After Your Car Accident . . .
Report Your Accident To The DMV

After your car accident, you may have to report your accident to the DMV.

You should always call the police and you should always report your accident to your insurance company.

You may also have to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), or whatever it is called in your state.

Generally, if the police come to the scene or your accident and write a report, you don't have to do another report to the DMV.

However, if there is no police report and there have been personal injuries or more than minimal damage to the vehicles, you must report your accident to the DMV on a form they will provide. Often, you can download the form online.

Click here for a link to your state's DMV.

There are time limits for filing the report. Usually 5 or 10 days, but sometimes less. If you don't file on time, there can be penalties which include, in some states, suspension of your driver's license!

Click here to go from this discussion of how you have to report your accident to the DMV to a more general discussion of the 8 things that you should do AFTER your car accident.