Both cars can still move, nobody seems badly hurt, and the two drivers trade insurance information on the shoulder of Route 1 before heading home. Two days later your neck stiffens, the insurer asks for documents, and you realize you never took a photo or wrote down the other driver's plate number.
The steps to take after a car accident in New Jersey begin in the first minutes and continue for weeks, and each stage has its own rules for police notice, written reports, insurance claims, and filing deadlines. Below, we follow that timeline from keeping the scene safe, through the reporting rules New Jersey sets, to the records worth saving afterward.
Key Takeaways: What Are the Steps to Take After a Car Accident in New Jersey?
- Stop at the scene, move out of traffic only when it is safe, and call 911 if anyone may be hurt or the scene is dangerous.
- Notify police after any crash involving injury, death, or property damage over $500.
- Exchange insurance and contact details, photograph the scene and vehicles, and collect witness information before details fade.
- Get medical care for any suspected injury and notify your insurer promptly; New Jersey PIP coverage can pay eligible medical expenses whoever caused the crash.
- Wait on settlement talks until you know what an offer covers and what the release would close.
- Keep medical, repair, and insurer records, obtain the crash report, and track filing deadlines.
What Should You Do Immediately After a New Jersey Crash?
Safety comes before documentation, so standing in traffic to photograph damage, chasing another driver, or attempting roadside repairs in a dangerous spot can all wait.
These five actions cover the first minutes, in the order that keeps people safest:
- Stop and stay at the scene, even when the damage looks minor.
- Check for injured occupants and pedestrians, leaking fluids, smoke, fire, and vehicles blocking traffic.
- Ask for police, fire, or medical help, depending on what you see.
- Move the vehicles out of the flow of traffic only if they can be driven safely, and stay nearby; leave a badly damaged vehicle where it is.
- Turn on hazard lights, and set out flares if you have them, as New Jersey's Department of Banking and Insurance suggests.
When police and emergency responders arrive, follow their instructions and save any discussion of blame for later.
When Should You Contact Police and Seek Medical Care?
New Jersey requires a driver to notify police by the quickest means available after a crash that injures or kills anyone or damages any one person's property by more than $500. Notice to police is only the first duty, and the written report that follows works differently:
- Notice to police: The driver, or another capable occupant if the driver cannot, makes the call to local, county, or State Police.
- Written report to the Motor Vehicle Commission: The driver sends a report on the Commission's forms within 10 days, and the vehicle's owner files it when the driver cannot. The report is excused when a police officer files one.
A car that still drives does not exempt a crash from reporting, and if no officer files a report, the 10-day written report falls to the driver.
Injuries need the same promptness. Call 911 for serious injuries, loss of consciousness, difficulty breathing, or severe pain. For anything milder, see a clinician anyway, because symptoms can build over hours or days. Tell every provider that your symptoms followed a car accident, and follow the recommended treatment.
Information and Photos to Collect at the Scene
Collect what identifies the drivers and vehicles, documents the scene and road conditions, and records your own account, and do it only when it is safe. The Department's guide also lists the time, date, and location among the details worth noting.
A phone camera and a notes app cover most of this in a few minutes:
Scene and road:
- Wide shots from several safe viewpoints, showing where each vehicle ended up
- Weather, lighting, traffic signals, road signs, and lane markings
- Skid marks, debris, and damaged roadside property
Vehicles:
- Damage on each vehicle, in wide shots and close-ups
- License plates, makes, models, colors, and each insurer and policy number
People:
- Names and contact details for each driver, passenger, and witness
- The responding officer's name and badge number, and the crash report number if one is given
- Visible injuries, if the injured person is comfortable having them photographed
Keep the original files, because cropped or marked-up copies lose detail, and note the time and location of each image.
You can exchange information without deciding fault at the roadside, so do not agree on a version of events to end a stressful conversation. Your own short note, written at the scene, preserves what you saw when memory is fresh:
“Southbound on Route 9, right lane, about 4:40 p.m., light rain. Traffic slowed ahead, and I stopped. The car behind me struck my rear bumper. I did not see its speed before impact.”
A note that records direction, time, lane, conditions, and what you observed holds up better than a guess about the other driver's speed or a theory about the cause.
How Do You Notify Your Insurer and Start a PIP Claim?
Notify your insurer as soon as possible, even when you were not at fault or see no damage or injury, and ask how to start a Personal Injury Protection claim if anyone covered by the policy was hurt. PIP, often called no-fault coverage, pays medical expenses for covered people whether or not they were at fault.
When you call, this order gets the claim moving:
- Report the crash through the insurer's claim process, by phone or its other designated channel.
- Give the date, location, vehicles involved, and the police report number if you have it.
- Ask which claims need to be opened: PIP for injuries, coverage for vehicle damage, or another coverage.
- Request the claim number and the adjuster's contact details.
- Ask which forms, medical records, or repair estimates the insurer needs, and keep a record of each submission.
The Department's guide says the insurer must then contact you within 10 working days, or within 7 if it plans to inspect your vehicle.
Injuries and car repairs run through different coverages, so it helps to know which one answers each loss:
| Loss | Where it is handled |
| Medical expenses | PIP pays eligible treatment costs, up to the policy's limits |
| Vehicle damage | Collision coverage on your own policy, or a claim against the responsible driver's liability coverage |
| Lost income and household help | The second part of PIP, if you bought it, can reimburse lost wages and paid help with household or family care |
| Uninsured driver | Uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy, if you have it |
Each of these runs through your own policy, which makes PIP a separate matter from any claim against the other driver.
