What you do in the first 48 hours after an Arizona car accident determines what your case is worth. Not what you do next week. Not what your lawyer does three months from now. The checklist below is built from the steps that consistently protect personal injury claims — and the avoidable mistakes that consistently destroy them. Read it now. Save it. Share it.
At the scene (first 60 minutes)
1. Check for injuries and call 911
If anyone is injured, call 911 immediately. Even for minor-seeming accidents, Arizona law requires reporting accidents with injuries, death, or significant property damage. Under A.R.S. § 28-667, you must remain at the scene and provide information to the other driver and law enforcement.
Calling 911 generates a police report. A police report is one of the most important pieces of evidence in a personal injury case. Even for minor accidents, call. The three minutes you save by exchanging info and driving away will cost you tens of thousands of dollars later if you end up injured.
2. Move to safety if possible
If the cars are drivable and you're on a busy road, move to the shoulder or a nearby parking lot. If they're not drivable or you're injured, stay where you are and turn on hazard lights.
3. Photograph everything
This is the most important thing you can do at the scene. Photograph:
- All vehicles involved, from multiple angles, showing all damage
- License plates of every vehicle
- The overall accident scene — position of cars, skid marks, debris
- Traffic signs, signals, and road conditions at the location
- Weather conditions
- Any visible injuries
- The other driver's insurance card and driver's license
- Nearby businesses or houses (useful later for surveillance footage)
Take too many photos, not too few. You can delete excess later; you can't go back and take more.
4. Get the other driver's information
- Full name
- Driver's license number (photograph it)
- Insurance company, policy number, phone number (photograph the card)
- License plate number
- Make, model, and year of their vehicle
- Phone number and address
5. Get witness information
Anyone who saw the accident — other drivers, pedestrians, people from nearby businesses. Get names and phone numbers. Witnesses become impossible to find later if you don't capture them at the scene. Even a few seconds of witness statement recorded on your phone can be decisive in a disputed-fault case.
6. Cooperate with police
Tell the officer what happened factually and accurately. Do not speculate. Do not admit fault. Do not say "I'm sorry" — even if you're saying it reflexively, it can be used against you. Answer questions truthfully but briefly. If you don't know something, say so.
7. Get the police report number
Ask the officer for the incident number and their name and badge number. You'll need this to pull the report in 3–10 days.
In the first 24 hours
8. Get medical attention, even if you feel fine
This matters more than almost anything else. Adrenaline at the accident scene masks injuries. Many car accident injuries — whiplash, concussion, soft-tissue damage — don't produce symptoms for 24–72 hours.
Go to the ER, urgent care, or your doctor the same day, even if you feel okay. Create a medical record tied to the accident. This is the single most important piece of early documentation in any Arizona injury claim. An ER visit on the day of the accident, with no findings and a discharge home, is far better evidence than "I woke up with neck pain three days later."
9. Notify your own insurance company
Call your insurance company and report the accident. Give them the basic facts — time, place, other driver's info. Don't speculate about fault. Your policy requires prompt notice; delays can void coverage.
Be cautious with recorded statements even to your own insurance. You have contractual obligations to cooperate, but you don't have to give a recorded statement the same day. Consult with a lawyer first if injuries are significant.
10. Do NOT call the other driver's insurance
They will call you within 1–3 days. Their job is to minimize what they pay you. Your job is to not help them do that.
When they call:
- Confirm your contact information and the basic facts of the accident
- Decline to give a recorded statement (you are not required to)
- Decline to sign a medical authorization
- Decline to discuss your injuries beyond acknowledging that you're being evaluated
- Don't accept a settlement offer on the phone
- Tell them you'll follow up in writing
This is not being difficult. This is not being litigious. This is protecting yourself from a party whose financial interest is directly opposed to yours.
11. Start a written journal
Beginning today, keep a daily record of:
- Pain levels (0–10 scale) and where you hurt
- Activities you couldn't do or had difficulty doing
- Sleep quality
- Missed work or reduced work capacity
- Emotional impact — anxiety driving, trouble sleeping, etc.
Memory fades. By the time your case settles 6–12 months later, you won't remember exactly how you felt in week 3. The journal makes pain and suffering damages concrete.
12. Preserve evidence
- Keep the damaged vehicle accessible until you've documented everything or your insurance has inspected it
- Save clothes you were wearing (especially if torn or bloody)
- Keep the accident report, medical bills, receipts for everything accident-related
- Screenshot any relevant social media posts (yours and the other driver's) before anything disappears
In the first 48 hours
13. Do not post about the accident on social media
Anything you post becomes evidence. Photos of your damaged car, comments about the accident, check-ins at locations, photos of you at social events — all of it. The insurance company's investigators will see everything public.
Consider locking down social media entirely until the case resolves. Don't delete past posts (that can be argued as spoliation of evidence) but go private and stop posting.
14. Pull the police report
Most Arizona police reports are available 3–10 days after the accident. Get a copy from the responding agency (often available online). Review it for errors — misnamed parties, wrong insurance info, missing witnesses, factual mistakes. If you find errors, contact the responding officer to correct them. Insurance companies treat the police report as authoritative.
15. Follow up with doctors
If you went to the ER, schedule a follow-up with your primary care doctor within 3–7 days. If the ER referred you to a specialist, schedule that appointment. Insurance companies look for treatment gaps as evidence that injuries weren't serious. Consistent, documented care is what builds a case.
16. Decide whether to hire a lawyer
For clear liability, minor injuries with quick recovery, and property damage — you may not need a lawyer. For any of the following, strongly consider one:
- You're injured enough that you missed work or needed multiple medical visits
- Fault is disputed
- The other driver's insurance is already being difficult
- The accident involved a commercial vehicle, government vehicle, or rideshare driver
- You don't know whether the other driver has enough insurance
- Someone was seriously hurt or killed
Most Arizona personal injury attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency — no fee unless they recover for you.
Mistakes that destroy cases
If you're reading this more than 48 hours after the accident
You haven't ruined your case. Most of these steps can still be taken:
- Get medical attention now if you haven't
- Start the journal today (note it's started today, document what you remember)
- Pull the police report
- Stop posting on social media
- Stop talking to the other driver's insurance unless necessary
- Consult a lawyer — the earlier the better, but it's rarely too late
The only hard deadline is the 2-year statute of limitations for filing suit. Everything else is recoverable with the right approach.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to report a minor accident to the police?
Arizona law requires reporting accidents involving injury, death, or damage to any vehicle that makes it unsafe to drive. Even for minor accidents, calling the police is usually wise — the report protects you later.
What if the other driver wants to handle it without insurance?
Refuse. At minimum, get a police report and exchange insurance information. "Off the books" accident handling almost always favors the at-fault driver; your injuries may turn out to be worse than they initially appear, and without proper documentation you have no recourse.
What if the other driver doesn't have insurance?
If you have uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on your own policy, it kicks in. If you don't, you can pursue the at-fault driver personally — but collecting from an uninsured driver's personal assets is difficult. This is why carrying UM coverage is one of the cheapest and most important insurance decisions in Arizona.
What if I start feeling pain days later?
Go to a doctor immediately and explain the accident. Delayed-onset whiplash and concussion symptoms are common and medically well-documented. Note the date symptoms started. Insurance companies will push back, but documented medical care establishes the link.
Should I talk to a lawyer even if I'm not sure I need one?
Yes — most consultations are free. A 30-minute call will tell you whether your case is worth pursuing professionally or can be handled on your own. Lawyers who think your case is better handled without representation will usually tell you so.