12.1 What to Do After an Accident
Key Takeaways
- Among all collisions in Indiana, failure to yield the right of way is the most common factor.
- Stop immediately or as close as possible without obstructing traffic more than necessary. On the traveled portion of a highway, move the vehicle off the highway as close to the accident as possible unless the crash involves transportation of hazardous materials or results in injury, death, or entrapment — then do not move it.
- Remain at the scene; give your name, address, and registration number to everyone involved; and show your driver's license.
- After an accident the BMV may require proof of financial responsibility: the insurer electronically files a Certificate of Compliance (COC) showing 25/50/25 coverage was in effect. Do not delay.
- If wheels leave the pavement, drive along the shoulder, ease off the gas, and return gradually. If the vehicle plunges into water, do not open a door; remove the seat belt, open a window, get children out, move to the roof, and call 911.
12.1 What to Do After an Accident
Quick Answer: Failure to yield is the most common factor among Indiana collisions. Stop immediately or as close as possible without obstructing traffic more than necessary. On the traveled portion of a highway, move the vehicle off the highway as close to the accident as possible — unless the crash involves transportation of hazardous materials or results in injury, death, or entrapment, in which case do not move the vehicle. Remain at the scene. Give name, address, and registration number to everyone involved and show your driver's license. For injury or death, provide reasonable assistance as directed by law enforcement, medical personnel, or a 911 operator, and notify law enforcement as soon as possible. After an accident the BMV may require a Certificate of Compliance (COC) showing 25/50/25 coverage was in effect — do not delay. If a crash still looks possible: stop quickly, turn quickly if you cannot stop in time, or sometimes speed up; turn away from oncoming traffic even if that means leaving the road.
The Indiana BMV knowledge exam tests this material on the traffic maneuvers and rules component. Driver's Manual Chapter 8 is the official source. These are legal duties and collision-path choices, not courtesy tips. Mixing them with generic internet advice — always leave the wreck in the travel lane, always move everything, always open a door in water — is a classic fail pattern.
Why these duties matter on this exam
Chapter 8 questions are usually what do you do next. The exam will swap the leave-it exceptions, the information you must exchange, and the ranking of last-second collision choices. Remaining at the scene is not optional. Arguing fault in a live lane is not the duty. The duty is stop, identify, assist as directed, and get law enforcement involved when someone is hurt or property is unattended.
Stop, stay, and identify
The driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident must stop immediately or as close as possible to the scene without obstructing traffic more than necessary. You do not get to go around the block and come back later.
At the scene you must:
- Give your name
- Give your address
- Give the registration number of the motor vehicle to everyone involved
- Show your driver's license
That exchange is identification, not a roadside trial. Forgetting the license-show step is an easy miss if you only memorize "give your name."
When you must move the vehicle — and when you must not
If the accident occurs on the traveled portion of a highway, the driver must move the vehicle off the highway to a location as close to the accident as possible. The point is to get out of the live lane so other traffic is not forced around you.
Do not move the vehicle if the accident:
| Leave-it trigger | What it means on the exam |
|---|---|
| Transportation of hazardous materials | A hazmat load is its own exception even when nobody is hurt |
| Injury | Someone is hurt — the wreck stays |
| Death | A fatality — the wreck stays |
| Entrapment | Someone is trapped in a vehicle — the wreck stays |
A no-injury fender-bender blocking I-65 is a move-it-off-the-highway case. A crash with a trapped occupant, a fatality, or a tanker leaking product is a leave-it-in-place case. Do not invent a "I felt sore later" exception. If the crash results in injury, death, or entrapment, the vehicle stays.
Injury, death, and reasonable assistance
If the accident results in the injury or death of another person, the driver must provide reasonable assistance to those injured or trapped as directed by law enforcement, medical personnel, or a 911 operator. You are not told to improvise first aid against those instructions. You follow those three authorities.
As soon as possible, make sure law enforcement — local police, sheriff, or Indiana State Police — is notified. Notification is part of the duty, not a later paperwork errand.
Hitting unattended property
If the collision is with an unattended vehicle or other property, you still stop and remain at the scene. Take reasonable steps to notify the owner. If the owner cannot be located, call a law enforcement agency and provide information. A sticky note under a wiper is not the complete Indiana rule. The exam trap is treating "unattended" as permission to leave after a phone number on a scrap of paper.
Proof of financial responsibility after a crash
After an accident, the BMV may require proof of financial responsibility. Your insurance provider must electronically file a Certificate of Compliance (COC) showing that a policy meeting Indiana's minimum 25/50/25 liability protection was in effect during that accident:
- $25,000 bodily injury or death of one person
- $50,000 bodily injury or death of two or more people in one accident
- $25,000 property damage in one accident
If you receive a BMV request, do not delay. Ask the insurer to send the COC electronically. The 90-day clock, suspensions, and SR22 rules are Chapter 5 material taught in section 12.3. This section's fact is that a crash can trigger a COC demand and sitting on the letter is how a wreck becomes a suspension.
