# Report an accident to the California DMV (SR-1)

Within 10 days of an accident in which anyone was injured or killed or property damage was over $1,000, the driver (or an insurance agent, broker, attorney or other representative) files an SR-1 with the DMV, regardless of fault.

## At a glance

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Kind | Filing |
| Authority | [California Department of Motor Vehicles](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/) |
| Where it applies | us, us-ca |
| How it is filed | File online (DMV Virtual Office: Start an SR-1); File by mail (paper takes longer) |
| Last verified against its sources | 2026-10-04 |
| Version | 1 |

## Where this sits

**Level 2.** [Property & casualty insurance claims](/a/vertical-property-casualty-insurance-claims) › [A motor vehicle accident](/a/motor-vehicle-accident) › **Report an accident to the California DMV (SR-1)**

**Beside it:** [Report an injury accident to the police in California](/a/california-police-accident-report)

**Starts from:** [A motor vehicle accident](/a/motor-vehicle-accident)

**Related:** [Report an injury accident to the police in California](/a/california-police-accident-report), [Claim for damage to a car after an accident in California](/a/california-vehicle-damage-claim), [Claim for injury to a person after an accident in California](/a/california-bodily-injury-claim)

The SR-1 is the report people forget: it is owed to the DMV even when the police and the insurer already have reports, and a late one can cost a driver’s license. The form also says what the law calls financial responsibility:

[[widget:sr1-financial]]

## Rules

**Requirement:** Report it if anyone was injured (no matter how minor the injury) or killed, or if property damage is over $1,000. *(checked as: (whether anyone was injured = true or whether anyone died = true or estimated property damage in dollars > 1000))*

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**Requirement:** The driver files it regardless of fault, and in addition to any report to the police, the CHP or an insurer, whose reports do not satisfy this one.

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**Not eligible if:** Not reportable: an accident involving a vehicle not required to be registered (an off-road vehicle, an implement of husbandry, a snowmobile), one on a military base, or one on the driver’s own property involving only the driver’s personal property with no injury or death. *(checked as: (whether the vehicle is one that must be registered = false or whether it happened on a military base = true or whether it happened on the driver’s own property = true and whether anyone was injured = false and whether anyone died = false))*

[[widget:sr1-not-reportable]]

**Not eligible if:** No report is required if the vehicle was owned or leased by, or under the direction of, the United States, the state, another state, or a local agency. *(checked as: whether the vehicle was owned or leased by, or under the direction of, the United States, a state, or a local agency = true)*

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## Deadlines

**File the SR-1:** Within 10 days after the accident.

**The last day the DMV acts on a report:** The DMV takes no action against a non-reporting or uninsured motorist unless an SR 1 is sent by someone involved in the accident, or their designee, and received within one calendar year of the accident date.

[[widget:sr1-one-year]]

## What you will need to show

- Your driver’s license or identification (DL/ID) card
- Your vehicle’s license plate number or vehicle identification number (VIN)
- Your vehicle’s insurance information
- The other party’s vehicle and insurance information — when whether another party was involved = true

[[widget:dmv-sr1-gather]]

## Form: Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (SR 1)

Version: REV. 6/2025. Source: [https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/report-of-traffic-accident-occurring-in-california-sr-1-pdf/](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/report-of-traffic-accident-occurring-in-california-sr-1-pdf/). Kept copy: sha256:35051182479cb5bc…

| Field | Maps to | Type | Required | Limits |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| # OF VEHICLES | `loss.vehicle_count` | integer | always | min 1 |
| DATE OF ACCIDENT | `loss.date` | date | always |  |
| ACCIDENT LOCATION (CITY/COUNTY) (CALIFORNIA ONLY) | `loss.location.address.city` | string | always |  |
| ON PRIVATE PROPERTY (Yes / No) | `loss.on_private_property` | boolean | always |  |
| TIME OF ACCIDENT (hour, AM / PM) | `loss.time` | string | always |  |
| DRIVING FOR EMPLOYER (Yes / No) | `driver.driving_for_employer` | boolean | always |  |
| DRIVER’S NAME: first | `person.legal_name.first` | string | always |  |
| DRIVER’S NAME: middle | `person.legal_name.middle` | string | optional |  |
| DRIVER’S NAME: last | `person.legal_name.last` | string | always |  |
| DRIVER LICENSE NUMBER | `person.driver_license.number` | identifier | always |  |
| DRIVER LICENSE STATE | `person.driver_license.state` | string | always |  |
| DRIVER’S STREET ADDRESS | `person.address.residential.line1` | string | always |  |
| DATE OF BIRTH | `person.dob` | date | always |  |
| CITY | `person.address.residential.city` | string | always |  |
| STATE | `person.address.residential.state` | string | always |  |
| ZIP CODE | `person.address.residential.postal_code` | string | always |  |
| TELEPHONE NUMBERS | `person.phone` | phone | always |  |
| VEHICLE (YEAR AND MAKE): year | `vehicle.year` | integer | always |  |
| VEHICLE (YEAR AND MAKE): make | `vehicle.make` | string | always |  |
| VEHICLE LICENSE PLATE (or the VIN) | `vehicle.plate` | string | if not (vehicle identification number is given) |  |
| VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (or the plate) | `vehicle.vin` | identifier | if not (license plate is given) |  |
| STATE (of the plate) | `vehicle.plate_state` | string | always |  |
| DAMAGES OVER $1,000 (Yes / No) | `loss.damages_over_1000` | boolean | always |  |
| VEHICLE OWNER (PERSON OR COMPANY) | `vehicle.owner.name` | string | always |  |
| INSURANCE COMPANY NAME (NOT AGENT OR BROKER) AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT | `policy.insurer.name` | string | always |  |
| POLICY NUMBER | `policy.number` | identifier | always |  |
| COMPANY NAIC NUMBER | `policy.insurer.naic` | identifier | always |  |
| POLICY PERIOD From | `policy.period.from` | date | always |  |
| POLICY PERIOD To | `policy.period.to` | date | always |  |
| POLICY HOLDER NAME | `policy.holder.name` | string | always |  |
| DATE (of the certification) | not mapped | date | always |  |
| PRINTED NAME | not mapped | string | always |  |
| SIGNATURE | not mapped | signature | always |  |

- All information on the form is mandatory.
- Write unk (for unknown) or none in a space when you do not have the other party’s information.

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[[widget:sr1-mandatory]]

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[[widget:sr1-certify]]
## How it is filed

- **File online (DMV Virtual Office: Start an SR-1)**: [https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv-virtual-office/accident-reporting/accident-reporting-form/](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv-virtual-office/accident-reporting/accident-reporting-form/)
- **File by mail (paper takes longer)**: Department of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Unit, Mail Station J237, P.O. Box 942884, Sacramento, CA 94284-0884

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**What an agent may do:** authorized representative. An insurance agent, attorney, or other designated representative may file the report for the driver.

## What this page does not know

- The other party’s block, the injury and death block, the other-property block and the insurance card (SR 1A) are not mapped to facts yet.
- No fee is stated on the pages read.

## More sources

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