Atlanta Car Accident Resources: What to Do and Who to Call

1. At the scene: stop, call, stay safe

Georgia law leaves no wiggle room here. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-270, every driver involved in an accident with injury or vehicle damage must stop and remain at the scene, and O.C.G.A. § 40-6-273 requires immediately notifying police when a crash involves injury, death, or property damage of $500 or more — which is essentially every real collision. Call 911, move vehicles out of travel lanes if they’re drivable, and turn on your hazards.

On metro interstates, GDOT’s HERO units assist stranded and crashed motorists — dial 511 or check 511ga.org for traffic conditions and roadside help on I-75, I-85, I-20, and I-285.

2. Document everything before you leave

• Photos: vehicle positions, damage, debris, skid marks, signals, and the road
• The other driver’s name, phone, insurance, and license plate
• Names and numbers of witnesses before they drive away
• The responding officer’s agency and your report number — usually handed to you on a card or exchange-of-information slip

That report number is the key that unlocks everything downstream, from the insurance claim to the report lookup itself.

3. Get your official crash report

Which agency has your report depends on where and when you crashed. According to the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department handles crashes on city streets, while interstate accidents Monday–Friday, 6:00 AM–8:00 PM go to the Georgia State Patrol. For APD reports, the city lists three specifics: reports are generally available 5–7 business days after the crash, they can be bought on BuyCrash for $11 with the report number and an involved last name, or picked up at APD Central Records (3493 Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy NW) for 10 cents per page.

Crashed outside the city? See our county guides for Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, and Fulton — or the full statewide walkthrough in every way to get your Georgia crash report. And if your accident type is eligible, we’ll get it for you free. Once you have it, our crash report decoder explains every code on it.

4. Your vehicle: find it fast

If your car was towed from the scene, ask the officer (or check your report’s remarks section) for the tow company’s name before you leave. Storage lots charge by the day, and those fees come out of your property-damage settlement fast. Get your personal belongings out early, and don’t authorize repairs until the insurer has inspected the vehicle.

5. Medical care: get checked even if you feel fine

Adrenaline masks injuries, and soft-tissue and concussion symptoms often surface days after a crash. For serious trauma, Grady operates metro Atlanta’s Level I trauma center. For everything else, see your doctor or an urgent care promptly — both for your health and because a gap between the crash and treatment is one of the first things insurers use to discount injury claims. Keep in mind the injury code on your reportis only the officer’s at-the-scene impression, not a diagnosis.

6. Insurance and legal deadlines

Georgia’s minimum liability limits — $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, $25,000 property damage — are set by O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11, the same statute that governs uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Serious injuries blow past those limits quickly, so check your own policy’s UM/UIM coverage before assuming the other driver’s insurance is all there is.

Fault matters too: under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault and barred entirely at 50% — which is why the contributing-factor codes on your crash report get argued about so much.

And the clocks: most Georgia injury claims must be filed within two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. But if your claim is against a city — a crash with a city-owned vehicle, for example — O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 requires written ante litem notice within six months, and missing it generally bars the claim no matter how much time remains on the two-year clock. The attorneys at Georgia Auto Law review Atlanta accident cases free, with no fee unless they win.

Atlanta accident directory