Nobody plans to need this article. But if you drive I-75, U.S. 33, State Route 309, or rural and city roads across Ohio long enough, the odds are you or someone in your family will eventually be involved in a crash. What you do in the first hours and days afterward has an outsized effect on your health, your insurance claim, and any legal case that follows.
Here is the practical checklist I give friends and clients.
At the Scene
1. Check for injuries and call 911. Safety first, always. Ohio law requires you to stop and, when someone is hurt or vehicles are disabled, to report the crash. A police report also becomes the single most important early document in any claim — get one even for a “minor” collision.
2. Move to safety, but photograph first if you safely can. Positions of the vehicles, skid marks, debris, traffic signs, weather, and lighting all disappear within the hour. Your phone camera is your best witness.
3. Exchange information — and gather more. Beyond the other driver’s license, registration, and insurance card, get names and phone numbers of witnesses. Witnesses leave the scene quickly and are very hard to find later.
4. Watch what you say. Be courteous, but don’t apologize or speculate about fault, even casually. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you” will appear in the insurance file.
In the First Days
5. Get checked out by a doctor — promptly. Adrenaline masks injuries, and soft-tissue and head injuries often surface a day or two later. From a claim perspective, a gap between the crash and your first treatment is one of the most common reasons insurers discount injuries. If you hurt, get seen and say so.
6. Report the crash to your own insurance company. Your policy requires prompt notice, and coverages on your policy — medical payments, uninsured motorist — may apply regardless of fault.
7. Be careful with the other driver’s insurer. You are generally not required to give the other side’s adjuster a recorded statement, and it’s usually unwise to do so before you understand your injuries. The same goes for early settlement offers: once you sign a release, the claim is over, even if your injuries turn out to be worse than you knew.
8. Start a file. Photos, the police report number, medical visits and bills, missed work days, rental car receipts, pain and limitations you notice day to day. Contemporaneous notes are far more persuasive than memory a year later.
In the Following Weeks
9. Don’t post about the crash or your activities on social media. Insurers look. A single photo can be taken out of context to dispute an injury.
10. Know your deadline. Ohio generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. That sounds like a long time; between treatment, investigation, and negotiation, it isn’t. Some claims — particularly those involving government vehicles or entities — have much shorter notice requirements.
When to Call an Attorney
Not every fender-bender needs a lawyer. But you should at least have a conversation with one if:
- Anyone was injured beyond bruises and soreness
- Fault is disputed, or more than two vehicles were involved
- The insurer is pressuring you to settle quickly or give a recorded statement
- The other driver was uninsured or underinsured
- The crash involved a commercial truck or a government vehicle
An initial conversation costs you nothing but time, and it’s the fastest way to find out whether you actually need representation. If you’ve been in a crash in Lima, Wapakoneta, eastern Ohio, southeastern Ohio, or elsewhere across the state, you can read more about how I handle these cases on the personal injury page or contact my office directly.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Every case is different — talk to an attorney about your specific situation.