6.1 Collision Duties, Information Exchange & Reporting

Stop, Protect People, and Complete the Required Reports

Collision duties begin immediately. A driver involved in a collision must stop; leaving can create serious criminal and licensing consequences, especially when a person is injured or killed. Stop as close as safely possible without creating another crash. Activate warning lights, assess danger, and call 911 when anyone may be injured, traffic is threatened, or emergency assistance is needed.

Immediate Duties

Do not move an injured person unless remaining in place presents an immediate danger or movement is necessary to provide lifesaving care that cannot otherwise be given. Follow dispatcher instructions. If vehicles can be moved safely and no person needs to remain in place for emergency care, move them out of through traffic when the law and scene permit. Do not stand between vehicles or in an active lane.

For a collision involving an unattended vehicle or other property, make a reasonable effort to locate the owner. If the owner cannot be found, current DMV guidance says to leave a securely attached note with the driver's name, phone number, and address and report the collision to law enforcement. A note is not a substitute for stopping and addressing an occupied-vehicle collision.

Information to Exchange and Preserve

Exchange accurate identifying, driver-license, vehicle-registration, and insurance information. Obtain names and contact information for involved people and witnesses when possible. Record location, direction of travel, vehicle positions, damage, road and weather conditions, and photographs from a safe place. Do not argue about fault, sign an improvised liability release, or speculate about injury.

Notify the driving school promptly under its emergency procedure. The school's insurer or legal representative may need additional facts. When anyone is injured or killed, the current handbook also requires a report to law enforcement within 24 hours; an authorized representative may make it. School policy can require an internal report, but do not call the OL 214 a collision report: under current DMV regulations, OL 214 is associated with accounting for driver-education and driver-training completion certificates.

SR-1 DMV Report

DMV currently requires an SR-1 within 10 days when a California collision causes any injury or death or more than $1,000 in property damage. The driver or an authorized representative such as an insurer, broker, or attorney may submit it. It is required regardless of fault and in addition to any police, CHP, or insurance report. The obligation applies to qualifying collisions on public roads and also generally on private property, subject to the exceptions stated on the current form.

The instructor should not promise that visible damage is below the threshold; modern repairs can be costly and injury may appear later. Collect facts, notify the responsible parties, and use current DMV instructions. Failure to report or provide evidence of financial responsibility can lead to suspension until the requirement is satisfied; do not teach an automatic one-year suspension unless the actual governing action says so.

Financial Responsibility and School Coverage

Ordinary motorists must maintain evidence of financial responsibility. Separately, Vehicle Code section 11103 requires a driving school owner and an independent instructor licensed under section 11105.5 to maintain liability coverage on vehicles used in instruction of at least $150,000 for injury or death to one person, $300,000 for two or more, and $50,000 for property damage, with 30 days' prior notice to DMV before cancellation. The duty is placed on the owner or qualifying independent instructor; it should not be restated as every employed instructor's personal policy requirement.

Civil and Criminal Consequences

Civil liability asks who must pay for harm. A negligence claim generally examines a duty of reasonable care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. California uses comparative fault, so more than one person's conduct can contribute and responsibility may be allocated rather than erased by another person's mistake. An instructor or school can face a fact-specific claim for unsafe instruction, supervision, vehicle condition, or other conduct; insurance and the owner's bond are not declarations of fault and may cover different risks.

Criminal and administrative consequences are separate. Traffic misconduct may be an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony depending on the governing statute and facts. Hit-and-run consequences differ when only property is damaged versus when someone is injured or killed. DMV can also take licensing action independently of a civil damages case. For exam questions, identify the type of proceeding before selecting a consequence; do not import a penalty amount from an obsolete handbook.

Collision questions often present several true-sounding reports. Identify the recipient and purpose: emergency/law-enforcement response, insurance claim, school incident process, and DMV financial-responsibility reporting are separate tasks.

Preserve Facts, Not Conclusions

Use neutral descriptions such as location, lane, signal indication, contact point, and observed complaint. Do not write that a person was uninjured simply because no wound was visible, and do not estimate repair cost as a way to avoid reporting. The SR-1 threshold is a reporting trigger, not a fault decision. School, insurer, law enforcement, and DMV records may ask overlapping questions, but each submission should be accurate for its purpose. Keep copies or confirmation according to policy and protect personal information from casual disclosure.