The SR-1 form in California: when you have to file it within 10 days

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The short answer

If you were the driver in a California crash that caused any injury (even a minor one), a death, or more than $1,000 in damage to any one person's property, you must send an SR-1, "Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California," to the DMV within 10 days. It doesn't matter who was at fault, and a police or CHP report doesn't replace it. If you don't file, the DMV can suspend your license.

Sources: California Vehicle Code §16000 · DMV, Report of Traffic Accident (SR-1)

When an SR-1 is required

Vehicle Code §16000(a) says a driver "in any manner involved" in an accident on a street or highway (or a reportable off-highway accident) has to report it within 10 days when the crash resulted in:

• Damage to the property of any one person over $1,000, or
• Bodily injury to anyone, or
• The death of anyone.

The DMV puts it plainly: an SR-1 is due within 10 days "if someone is injured (no matter how minor the injury) or killed, or property damage is over $1000" (DMV SR-1 page).

Private property and parking lots

The instructions on the SR-1 form (PDF) say accidents "on a California street/highway or private property" must be reported when the injury or $1,000 test is met. The form lists some accidents that are not reportable, including ones involving vehicles that don't have to be registered (like an off-road vehicle or snowmobile), ones on a military base, and ones on the driver's own property that damaged only the driver's own property and hurt no one.

Government vehicles

No report is required under §16000 if the vehicle involved was owned or leased by, or under the direction of, the United States, California, another state, or a local agency (§16000(b)).

What "over $1,000" means in practice

The test is damage to any one person's property, not the total for the whole crash. If your car, the other driver's car, or someone else's property (a fence, a pole) has more than $1,000 in damage, the threshold is met. A body shop estimate is the easiest way to tell. Plenty of bumper and fender repairs pass $1,000, so don't assume a crash was too small without an estimate.

You have to file even if it wasn't your fault

The SR-1 form says "the law requires the driver to file this SR 1 form with DMV regardless of fault." Both drivers in a two-car crash usually each have a duty to report.

A police or CHP report doesn't count

The DMV says an SR-1 is required "in addition to any other report made to the police, CHP, or your insurance company" (DMV SR-1 page). That's a separate duty from the police report rule. If anyone was hurt or killed, Vehicle Code §20008(a) also requires the driver to make a written report to the CHP, or to the city police in a city, within 24 hours (Vehicle Code §20008).

Who can file it

The driver has the duty, but §16000(a) lets the report be made "either personally or through an insurance agent, broker, or legal representative." If someone says they filed it for you, ask for confirmation. The SR-1 form also says a passenger can report by checking "other" and writing "passenger."

How to file an SR-1

1. Gather what the DMV asks for: your driver's license, your plate number or VIN, your insurance information, and the other party's vehicle and insurance information if you have it (DMV SR-1 page).
2. Fill in the form. The DMV's page lets you file the report and also offers a printable SR-1 (PDF). The DMV notes that paper submissions are likely to take longer to process.
3. Fill in the insurance section completely. The insurance part of the form warns that if it isn't fully completed, "it will be assumed you were not insured for the accident and your license will be suspended." Use the insurance company's name (not your agent's) and its NAIC number, which the form says is usually on your insurance ID card.
4. Write "unk" or "none" in any box where you don't have the other party's information, as the form instructs.
5. List any injured person you saw was hurt or who complained of injury, and any other damaged property, such as a fence or pole.
6. Sign it. You sign under penalty of perjury, so stick to facts you know.
7. Mail paper forms to the address printed on the form: Department of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Unit, Mail Station J237, P.O. Box 942884, Sacramento, CA 94284-0884. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it.

What happens if you don't file

• License suspension. The DMV "shall suspend the driving privilege of any person who fails, refuses, or neglects to make a report of an accident" (§16004(a)). It stays suspended until the DMV receives the report or proof of financial responsibility (§16004(b)) (Vehicle Code §16004).
• If you were uninsured at the time. When an accident report says a driver wasn't insured, the DMV mails a notice of intent to suspend and suspends the license 30 days later unless the driver shows proof of financial responsibility at the time of the crash. The notice explains the right to a hearing (Vehicle Code §16070).
• The one-year cutoff. If none of the parties reports the accident within one year, the DMV doesn't have to file a report, and the suspension rules in §16004 and §16070 don't apply (§16000(c)). The SR-1 form says the DMV won't act against non-reporting or uninsured drivers unless someone involved sends in an SR-1 that arrives within one calendar year.

Why the SR-1 matters if the other driver was uninsured

The financial responsibility law means every driver and owner must be able to show insurance or another approved form of financial responsibility (Vehicle Code §16020). The SR-1 form gives the minimum liability insurance as $30,000 for injury or death of one person, $60,000 for two or more people, and $15,000 for property damage per accident, and says comprehensive and collision coverage alone don't meet the requirement.

If the other driver had no insurance, your own SR-1 is how the DMV learns about it. As the form notes, the DMV won't take action against an uninsured driver unless someone involved in the crash files.

Is the SR-1 private?

Mostly. Vehicle Code §16005 says these reports are "without prejudice to the individual so reporting" and are for the DMV's confidential use. The DMV may still release the names and addresses of people involved, vehicle plates and descriptions, the date, time and place, any suspension, and the names of insurers to people with a proper interest, such as the other drivers, owners of damaged property, and courts (Vehicle Code §16005). Vehicle Code §20013 says the reports can't be used as evidence in a trial arising out of the accident, except to show whether a report was made (Vehicle Code §20013).

After you file: the damage claim

The SR-1 is only a report. It doesn't start a claim. For your car, you still need to deal with the insurance company, and that's where most of the money is:

• If the car was repaired, ask about diminished value, the resale value it lost even after a good repair.
• Claim loss of use for the days you were without your car.
• If the car was totaled, check whether the total-loss offer is too low.
• If a child's car seat was in the car, the insurer has to replace the car seat.

Related

• What diminished value is and when California drivers can claim it
• Loss of use: getting paid for the days without your car
• California diminished-value demand letter template: put your property damage claim in writing.

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Published October 28, 2026 · Last reviewed October 28, 2026 · How we write and review guides