Your SR 1 is ready. What to do next
- Check and sign
Open the PDF and read pages 1 and 2. If something is wrong, fix it here and download again. Sign page 1 by hand. You sign under penalty of perjury, so everything must be true.
- Know your deadline: 10 days
The DMV says you (or your insurance agent, broker, or legal representative) must send the SR-1 to DMV within 10 days if someone is injured (no matter how minor the injury) or killed, or property damage is over $1,000. The California Driver’s Handbook says each driver must file, whether or not you caused the collision, even if it happened on private property, and that your driving privilege will be suspended if you fail to file a report.
- It does not replace other reports
The DMV says an SR-1 report is required in addition to any other report made to the police, CHP, or your insurance company. The handbook says law enforcement will not make a report for you.
- Keep page 2 (SR 1A) with it
Page 2 says “DO NOT DETACH”. It says the DMV may send it to the insurance company you listed, and that if it is not fully completed, it will be assumed you were not insured for the accident and your license will be suspended. Leave its bottom half blank: that part is for the insurance company.
- Send it to the DMV
The form says to mail it to: Department of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Unit, Mail Station J237, P.O. Box 942884, Sacramento, CA 94284-0884. If you include extra pages or a copy of a law enforcement report, check “Additional Information Attached”. The DMV also lets you file an SR-1 online; its page says paper submissions are likely to take longer to process.
- What happens next
The handbook says the DMV adds the collision to your driver’s record, no matter who caused it. The form says California Vehicle Code §1806 requires the DMV to record accident information regardless of fault. The handbook says that if you are in a collision without proper insurance, your driving privilege will be suspended for up to four years, no matter who was at fault.
Good to know
- The form says some accidents are not reportable: those involving vehicles not required to be registered (such as an off-road vehicle, implement of husbandry or snowmobile), those on a military base, and those on the driver’s own property involving only the driver’s personal property with no injury or death.
- The form says the DMV does not accept reports or take actions against non-reporting or uninsured motorists unless the SR 1 is sent by someone involved in the accident or their designee and the DMV receives it within one calendar year of the accident date.
- The form says the SR 1 information is a public record, except as made confidential by law, and that California Vehicle Code §16005 limits the public record for SR 1 reports to accident involvement. Questions about the form go to the DMV Insurance Unit at P.O. Box 942884, M/S J237, Sacramento, CA 94284.
Sources (read October 26, 2026): DMV: Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (SR-1) · California Driver’s Handbook, Section 10: Financial Responsibility, Insurance Requirements, and Collisions · form SR 1 (REV. 6/2025).