What Should You Do Before Discussing a Settlement?
Find out what the insurer is offering, which losses the payment covers, and whether the release would close any part of the claim. An offer for vehicle damage and an offer for injuries are separate, so confirm which one is on the table and ask for written clarification if the scope is unclear.
Your policy's right-to-sue choice affects whether an injury claim can include pain and suffering, so check your declarations page for these three terms:
- Limited Right to Sue: You agree not to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering unless you have a listed permanent injury, such as loss of a body part, a displaced fracture, significant scarring, or death. This option applies by law if you made no choice on the coverage selection form.
- Unlimited Right to Sue: You keep the right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering for any injury. Under either option, medical expenses and some economic losses are paid up to your PIP limits.
- Basic Auto Policy: This policy includes the Limited Right to Sue, $15,000 in PIP, and $5,000 in property damage liability, with no bodily injury liability or uninsured motorist coverage.
Which option applies depends on what you chose when you bought the policy, so the declarations page answers it. Policy limits also shape what a payment can reach. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, New Jersey's minimum bodily injury liability limits rose to $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident, though the increase does not apply to the Basic policy. A minimum is the least coverage a driver must carry, not the value of a claim.
Three cautions apply before you sign anything. A police report records the officer's findings, and an insurer or court weighs them with other evidence. A first repair estimate or first offer may arrive before hidden damage, or the full cost of treatment, is known. A release can close claims you have not yet raised, so ask what it covers.
Preserving Evidence and Tracking Your Injuries and Expenses
Keep a dated record of the crash, symptoms, treatment, expenses, property damage, and insurer communications. A running log shows what is documented and what still needs follow-up. It works best with one entry for each visit, bill, or call, and this sample shows the four details to record:
Date: March 3
What happened or what was spent: Urgent care visit for neck stiffness
Supporting record: Visit summary and receipt
Follow-up needed: Ask the insurer which PIP forms the provider should send
Beyond the log, a single folder keeps everything an insurer or lawyer may ask for:
- Medical records, prescription receipts, and bills
- Repair documents, towing charges, and rental-car receipts
- Notes on appointments, symptoms, and missed work
- Insurer emails, letters, claim numbers, and call notes
- A written request asking nearby businesses to keep surveillance footage, which can be overwritten
The crash report belongs in that folder too, though it may not be available right away. New Jersey's State Police portal says a report cannot be retrieved until it is completed and approved, suggests searching again in a couple of days, and keeps reports for six years; materials from serious or fatal crashes require a subpoena or court order. Check the report for errors, such as a wrong passenger count, and tell both the insurer and the police department about any you find.
New Jersey's general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit is two years, with exceptions. A claim involving a public entity runs on a much shorter deadline. Claims against the State require notice within 90 days, and a late claim needs the court's permission. Claims against county or municipal entities go directly to those entities, and the Turnpike Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, and NJ Transit handle their own. A police report and a call to your own insurer do not replace the claim filed with the public entity.
Recovery already takes most of your energy, and a lawyer can help you with the following: requesting the crash report and checking it for errors, gathering the medical and repair records, and working out which deadlines apply to your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What if the other driver leaves before exchanging information?
Note what you can right away: the license plate, the vehicle's make, model, and color, the direction it went, and any witnesses or nearby cameras. Call 911 so an officer can create a record of the crash. Then tell your insurer, since uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy may respond when the other driver cannot be identified, depending on the policy terms.
Should I give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement?
Your duty to cooperate runs to your own insurer, and giving the other driver's insurer a recorded statement is optional. It is reasonable to wait until you understand your injuries and have the facts straight. If you do speak, stick to what you observed and avoid guessing about speed or fault. You can also ask for questions in writing or have a lawyer review the request first.
What if pain starts hours or days after the collision?
Symptoms such as neck stiffness, headaches, or back pain can appear hours or days after a crash. See a clinician as soon as you notice them, then share the change with your insurer and add the visit to your log. A gap before treatment can lead an insurer to question whether the crash caused the injury, so prompt care helps the record.
Can I choose my own repair shop?
Yes. The Department of Banking and Insurance says you may choose your own licensed repair shop. Your insurer must try to agree with that shop on the repair cost, and if it cannot, it must identify other licensed shops that can do the work at the agreed price. Keep receipts for emergency repairs, because an insurer may refuse to pay for damage that could have been limited.
Can my health insurance be the primary coverage for accident injuries?
New Jersey lets you choose to make your own health insurance the primary coverage for auto-accident injuries, which can lower your premium. The choice is made on your policy, so check your declarations page. Before relying on it, confirm that your health plan covers auto accident injuries and how much it pays. Medicare and Medicaid cannot be used under this option.
Early Answers From Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, After a New Jersey Crash
A short call after a crash can clear up a lot. It can cover points like these:
- Whether police were notified and whether a written report to the Motor Vehicle Commission is needed
- Which insurer to notify and how to start a PIP claim
- What your policy's right-to-sue option means for an injury claim
- Which records and photos are worth saving now
- How to respond if the other driver's insurer calls
Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, is glad to start with the item that worries you most. Whichever it is, message us and leave with a clear first step.