Print this before you need it. If you are reading it on your phone on the shoulder of US-19, start with the first item and work down.
Every item has a reason in Florida law or in the way insurers evaluate claims. The short version is included here; the long version is in the linked posts.
Hour 0 to 1: at the scene
Safety
- Move out of the travel lanes if the vehicles can move and it is safe. Hazards on. Get behind a barrier or onto a sidewalk. Secondary crashes on US-19, SR-54 and I-75 are common.
- Check on everyone in your vehicle. Do not move anyone who reports neck or back pain unless the vehicle is in danger.
Call 911
- Florida law, Fla. Stat. § 316.065, requires an immediate report if anyone is hurt or there is apparent damage of at least $500. Call every time.
- Tell dispatch if anyone is in pain, even mild pain. It sends EMS and puts injury in the record from the first minute.
- Who responds: inside Port Richey, New Port Richey, Zephyrhills or Dade City, the city police. In unincorporated Pasco, the Pasco Sheriff's Office or the Florida Highway Patrol, which the Sheriff's Office says handles most Pasco crash investigations.
Exchange, but do not explain
- Give and get name, address, phone, license, tag and insurance. Fla. Stat. § 316.062 requires it.
- Do not apologize. Do not guess at your speed. Do not say you are fine. Under Florida's 51 percent rule, Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6), a careless word that puts you over half at fault ends the claim.
- Give your account to the officer. Statements made for the crash report are privileged under Fla. Stat. § 316.066(4). Statements to the other driver are not.
Document before anything moves
- Photos of all vehicles from each corner, then close-ups of damage.
- Photos of the road: skid marks, debris, the signal, the stop sign, lane markings, sun glare, anything that blocked a view.
- Photos of the other driver's license, tag and insurance card.
- Names and phone numbers of every witness. On a busy corridor they leave in minutes.
- A note of every business or home with a camera facing the road.
- The officer's name, agency and the crash report number.
If the other driver leaves
- Do not chase. Note make, model, color, any part of the plate, direction of travel. Tell 911 immediately. Here is what to do after a hit-and-run.
Hours 1 to 24: medical care and your own insurer
Get seen today
- Go to the ER or urgent care even if you feel mostly fine. In west Pasco that is HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital in Hudson, Morton Plant North Bay in New Port Richey or HCA Florida Trinity. In east Pasco, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills or Dade City.
- Say it was a car crash. The record must connect the injury to the collision.
- Describe every symptom, including the small ones. Headache, dizziness, numbness, stiffness. Symptoms that are not in the first record get called "new" later.
- Why today: Fla. Stat. § 627.736 pays PIP medical benefits only if initial care begins within 14 days, and only pays the full $10,000 if a physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse finds an emergency medical condition. Earlier is stronger. The 14-day rule explained.
Give the hospital both policies
- Your auto insurance, because PIP is primary under § 627.736(4).
- Your health insurance, for everything PIP does not cover. How PIP and health insurance fit together.
Notify your own insurer, briefly
- Date, time, location, vehicles, the fact that you were injured. That is all.
- Decline a recorded statement for now. You can give one later with a lawyer present.
- Ask for your PIP claim number.
Do not call the other driver's insurer
- They will call you, usually within a day. Do not give a recorded statement, do not sign anything, do not accept a quick check. Why that call is a trap.
If you are at this point and unsure what to say to anyone, call (240) 421-5511. We answer 24 hours a day and the consultation is free.
Day 2: evidence and coverage
Preserve evidence
- Write down everything you remember about the crash while it is fresh: the sequence, the lights, the speeds, what the other driver said.
- Photograph your injuries. Bruises fade in days.
- Keep the clothes and shoes you were wearing if they were damaged or bloodied.
- Do not repair the vehicle, and do not let the tow yard scrap it, until it has been photographed and, in a serious crash, inspected.
- Ask the businesses you noted at the scene to save their video. Most systems overwrite in days. A lawyer sends written preservation letters the same day you call.
Check your own coverage
- Find your declarations page. Look for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, and the PIP deductible.
- Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage. FLHSMV lists the minimums as $10,000 in PIP and $10,000 in property damage liability. If the other driver carries no bodily injury coverage, your UM coverage under Fla. Stat. § 627.727 is often the only real source of recovery. Why UM matters most.
