What to do after a car accident in Australia

First: safety, then everything else

Nothing on this page matters more than the next thirty seconds. Check yourself, then your passengers, then the other vehicle. Adrenaline masks injury, so do not assume you are fine because you can walk.

1. Turn on your hazard lights.
2. If the vehicles are driveable and you are on a live traffic lane, move them clear of traffic — take a photo of the positions first if you safely can.
3. If the vehicles cannot be moved, get yourself and your passengers behind a barrier or well off the roadway. Do not stand between vehicles or in a traffic lane.
4. Check whether anyone needs an ambulance.

What information to get from the other driver

This is the part people most often get wrong, usually because they are shaken and the other driver is in a hurry. Get it before anyone leaves. A registration number alone is not enough to run a claim smoothly.

• Full name and mobile number
• Residential address, or at least the suburb
• Driver licence number and the state that issued it
• Vehicle registration number and state
• Make, model and colour of the vehicle
• Their insurer and, if they have it, the policy number
• Whether they are the registered owner — if not, the owner's name

If the other driver will not give you their details, do not escalate it. Photograph their registration plate and the vehicle, note the time and location, and report the matter to police.

Photograph the scene before it changes

A scene stops being evidence the moment the cars move. Photographs cost you nothing and settle arguments months later when two accounts disagree.

• Wide shots showing both vehicles where they came to rest
• The damage to each vehicle, close up and from a few metres back
• Registration plates of every vehicle involved
• Traffic signals, give-way signs, stop signs and speed signs
• Lane markings, skid marks and debris on the road
• Road and weather conditions — wet, dark, glare, roadworks
• The other driver's licence and insurance details, if they consent

Witnesses and police

An independent witness is worth a great deal if fault is later disputed. Ask for a name and mobile number before they drive off — most people will give it if you ask in the first minute, and almost nobody will if you chase them later.

Whether police attend, and whether you must report the crash yourself, depends on the state or territory and on what happened — injuries, a driver who will not exchange details, suspected drink or drug driving, or property damage above a threshold. Check the rules for the state you were in.

Contact your insurer, even if you are not claiming

Most policies require you to tell your insurer about an accident within a set time, regardless of whether you intend to claim. Reporting is not the same as lodging a claim — say clearly which one you are doing.

Do not tell the other driver, or their insurer, that the accident was your fault. You may not have all the facts yet, and fault is assessed by the insurers based on the evidence, not by whoever apologises first.

Write it down while it is fresh

Your memory of the sequence will fade faster than you expect. Within a few hours, record what you were doing, which direction you were travelling, your speed, what the other vehicle did, and what was said at the scene.

This is exactly what the Crash Guide Accident Assistant is for — you describe it in your own words, and it organises the detail into one accident record with an Action Plan for what to do next.