# A motor vehicle accident

A collision on a street or highway, or on private property. In California it can start two reports a driver owes and two kinds of claim, each with its own deadline.

## At a glance

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Kind | Event |
| Where it applies | us, us-ca |
| Version | 1 |

## Where this sits

**Level 1.** [Property & casualty insurance claims](/a/vertical-property-casualty-insurance-claims) › **A motor vehicle accident**

**Inside it:** [Report an accident to the California DMV (SR-1)](/a/california-dmv-sr-1-accident-report), [Report an injury accident to the police in California](/a/california-police-accident-report)

**Beside it:** Auto collision claim, Bodily injury claim, Diminished-value claim, Homeowners property claim, Renters personal-property claim

**Can lead to:** [Report an injury accident to the police in California](/a/california-police-accident-report), [Report an accident to the California DMV (SR-1)](/a/california-dmv-sr-1-accident-report), [Claim for injury to a person after an accident in California](/a/california-bodily-injury-claim), [Claim for damage to a car after an accident in California](/a/california-vehicle-damage-claim)

**May cause:** [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)

An event is not a form. It is the thing that happened, and the map hangs off it everything it can start. Here that is two reports (to the police when anyone is hurt, to the DMV when anyone is hurt or the damage is over $1,000) and two claims (for the car, and for the person). The two claims are nested in each other: the article about the car carries the article about the person inside it, and the other way round, because a person filing one usually has the other.