Avoiding a collision you cannot fully prevent
Despite safe driving, emergencies arise. If it appears your car will hit something, Indiana lists three things you can do, depending on the situation:
- Stop quickly.
- Turn quickly. If you feel you cannot stop in time, turn away from the potential collision.
- Speed up. Accelerating may sometimes be the best or only way to avoid a collision.
If a collision looks possible, turn away from oncoming traffic, even if it means leaving the road. Drive, rather than skid, off the road so you keep more control. Choose to hit something that gives way, such as brush or shrubs, rather than something hard. Hit something moving in the same direction rather than something that is not moving. However, it is safer to hit something that is not moving than to hit something head-on. A sideswipe may help you slow down.
Memorize the ranking, not a slogan:
| Prefer this | Over this |
|---|---|
| Something that gives way (brush, shrubs) | Something hard (bridge pier, tree, wall) |
| Something moving the same direction | Something stationary |
| Something not moving | A head-on |
| A sideswipe that bleeds off speed | A square impact you could still avoid |
| Driving off the road | Skidding off the road |
Turning into oncoming headlights to miss a deer is the wrong instinct. Leaving the pavement away from that pickup is the Indiana instruction.
Wheels off the pavement
If the wheels drift onto the shoulder, do not try to turn back onto the pavement right away. That snap-back can throw the vehicle off balance. Instead:
- Drive along the shoulder
- Ease up on the gas pedal
- After slowing, turn back onto the road gradually
Jerking the wheel at highway speed to "get back on the blacktop" is the exam trap and a rollover path.
Vehicle plunges into water
A vehicle that plunges into water usually floats several minutes before sinking, which can allow occupants to escape through an open window while still on the surface.
Do not attempt to open a door. The weight of the water makes the door nearly impossible to open, and an open door floods the passenger compartment.
Follow this sequence:
- Remove your seat belt.
- Open a window. Automatic windows still open unless the impact destroyed the electrical system.
- Get children out of rear belts and child restraints; older children help younger ones; move passengers forward as calmly as possible.
- Exit and move to the roof. Stay drier and, even in moving water, ride the vehicle like a boat for a short time. From the roof, call 911 and locate the nearest dry land.
- Swim for shore only as a last resort — if help has not arrived by the time the vehicle sinks below the waterline.
- Never re-enter the vehicle to gather possessions.
The exam will offer "open a door to equalize pressure" or "go back for the phone." Both fail the manual.
Indiana scenarios
I-70, Indianapolis, no injury. Alex rear-ends a sedan. Both drivers are out, nobody is trapped, no hazardous materials, and the travel lanes are blocked. Move the vehicles off the highway as close to the accident as possible, then exchange name, address, and registration and show licenses.
SR 37 with a trapped occupant. A passenger is pinned. Even if the wreck blocks traffic, do not move the vehicles. Entrapment is a leave-it trigger, along with injury and death.
Hazmat tanker, nobody hurt. A load of hazardous materials is involved. Do not move the vehicle. Hazmat transportation is its own exception.
Bloomington parking lot, empty car. Jordan clips a parked, unattended car. Jordan must stop, remain, try to notify the owner, and if the owner cannot be found, call law enforcement — not just tuck a number under a wiper and leave.
Rural county road, deer and an oncoming pickup. A deer enters the lane near Columbus. Oncoming headlights fill the other lane. Turn away from oncoming traffic, even if that means leaving the pavement. Do not steer into the pickup to miss the deer.
Shoulder drift on I-65. The right wheels drop onto gravel. Drive along the shoulder, ease off the gas, then return gradually. Do not yank the wheel back at 70 mph.
Canal or quarry plunge. Do not open a door. Belt off, window open, children out, roof, 911. Swim only if the vehicle is going under and help has not arrived. Do not go back for a bag.
BMV letter after a crash. Priya's insurer must electronically file a COC showing 25/50/25 was in effect. Waiting "until things calm down" is how a crash becomes a financial-responsibility suspension.
Exam traps
- Treating failure to yield as a maybe instead of Indiana's most common collision factor.
- Leaving a travel-lane crash in place when there is no injury, death, entrapment, or hazmat.
- Moving the wreck when there is injury, death, entrapment, or hazmat.
- Exchanging names but forgetting address, registration, and showing the license.
- "Helping" in a way not directed by law enforcement, medical personnel, or a 911 operator.
- Hitting unattended property and leaving after a note without calling law enforcement if the owner cannot be found.
- Delaying a BMV COC request.
- Turning toward oncoming traffic to avoid an object.
- Skidding off the road instead of driving off it.
- Choosing a head-on over a stationary object.
- Snapping back onto pavement from the shoulder.
- Opening a door in water, swimming first instead of the roof and 911, or re-entering for possessions.
After a crash on the traveled portion of an Indiana highway, when must the driver leave the vehicle in place rather than move it off the highway?
If your wheels drift onto the shoulder, what does the Indiana Driver's Manual tell you to do?
If your vehicle plunges into water, which action matches the Indiana Driver's Manual?