What To Do After a Car Accident In Orlando: 7 Steps
Posted on: July 21, 2026A car accident can leave you shaken, injured, and unsure what to do next. If you’re still at the scene, focus first on safety. Check for injuries, call the police, document what happened, and avoid making statements about who caused the crash.
The steps you take immediately after a collision can affect your health, your insurance claim, and your ability to prove what happened.
As Orlando accident attorneys, we’ve seen clients who protected themselves after a crash and others who made serious mistakes before they understood what was at stake. This guide explains what to do after a car accident in Orlando or elsewhere in Central Florida.
Quick Checklist: What to Do After a Car Accident
If you need an immediate answer, follow these seven steps:
- Check yourself and your passengers for injuries.
- Call the police and report the crash.
- Exchange information with the other drivers.
- Take pictures and videos of the accident scene.
- Collect contact information from witnesses.
- Seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
- Speak with a car accident attorney.
Do not admit fault, chase a driver who leaves the scene, or assume that feeling fine means you were not injured.
Wondering if you have a case? Take our quiz to find out.
1. Check Yourself and Your Passengers for Injuries
Before you do anything else, check yourself and any passengers for injuries. Call 911 if anyone needs immediate medical assistance.
Many people get out of the vehicle immediately and begin picking up pieces of the car or checking the damage. Be careful. Unnecessary movement can make an injury worse.
Don’t get out of the car or move passengers until you believe it is safe, unless remaining in the vehicle would create a greater danger, such as an engine fire.
If the airbags deployed, you may see what appears to be smoke inside the car. In many cases, this is dust released by the airbags. If it doesn’t smell like smoke and there’s no other sign of fire, don’t rush out of the vehicle without first checking your surroundings.
If it’s safe to leave the vehicle, watch the surrounding traffic. Don’t assume other drivers will stop simply because a crash has occurred. Once you are safely out of the car, check on the driver and passengers of the other vehicle.
Be careful about how much you move at the scene. After a crash, adrenaline may mask pain. Because people feel fine, they may lift damaged parts, help move passengers, or take other physical actions that aggravate an injury.
Even a relatively minor collision can cause injuries such as whiplash or a herniated disc. Take it easy until you have been evaluated by a medical professional.
2. Call the Police and Report the Accident
After checking everyone for injuries, call the police and report the crash.
People are sometimes eager to leave the scene and handle the situation privately. We’ve even handled cases in which another driver admitted fault at the scene and agreed to take responsibility, only to deny fault later.
Do not admit that you caused the accident, even if you believe you may have been responsible. Stick to the facts when speaking with the police.
A police accident report provides important information about the drivers, vehicles, owners, and insurance coverage. It also creates a record of what was reported after the collision. Without a police report, a disputed accident can quickly become one driver’s word against the other’s.
If you were involved in a rideshare accident, you should also report the collision to the rideshare company through its app.
3. Exchange Information With the Drivers Involved
If the police cannot come to the scene, exchange information with every driver involved. Collect their name, address, telephone number, driver’s license information, vehicle registration, and insurance information.
When possible, take clear photographs of the other driver’s license, insurance card, registration, and license plate.
If the other driver admits responsibility, try to obtain a written and signed statement. You may also ask whether the driver is willing to identify themselves on video and explain what occurred. This can help preserve what was said at the scene if the driver changes their account later.
If the other driver leaves, don’t chase them. Try to photograph the license plate or write down the plate number, vehicle description, and direction of travel. Give that information to the police.
4. Take Pictures of the Accident Scene
The minutes immediately following a car accident may be your best opportunity to document the scene. Photographs can preserve details about the vehicles, roadway, damage, visibility, and surrounding conditions before anything changes.
We have handled cases in which photographs became a major part of proving what happened.
If you are too injured to document the scene, ask a passenger, family member, or close friend to help when possible.
Take pictures of all involved vehicles before they are moved, if it’s safe to do so. Photograph each vehicle from multiple angles and include both close-up and wider views.
Don’t focus only on property damage. Photograph skid marks, debris, traffic signs, lane markings, signals, road conditions, and anything else that may show how the collision happened.
Document any condition that may have contributed to the crash. For example, if a driver says bushes blocked their view of the road, photograph the bushes and the driver’s view from that location.
We have seen property owners remove bushes, trees, and other obstructions before they can be properly documented. They may later claim that no dangerous condition existed or that landscaping changes were routine maintenance. Photographs taken at the scene can help preserve what was actually there.
