When Must You Report a Georgia Car Accident?
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You must report a Georgia crash to law enforcement immediately if anyone is injured or killed or the property damage apparently reaches $500 or more. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273 requires notice “by the quickest means of communication”: to the local police inside a city, or to the county sheriff or the nearest State Patrol office outside one. Separate duties require you to stop, exchange information, and help anyone injured.
The three duties at the scene
| Duty | When it applies | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Stop, give your name, address, and vehicle registration number, show your license on request, and render reasonable assistance to anyone injured | Any accident resulting in injury, death, or damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person | § 40-6-270(a) |
| Report to law enforcement | Injury, death, or property damage "to an apparent extent of $500.00 or more" | § 40-6-273 |
| Exchange owner, driver, plate, and insurer information as the officer instructs | When a reportable accident is investigated | § 40-6-273.1 |
“Reasonable assistance” under § 40-6-270(a)(3) includes transporting an injured person, or arranging transport, to a doctor or hospital when treatment is apparently necessary or the injured person asks.
Where the report goes
- Inside a city: the local police department.
- Outside a city: the county sheriff’s office or the nearest State Patrol office.
The duty is to give notice immediately. It is not a form you mail later. The Department of Driver Services’ SR-13 “Personal Report of Accident” says on its face that it is “for your personal use and should not be mailed to the Department of Driver Services, as it will be destroyed upon receipt.”
When the report also protects your insurance
When the at-fault driver is unknown, your own uninsured motorist coverage has conditions of its own. Recovery requires “actual physical contact” with the unknown vehicle or an eyewitness who corroborates your account (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(b)(2)), and § 33-7-11(c) requires that the insured, or someone on the insured’s behalf, “shall report the accident as required by Code Section 40-6-273” in order to recover under the endorsement. A prompt police report is how that condition is met. The rest of a hit-and-run claim is explained in hit-and-run victim claims in Georgia.
Your own policy’s notice requirements are separate from the police report. Reporting to the police does not notify your insurer; see insurance notification deadlines after a Georgia car accident.
When the crash is below the threshold
If no one is hurt and the apparent damage is under $500, § 40-6-273 does not require a police report, but § 40-6-270 still applies if a driven or attended vehicle was damaged: stop and exchange information. Damage that looks small at the scene can turn out to cost more, so the “apparent extent” at the time is what the statute measures. Writing down the other driver’s information, the plate, the insurer, and photographs of both cars keeps the claim possible either way.
How the officer’s report is used later in a claim is covered in how police reports are used in Georgia car accident cases.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-270, 40-6-273, 40-6-273.1 (text of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 release; no amendment listed in the 2023 to 2026 summaries of general statutes enacted); § 33-7-11 (text as published in March 2024).
- Georgia Department of Driver Services, SR-13 Personal Report of Accident (copy published by Kennesaw State University risk management)
This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.