What to do after a road accident, and what to write down

Safety first, official reporting guidance for drivers, the evidence to preserve, records of treatment and expenses, what to do with no witnesses, camera footage, and how to prepare for an enquiry.

General information, not advice about your own situation. Use the official sources to check current guidance.

1. Safety and medical help come first

Prioritise your safety and medical help. In an emergency call 999. Do not put yourself in traffic or delay treatment to collect evidence; follow emergency-service instructions. Head injuries in particular can develop after an impact, and the NHS explains when to get emergency or urgent help.

2. What official guidance says about reporting

GOV.UK guidance for drivers says a driver involved in an accident must give their name and address, the vehicle registration, and the vehicle owner's details if that is someone else. Where those details were not given at the scene, the guidance says the accident should be reported to the police within 24 hours. Drivers are also told to notify their own insurer, even if they do not intend to claim. The full guidance is on GOV.UK, and the underlying legal duties are in the Road Traffic Act 1988, section 170.

Those duties are written for drivers. If you were a passenger, a cyclist or on foot, do not assume they apply to you. What helps you is keeping whatever details and reference numbers you were given.

3. Details to exchange at the scene

• Full name and address of each driver, and of the vehicle owner if different.
• Registration number, make, model and colour of every vehicle involved.
• The insurer and policy number, if the other driver will share it.
• How many people were in each vehicle, and whether anyone said they were hurt.
• Whether the police or an ambulance attended, and any incident number.

Date, rough time and location — a road name or junction is enough. Do not agree who was at fault, and do not offer or accept figures at the roadside.

4. Evidence to preserve before it disappears

Wide photographs showing the position of the vehicles, then closer shots of the damage. Include road markings, signs, debris and any skid marks. Photographs taken before vehicles are moved are far more useful than ones taken afterwards, but only take them if it is safe — never enter traffic or delay moving vehicles to safety.

• Record damage with photographs before repairs where practical, but do not delay necessary safety work.
• Do not reuse a damaged helmet or child seat as safety equipment. If keeping it is unsafe or impractical, keep photographs and receipts instead.
• Do not have a vehicle repaired or scrapped before the damage is documented, unless safety requires it.
• Keep every letter, email and text from the other side or an insurer, in date order.
• Write your own account down the same day, and date it.

5. Camera footage

Footage is often overwritten within days, so asking early matters. Retention and access vary between owners, so ask promptly — disclosure cannot be guaranteed.

• Your own dashcam or helmet camera — save and copy the file straight away.
• Dashcams in following or queuing vehicles, and cameras on buses and lorries.
• Shop, pub and petrol-station cameras facing the road.
• Doorbell and home security cameras on nearby houses.
• Traffic-signal and local-authority cameras, via the relevant authority.

Note the time as precisely as you can. Whoever holds the footage needs a tight time window to find the right clip.

6. When there were no witnesses

An accident with no witnesses is not a dead end. It puts more weight on the things that do not rely on anyone's memory: photographs, the physical damage, the layout of the road and your own account written down promptly.

• Photograph the scene and the final positions before anything moves — but only if it is safe, and never in live traffic.
• Note who else was simply present — a shopkeeper, a bus driver, a passer-by.
• Revisit the location for daylight and night photographs only if it is safe and practical to do so.
• Record what you did not see, as well as what you did. Gaps are normal and honest.

7. Treatment and expense records

Keep a simple record rather than a medical file. Where you were seen and when, any reference number, and what you were told to do next. If you paid for anything because of the accident, keep the receipt.

• Dates of any GP, urgent care, hospital or dental attendance.
• Prescriptions, physiotherapy or other treatment you paid for.
• Travel costs to appointments, and time taken off work.
• Repairs, replacement items, recovery and storage charges.

This guide does not give medical advice and this service does not assess or value anything. Keeping records simply means the facts are available to whoever looks at them later.

8. Preparing for an enquiry

If you go on to make an enquiry, put your notes in one place: date and location, vehicles and people involved, any reference numbers, where the photographs and footage are, and your own dated account. That is the whole preparation.

Smart Family Ltd's intended role is referral: take a short enquiry, name one legal provider, and ask your permission before sharing anything. It does not assess liability, decide eligibility, calculate time limits or value a claim. You can see how an enquiry is reviewed, or read the situation pages for passengers, bus and coach passengers, cyclists, motorcycle riders and people on foot.

What not to do

• Do not agree who was at fault at the scene.
• Do not guess at speeds, distances or costs as if they were facts.
• Do not delete photographs or messages, even unhelpful ones.
• Do not repair or dispose of damaged items before they are recorded, unless safety requires it.