What to Do After a Rear-End Collision in California

1. Address safety and medical needs

Call 911 for an emergency. Avoid entering moving traffic to take photographs. Seek medical attention appropriate to your symptoms and follow your treating clinician’s instructions. A website cannot assess an injury or tell you whether it is safe to wait.

2. Preserve the sequence of impacts

When safe, document vehicle positions, damage, road conditions, and witness details. Save original dashcam footage. Write down whether your vehicle was stopped, how many impacts you felt, and whether an impact pushed you into another vehicle. Separate what you personally observed from what another driver told you.

3. Obtain report and insurance information

Keep the responding agency’s name, report number, driver and vehicle details, and insurance information. California DMV reporting is separate: an SR-1 is generally due within 10 days for a crash involving injury, death, or more than $1,000 in property damage. DMV reporting instructions.

4. Understand what the report does—and does not—resolve

A rear impact is relevant evidence, but it does not by itself decide every liability question. Vehicle Code §21703 requires reasonable following distance in light of traffic, speed, and road conditions. A lane change, multiple impacts, or conflicting witness accounts may need further investigation.

A police officer’s conclusion and an insurer’s claim decision serve different purposes. If the insurer disagrees with the report, ask for its reasons in writing and identify the evidence bearing on those reasons.

5. Keep records and review releases carefully

Preserve treatment records, bills, missed-work information, and correspondence. Report the incident to your own insurer as required by the policy and discuss cooperation obligations with counsel. Read any settlement release carefully before signing; understand which claims it covers.

6. Check legal deadlines

California’s general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit is two years. A claim involving a California public entity generally requires a separate government claim within six months of accrual, followed by additional lawsuit deadlines. Exceptions and other deadlines can apply; an insurance claim alone does not preserve every deadline. Code of Civil Procedure §335.1; Government Code §911.2.

Next steps

Learn about car accident representation or read about disputed insurance liability.

Sources and further reading

• Following distance law
• California DMV SR-1 instructions