Start a folder
- Crash report number, officer's name, claim numbers for both insurers, every bill, every discharge paper, every explanation of benefits, every letter, photos, witness names. One place.
Stay off social media
- Nothing about the crash, nothing about how you feel, no photos of you doing anything. Adjusters look.
Day 3: the report, the follow-up, the call
Request the crash report
- Florida Crash Portal at services.flhsmv.gov, $10 per report plus a $2 transaction fee. Reports can take up to 10 days to appear and the download link expires after 48 hours.
- For 60 days, Fla. Stat. § 316.066(2) restricts the report to the parties, their lawyers and insurers, so you will sign a sworn statement. Agency-by-agency instructions.
- Read it when it arrives. If it has your insurance, your statement or the diagram wrong, a lawyer can ask the agency to correct it.
Schedule the follow-up
- Whatever the ER told you to do next, book it. Primary care, orthopedics, imaging. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster points to.
Watch for the government exception
- If the other vehicle was a GOPasco bus, a county truck, a school bus or a city vehicle, Fla. Stat. § 768.28 requires written notice to the agency before suit and caps damages at $200,000 per person. Those claims start differently. Say so when you call.
Call a lawyer
- Before you speak with the other insurer, before you sign anything, and before the video is gone.
- Bring the folder. In the first conversation we open the PIP claim, identify every policy in play, send preservation letters and get the report.
The calendar after day three
- Day 14: the last day to begin treatment and keep PIP medical benefits under Fla. Stat. § 627.736.
- Day 60: the crash report becomes public and the confidentiality period under § 316.066(2) ends.
- Two years: the deadline to file suit for most negligence claims under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a). Crashes before March 24, 2023 keep the older four-year period. Why waiting hurts.
The do-not list, in one place
- Do not apologize or discuss fault at the scene.
- Do not skip the doctor because you feel fine.
- Do not give any insurer a recorded statement without a lawyer.
- Do not sign a release or cash a check from the other driver's insurer.
- Do not post about the crash.
- Do not repair or dispose of the vehicle before it is documented.
- Do not wait for the police to find a hit-and-run driver before protecting your claim.
Questions on any item? Call (240) 421-5511.
Talk to a Port Richey car accident lawyer today
Conde-Huggins Accident Injury Lawyers is at 6609 Ridge Road, Suite 4, in Port Richey, between US-19 and Little Road and minutes from Bayonet Point Hospital. We handle car accident claims across Pasco County and we meet clients at home or in the hospital. Our attorney, Clementine Conde, has practiced in Florida courts since 1992. Call (240) 421-5511 any time, day or night, or contact us online. Free consultation, no attorney's fee unless we win, and staff members speak Spanish.
Questions people ask us about the first 72 hours after a crash in pasco county: a printable checklist cases
Do I have to report a minor crash in Pasco County?
If anyone is hurt or there is apparent damage of at least $500, Fla. Stat. § 316.065 requires you to report the crash immediately by the quickest means available. Almost any crash that bends metal meets that number. If no officer investigates a property-damage crash, Fla. Stat. § 316.066(1)(e) requires the driver to file a written report on the state form within 10 days. Calling 911 and letting dispatch send the right agency satisfies the first rule and usually makes the second unnecessary.
What if I did not feel hurt at the scene but hurt the next day?
That is common. Adrenaline masks neck, back and head injuries for hours, sometimes a day or two. See a doctor as soon as the pain appears, and in any event within 14 days of the crash, because Fla. Stat. § 627.736 pays PIP medical benefits only if initial care begins in that window. Tell the provider it was a car crash so the record connects the injury to the collision.
Can what I told the officer be used against me?
Statements you make to the officer for the purpose of completing the crash report are privileged under Fla. Stat. § 316.066(4) and may not be used as evidence in a civil or criminal trial. That privilege does not cover what you say to the other driver, to witnesses, or to any insurance adjuster, and it does not cover social media. Give the officer an honest account, and say as little as possible to everyone else.
How soon should I call a lawyer?
Within the first 72 hours is ideal, and before you speak with the other driver's insurer in any case. Video from businesses along US-19 and SR-54 is overwritten within days, witnesses become hard to find, and the other side's adjuster will call within a day or two with a recorded-statement request. A free consultation costs nothing and starts the evidence preservation that the rest of the claim depends on.