5. Collect Information From Witnesses
If anyone witnessed the accident, ask for their name, telephone number, and email address.
Do not rely entirely on the responding officer to collect witness information. Clients sometimes believe a witness will establish that the other driver caused the crash, only to discover that the police report doesn’t include the witness or describes the accident differently.
Once a witness leaves, locating them can be difficult. That can make proving fault much harder.
Witnesses who remain at the scene are usually doing so because they want to help. Collect their information while they are available. You don’t have to conduct a detailed interview. Your attorney can follow up with them later.
6. Seek Medical Treatment
If you have been in a car accident in Florida, seek medical attention as soon as possible, even if you don’t initially think you’re injured.
Shock and adrenaline can mask symptoms for days or even weeks. Feeling fine at the scene doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re not hurt.
You must receive treatment within 14 days of the accident to use the Personal Injury Protection benefits available through your auto insurance.
If you wait for symptoms to become severe and the insurance company denies coverage, you may have to pay your medical bills through your health insurance or out of your own pocket.
Early medical care can identify injuries, begin appropriate treatment, and create a record of when your symptoms were first evaluated.
7. Call a Car Accident Attorney
Many clients come to our office feeling confused, injured, and angry after a car accident. Those feelings aren’t caused only by the crash.
The insurance company may question the severity of an injury, challenge the need for treatment, or undervalue the claim. An offer that appears substantial may still fail to account for the full car accident expenses caused by the collision.
Florida follows a no-fault insurance system. That means many accident claims begin with the injured person’s own insurance coverage. If your injuries and lost wages exceed the available PIP benefits, you may need to pursue a claim against the at-fault driver.
Insurance companies understand this process, but most injured people don’t. An experienced car accident attorney can deal with the insurer, preserve available evidence, and help you understand what should be included in your claim.
You can also learn why hiring a lawyer for a car accident costs nothing out of your own pocket.
What Not to Do After a Car Accident
Knowing what not to do can be just as important as following the correct steps.
Do not:
- Leave the scene before reporting the crash and exchanging information.
- Admit fault or speculate about what caused the accident.
- Chase a driver who leaves the scene.
- Make unnecessary physical movements.
- Assume you are uninjured simply because you don’t feel immediate pain.
- Depend entirely on the police officer to identify every witness.
- Wait for symptoms to become severe before seeking medical care.
- Allow the insurance company to define the value of your claim before you understand the full extent of your injuries.
Stay calm, focus on safety, and preserve as much information as you reasonably can.
Quick Answers About What to Do After a Car Accident
Should I Call the Police After a Minor Accident?
Yes. Florida law actually requires you to report a car accident involving injury and/or death or at least $500 of property damage.
Reporting the crash also creates an official record and helps preserve important information about the drivers, vehicles, insurance coverage, and what occurred.
Even when the other driver appears cooperative, their account may change later.
What Information Should I Collect?
Collect or photograph:
- The other driver’s name and contact information
- Driver’s license
- Insurance card
- Vehicle registration
- License plate
- Vehicle make and model
- Witness names and contact information
- Damage to every involved vehicle
- Skid marks, debris, signs, signals, and road conditions
You should also record the location, time, and any other conditions that may have contributed to the crash.
What Should I Do If the Other Driver Leaves?
Do not chase the vehicle.
Try to photograph or write down its license plate, make, model, color, and direction of travel. Report that information to the police as soon as possible.
How Soon Should I Seek Medical Treatment?
Seek medical attention as soon as possible, even if your symptoms appear minor.
In Florida, you must receive treatment within 14 days of the accident to use your PIP benefits. Waiting can also make it easier for the insurance company to question whether your injuries were caused by the collision.
Get Help After a Car Accident in Orlando
Not knowing what to do after a car accident can affect your health and your legal claim. Evidence can disappear, witnesses can become difficult to find, and insurance companies may begin evaluating the claim before you understand the full extent of your injuries.
You don’t have to manage the paperwork, deadlines, medical questions, and insurance pressure alone.
Beers & Gordon represents injured people throughout Orlando and Central Florida. We can review what happened, explain the next steps, and deal with the insurance company while you focus on your recovery.
Schedule a consultation today to discuss your accident with our team.
Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska in 1997, and two years later began working at a firm in Orlando handling insurance defense matters on cases involving vehicle accidents, negligence, product liability, and more. He established Beers & Gordon P.A. with David Beers in 2009 to represent the rights of people injured because of negligence. He is a member of the invitation-only National Trial Lawyers organization and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.