait for your primary care doctor. Do not wait until the next day. Go to the ER.

Step 9: Notify Your Own Insurance Company — And File the NF-2 Within 30 Days

New York is a no-fault insurance state under Insurance Law Article 51. Your own auto insurance policy’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage provides up to $50,000 for medical expenses and lost wages regardless of who caused the accident. To access these benefits, you must submit the NF-2 (No-Fault Application for Motor Vehicle No-Fault Benefits) to your own insurance company within 30 days of the accident.

This deadline is absolute. Failure to submit the NF-2 within 30 days is a complete bar to no-fault benefits — you lose access to the $50,000 in medical and wage coverage entirely. Your attorney can file the NF-2 on your behalf, but you must contact an attorney quickly enough for this to happen. Notify your insurance company of the accident within 24 to 48 hours; the formal NF-2 can follow within the 30-day window.

Step 10: Do Not Give a Recorded Statement to the Other Driver’s Insurance Company

Within days of your accident, you will likely receive a call from the at-fault driver’s insurance company asking you to provide a recorded statement. You are under no legal obligation to give one, and you should not do so without first consulting an attorney.

Insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that elicit answers that minimize your claim. They will ask about pre-existing conditions, whether you were wearing a seatbelt, whether you were distracted, whether you were in a rush, and dozens of other questions designed to establish comparative negligence or undermine the severity of your injuries. Anything you say in a recorded statement will be preserved and used against you. Politely decline and inform the adjuster that you are consulting an attorney.

Step 11: Keep a Damage Journal and Track All Losses from Day One

Starting the day of the accident, keep a folder — physical or digital — documenting every loss and expense. Include all medical bills and Explanation of Benefits statements from your health insurer; pharmacy receipts for all medications; receipts for transportation to and from medical appointments; records of all missed work days and your pay rate for calculating lost wages; out-of-pocket expenses for any services you needed help with due to your injuries (cleaning, childcare, grocery delivery); and a daily pain journal noting your symptoms, limitations, and how the injuries are affecting your daily life.

This documentation record becomes the foundation of your economic damages claim and provides contemporaneous evidence of your non-economic suffering that is far more compelling to a jury than testimony given years later.

Step 12: Social Media Blackout

From the moment of the accident until your case is fully resolved, do not post anything about the accident, your injuries, your medical treatment, or your physical activities on any social media platform. This includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, and any other platform.

Defense attorneys and insurance investigators routinely monitor the social media accounts of personal injury plaintiffs. A photograph of you at a family gathering, hiking, or participating in any physical activity — even months or years after the accident — will be used to argue that your injuries are not as limiting as you claim. Even innocent social media activity can be taken out of context. A complete social media blackout from the date of the accident is the only safe approach.

Step 13: Consult an Attorney as Soon as Possible

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New York is three years from the accident date under CPLR Section 214. However, earlier is always better. Evidence degrades. Witnesses become unavailable. Surveillance footage is typically overwritten within 30 to 90 days unless preserved through a litigation hold letter. If a government entity (a city bus, a municipal vehicle, a defective road or traffic signal) contributed to the accident, a Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days of the accident — a deadline that cannot be extended in most circumstances.

Consulting an attorney immediately after your accident allows counsel to send litigation hold letters to preserve surveillance footage, identify all liable parties before they become unavailable, ensure the NF-2 is filed on time, and begin building the evidentiary record while the physical evidence is still fresh. Attorney fees in personal injury cases are contingency-based — you pay nothing unless and until your attorney recovers compensation for you.

For a full discussion of car accident law in New York, including liability, insurance coverage, the serious injury threshold under Section 5102(d), and the types of compensation available for Long Island car accident victims, visit our Long Island car accident lawyer page.

When you reach the step of hiring counsel, our guide to the best personal injury lawyer on Long Island explains what to ask.

What Happens After You Call

When you contact our office, here is what happens next. We review your accident and medical records at no cost to you. We send litigation hold letters to preserve surveillance footage, black box (EDR) data from the vehicles, and any other time-sensitive evidence. We file your NF-2 no-fault application to ensure you receive your medical and wage benefits. We begin building your case while the evidence is fresh and while the other driver’s insurance company is still actively investigating. You receive legal representation from the first call through final resolution — with no fee unless we win.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident on Long Island, in Nassau County, Suffolk County, or anywhere in New York City, call us at (516) 750-0595 for a free consultation. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hablamos Espanol.