Scene duties
Safety first, then evidence: exchange information, photograph everything before it moves.
San Diego County crash education · desk no. 05
The freeway moves at 70.
Your obligations don't wait.
Crashes in San Diego County follow the same California code as anywhere else — but the roads, the reporting offices, and the courts are local. This desk explains collision duties and documentation with San Diego's geography in mind. No invented numbers, no advice dressed as information.
Call 911 for injuries. This site does not give legal advice.
01
The 5/805 corridor
02The 8/15 crossing
03Mission Valley weave
The short version
Four facts that cover most of it.
Each carries its source. Every topic file expands on these.
- 01 / Scene
Stop, exchange, report.
California law makes stopping and exchanging information a duty after any collision — not a courtesy. Injury or death adds a duty to report to law enforcement (Vehicle Code §§20001–20004).
- 02 / The SR-1
Ten days for the SR-1.
A collision with injury, death, or property damage over $1,000 means a written SR-1 report to the DMV within 10 days — whether or not police responded (Vehicle Code §16000).
- 03 / Minimums
30/60/15 since 2025.
For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, California's minimum liability limits are $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 property damage (SB 1107; Vehicle Code §16056).
- 04 / Filing
Two years to file.
A personal-injury lawsuit must generally be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Narrow exceptions exist; applying one to a specific case is a lawyer's job.
Index
Topics, in reading order
01Crash documentationThe crash file: scene evidence, photos, witness information, and the records that tie an injury to a collision.Read file →02California reporting rulesThe SR-1, the scene duties, and the deadlines the Vehicle Code actually sets.Read file →03Reporting in San DiegoCHP Border Division, SDPD, DMV field offices, and the Central Courthouse — who takes which report.Read file →04Insurance claim basicsThird-party and first-party claims, UM/UIM, and the 30/60/15 minimum limits.Read file →05San Diego's road systemThe 5/805/8/15 corridor frame — geography as a crash-education lens, no unverified statistics.Read file →06Collision typesRear-end, T-bone, head-on, sideswipe — four geometries in the CHP-555 convention.Read file →07Fault and liabilityThe rules of the road, comparative fault, and why no settlement figure appears on this site.Read file →08After the crash: the timelineDay zero to year two — the three deadlines that structure everything.Read file →09Frequently asked questionsThe questions this desk is asked most, answered from the same sources.Read file →10GlossaryEvery term this desk uses, defined once, plainly.Read file →
“
Photographs are documents.San Diego Car Accident Desk — Crash documentation file
Why documentation matters
The crash file is one folder, four parts.
Every later decision — by an insurer, an adjuster, or a court — is made from records created in the days after a collision. Crash, medical, loss, and statement records, kept together, are what carry an injury from reported to documented.
Open the documentation file →Crash chronology
One collision. Three deadlines.
The SR-1 is due
Written report to the DMV after injury, death, or damage over $1,000.
Documentation cadence
Medical evaluations as symptoms dictate, records kept week by week.
The filing deadline
Two years from the injury for a personal-injury lawsuit (CCP §335.1).
California time limits
“Ten days” is not a safe calendar reminder.
The SR-1 report is due within 10 days (Vehicle Code §16000); the scene duties run from day zero (Vehicle Code §§20001–20003); and a personal-injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Get fact-specific advice early.
Read the timeline file →Authority is traceableRead the source.
Read the source.
See the boundary.
Every file distinguishes medical information from California legal and insurance guidance. The desk grounds itself in the statutes (leginfo), DMV and CHP guidance, NHTSA crash research, and the local agencies — SDPD, the San Diego Superior Court, Caltrans — so readers can move from a plain-language explanation to the underlying authority.