5 things NOT to do after a car crash

The minutes after a collision are the worst possible conditions for good decisions. You are flooded with adrenaline, your hearing has gone strange, and someone is talking at you. These are the five moves we see hurt people most — every one of them is instinctive, and every one is avoidable.

1. Saying "I'm fine"

It is reflexive politeness, and it is recorded. Adrenaline masks injury for hours; whiplash and soft-tissue damage routinely present the next morning. "I'm fine" at the scene becomes the sentence an adjuster reads back to you when you claim for a neck injury three days later.

Say instead: "I'm not sure yet, I'll get checked out." True, honest, and it does not close a door.

2. Apologizing

Most people say sorry because a stranger's day just got wrecked. It gets recorded as an admission of fault. You can be kind — ask if they are hurt, help them off the road — without accepting blame for something you may not have caused. Let the evidence decide fault.

3. Not photographing enough

People take two photos of their own bumper. Within a day the vehicles have moved, the debris is swept, and the scene is gone for good. Take far more than feels necessary:

• Both vehicles, all four sides, close and wide
• Both license plates, clearly legible
• The wider scene showing signals, signs, lane markings and skid marks
• Road conditions, weather and light
• The other driver's license and insurance card
• Any visible injury

4. Accepting the first offer

An early offer arrives when the insurer knows more than you do — before your medical picture is clear and before the true repair cost is known. It usually comes with a release, and signing it ends your claim permanently, including for injuries that have not surfaced yet. There is rarely a good reason to sign quickly.

5. Assuming it is too late for footage

People assume camera footage vanishes after a few days, so they never ask. Every crash our AI detects is preserved permanently — if it happened in view of one of our cameras a year ago, we still have it. The mistake is not asking at all, not asking late.

What to do instead

1. Get to safety, check for injuries, call 911.
2. Call the police even for minor damage. Get the report number.
3. Photograph everything, far more than feels reasonable.
4. Exchange information; skip the fault discussion entirely.
5. Look for witnesses and get a phone number before they leave.
6. Get checked by a doctor, same day.
7. Request camera footage right away. Ours never expires, but store and dashcam video often gets overwritten within days.
8. Notify your insurer; be factual, stick to what you know.