The hour after a crash in the Rittenhouse area is loud and disorganized. People exchange paper, or they do not. Someone calls the police, or they drive away thinking the cars can still move. By the end of the week you can either have a clear file or a jumble of half-remembered names. This page is a practical order of steps, tied to the Pennsylvania statutes that actually run the clocks.
It is not medical advice, and it is not legal advice about your facts. If you are hurt, get care first. The legal pieces can follow the same day or the next morning.
At the scene, when you can
Section 3746 requires immediate notice to the nearest police department if the accident involves injury or death, or damage so that a vehicle cannot be driven under its own power in its customary manner without further damage or hazard, and therefore requires towing. If you are able, make that call. The officer is required to give each driver a signed statement that the accident was reported. Put that statement somewhere you will find it later.
Photograph the vehicles, the street and any traffic controls when it is safe. Write down the other driver’s name, tag number and insurance information, and the names of anyone who stopped. Do not guess about fault at the curb. Pennsylvania will sort fault later under section 7102, and a casual apology is a poor substitute for what the scene actually shows.
Care, and your own insurer
See a doctor, an urgent care clinic or an emergency department if you have any reason to think you were hurt. Some injuries announce themselves the next morning. Delayed care also makes it harder to describe the injury later, whether you are opening a first-party claim or a claim against the other driver.
Report the crash to your own auto insurer and ask about the medical benefit required by section 1711, and about any income-loss or other first-party coverages on the declarations page. Write down the claim number. Our first-party benefits guide explains the $5,000 required medical benefit, the higher limits that can be purchased and the rule against collecting the same sums twice.
Find the tort option and the crash report
Pull the policy or call the agent and ask which tort option is in force. Section 1705 makes that election the difference between being able to ask for pain and suffering and being limited to economic loss unless the injury is serious, or an exception applies. Our limited tort guide walks through the statute, including the default to full tort if the limited-tort form was not signed and returned.
Request the crash report through the City’s process if the police investigated in Philadelphia. The official service page and the online application are linked in our report guide. The City currently estimates two to three weeks to process a request, and the statutory cap for a copy in a city of the first class is $25. Do not wait for the copy before you open the insurance claim or calendar the deadlines below.
Calendar two dates immediately
Most negligence suits must be commenced within two years, under section 5524. That date feels distant in week one. It is not a reason to ignore the file. If a City, Commonwealth or other government vehicle was involved, section 5522 also requires a signed written statement within six months, with five specific items, filed in the office of the government unit and, for a Commonwealth agency, also with the Attorney General. Our government notice guide sets out the contents and the damages caps.
If the other driver may be uninsured or underinsured, ask whether uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage was rejected in writing on your policy, under section 1731. Our UM and UIM guide explains the separate-sheet rejection forms.
If a rideshare or a truck was involved
If the other driver was working for a transportation network company, screenshots of the trip status, the driver’s name in the app and the pickup or drop-off time can matter later. Pennsylvania ties coverage to the driver’s status on the app when the wreck happened, under the statute discussed in our rideshare guide. Save those screens before the app cycle moves on.
If a tractor-trailer or other commercial truck was involved, the federal insurance minimums and hours-of-service rules in our truck guide may apply alongside Pennsylvania’s fault and deadline rules. Write down the company name on the door, the DOT or MC number if either is visible, and the trailer number.
When to talk with a lawyer this week
Not every scraped bumper needs counsel. A broken bone, a head injury, a disputed light, a missing policy, a limited-tort election or a public vehicle are all good reasons to call a Pennsylvania injury lawyer in the first week, while the scene is fresh and the six-month date can still be met comfortably. Ask about the fee percentage and whether expenses come out before or after it, as our fee guide describes.
Keep a simple folder. The signed police statement, the claim number, the policy declarations, photographs, and the names of doctors and witnesses are enough to start. You can add the crash report when it arrives. The work you do this week is not dramatic. It is the work that keeps a later claim from turning on a missing date or a forgotten name.