A crash on Olive Avenue, Magnolia Boulevard, or the 134 can turn a normal day into weeks of medical visits and insurance calls. What you do in the first few days often shapes how the claim goes, and a Burbank personal injury lawyer will tell you the same. Burbank police logged 788 collisions in the city in 2025. A few local details are easy to miss.
Start With Safety and Medical Care
If you can, move out of traffic and call 911. Then get checked by a doctor, even if you feel fine.
Adrenaline hides pain. Concussions, neck injuries, and soft tissue damage can show up hours or days later. A gap between the crash and your first appointment gives an insurance company room to argue that something else caused your injuries.
Know Who Responded
The agency that handled your crash decides where you get your report.
- City streets: The Burbank Police Department writes the report.
- Freeways like I-5 and SR-134: The California Highway Patrol handles it.
For city street crashes, Burbank police ask you to wait at least four days before ordering the report online. You can also request it in person at the Records Bureau. The steps are on the Burbank Police Department’s report request page.
Footage from city traffic cameras is a separate request. It goes through the Burbank City Traffic Engineering Department, not the police.
Gather Evidence While You Can
If you’re able to do so safely, collect:
- Photos of all vehicles, license plates, skid marks, signals, and road conditions
- Names, phone numbers, and insurance details for every driver
- Contact information for witnesses
- The location of nearby cameras, such as storefronts and parking lots
- Your own dash cam footage, if you have it (here are the pros and cons of dash cam evidence)
Businesses often record over their footage within days. The sooner someone asks for it, the better.
Data from wearable fitness trackers can sometimes help show how an injury changed your daily life, so don’t delete it.
Watch What You Say
Don’t apologize at the scene. Don’t guess about speed or distance. A casual “I didn’t see them” can come back as an argument that you share the blame.
In most cases, you don’t have to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company. Think it through before you agree to one. Stay off social media about the crash and your injuries while a claim is open.
Report the Crash to the DMV
This one surprises people. California requires drivers to file an SR-1 form with the DMV within 10 days if the crash caused an injury, a death, or property damage over $1,000. It applies no matter who was at fault, and it is separate from the police report and your insurance claim. You can find the SR-1 form on the DMV website.
How California Fault Rules Affect Your Claim
California uses pure comparative negligence. If you’re partly at fault, your compensation drops by your share of the blame. You can still recover something even if you’re mostly at fault. Here’s how that works with $100,000 in damages:
| Your share of fault | What You Can Recover |
|---|---|
| 0% | $100,000 |
| 25% | $75,000 |
| 50% | $50,000 |
| 75% | $25,000 |
Other states draw the line differently. Georgia’s 50 percent fault rule, for example, bars recovery entirely once you hit that mark. Insurers know their state’s rule well. Pushing even a little fault onto the injured person lowers what they pay.
Insurance Limits Can Run Out Fast
Since January 1, 2025, California’s minimum liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 for property damage.
A serious injury can pass those numbers quickly. If the other driver carries only the minimum, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may matter. Check your policy early.
Deadlines That Matter
- Two years: Most personal injury lawsuits in California must be filed within two years of the injury.
- Six months: If a government entity is involved, such as a city vehicle or a dangerous road condition, a claim must be filed with that entity within six months.
Missing either one can end a claim before it starts.
The Takeaway
After a crash in Burbank, a few early steps do most of the work. Get medical care, request the right report, save evidence, file the SR-1, and be careful with your words. If you’re hurt and the other side is pointing fingers, get advice before evidence disappears and deadlines pass.