Do I have to call the police after a minor car accident in Nebraska?

Call 911 whenever anyone may be injured or the vehicles cannot be moved safely. Even in a minor crash, the responding officer’s report is the first document every insurer reviews and it records the other driver’s license and insurance information reliably. Nebraska law also requires a driver who strikes an unattended vehicle or property to report the collision to a peace officer.

What if the at-fault driver in Nebraska only carries the $25,000 minimum liability coverage?

Nebraska’s minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. When your damages exceed the at-fault driver’s limits, your own underinsured motorist coverage may pay the shortfall, but Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-6412 requires written notice to your carrier by certified or registered mail and a 30-day waiting period before you accept the liability limits, or the coverage can be lost.

How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Nebraska?

Generally four years from the crash for a personal injury claim and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim. Claims against a city, county or the State of Nebraska carry separate, much shorter notice requirements. Physical and electronic evidence disappears long before any of those deadlines.

What to Do After a Car Accident in Nebraska

Q: What is the ten-day driver’s crash report required in Nebraska?

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-699, the operator of a vehicle involved in an accident, or the owner if the operator is unable, must forward a driver’s motor vehicle crash report to the Nebraska Department of Transportation within ten days when the accident results in injury or death to any person or apparent property damage of $2,000 or more to any one person (the threshold rose from $1,500 for crashes on or after July 18, 2026). NDOT and the DMV state the driver’s report is required only when no law enforcement officer investigated. The report is not open to public inspection and is not admissible in a civil or criminal trial except to prove it was filed.

Q: Should I give the other driver’s insurance company a recorded statement after a Nebraska crash?

No. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, and such statements are used to find remarks that shift fault or minimize injury. Under Nebraska’s comparative fault rules a recovery is reduced by the injured person’s share of fault and barred at 50 percent, so decline politely and let an attorney handle communication.

Q: I felt fine at the crash scene but was in pain the next day. Is it too late to make a claim?

No. Delayed symptoms are common after a crash, particularly neck, back and head injuries. See a medical provider as soon as symptoms appear and tell the provider about the crash; an early medical record is the strongest answer to an insurer’s argument that the crash did not cause the injury.

The hour after a crash is the worst possible time to learn what you were supposed to do. You are shaken, possibly hurt, standing on the shoulder with a stranger who may be angry, and the decisions you make in the next few minutes — and the next few days — will shape what your claim is worth for years. This guide is the checklist I wish every client had before they needed it: what Nebraska law actually requires of you at the scene, the report almost nobody knows they have to file, the mistakes that hand the insurer its defense, and the deadlines that do not wait. It is written for Nebraska, with Nebraska’s statutes, and it is organized by time: the first minutes, the first day, the first ten days, and the weeks after.

The First Minutes: What the Law Requires at the Scene

Stop, and stay. Nebraska law is not vague about this. When a crash results in injury or death, the driver must immediately stop at the scene, ascertain the identity of everyone involved, give their name, address and the license number of the vehicle, show their operator’s license, and render reasonable assistance to anyone injured — including getting that person to a physician. When a crash involves only property damage, the driver must still stop and give name, address, telephone number and operator’s license number to the owner of what was struck. Leaving is a crime: a first offense involving property damage is a Class II misdemeanor, a repeat within twelve years is a Class I, and the court can take the license for up to a year. If you hit an unattended car or property, the statute requires you to leave a written notice with your information in a conspicuous place and report the collision to a peace officer by telephone or otherwise.

Move to safety if you can; call 911 either way. On I-80, U.S. 75 or any road with traffic still moving, the second crash is often worse than the first. If the vehicles are drivable and no one is seriously hurt, get them off the travel lanes. Then call 911 and ask for police and, if anyone is hurt at all, medical. You want an officer at the scene for two reasons: the report that officer writes is the document every insurer reads first, and the officer will collect the other driver’s license and insurance information in a way you cannot be accused of getting wrong.

Say less than you want to. Exchange the information the statute requires. Do not apologize, do not explain, do not speculate about how fast anyone was going, and do not agree with the other driver’s version. “I’m sorry” is human; it is also the first sentence the adjuster will quote. Let the officer sort out what happened.

Before You Leave: The Evidence That Only Exists Right Now

Everything that proves your case is at the scene for about an hour, and then it is gone. If you are physically able, use your phone:

The vehicles, before they move — all four sides of each, the damage close up, the rest positions relative to lane lines and the intersection.
The scene — skid marks, debris, traffic signals and signs, the weather and lighting, any obstruction of sight lines, and the wider intersection from each driver’s approach.
The other driver’s documents — photograph the license, registration and insurance card rather than copying them by hand. Note the plate.
Witnesses — name and phone number of anyone who stopped. Witnesses leave; officers do not always get their names.
Your injuries — visible bruising, cuts, airbag burns, the day of and the days after.
Cameras — note any business, traffic or doorbell camera that could have seen the crash. Most overwrite within days.

If you cannot do this because you are hurt, do not worry about it; a passenger or family member can, and a lawyer retained quickly can send preservation letters and get to the tow yard before the vehicles are released.

The First Day: Get Examined, Even If You Feel Fine

Adrenaline masks injury. Neck, back and shoulder injuries from a rear-end collision routinely announce themselves the next morning, concussions can take a day to show, and internal injuries are not visible at all. Go to an emergency room, urgent care or your own doctor the same day — not because a lawyer told you to, but because it is the right medical decision and because a gap between the crash and the first treatment is the single most common argument insurers use to deny that the crash caused the injury. Tell the provider exactly how you were hurt and every symptom, including the minor ones. That first record is the foundation of the claim.

Notify your own insurer. Your policy requires prompt notice, and your own coverage — medical payments, collision, and underinsured motorist coverage — may matter more than the other driver’s. Report the basic facts: when, where, who. You do not have to give your own insurer a detailed recorded account of fault on day one, and you should not guess at injuries you have not yet had diagnosed.

The First Ten Days: The Report Almost Nobody Files

Nebraska has a reporting requirement that surprises most drivers — and most websites describe it wrong. Under state law, the operator of any vehicle involved in an accident — or the owner, if the operator is unable — must forward a motor vehicle accident report to the Nebraska Department of Transportation (not the DMV) within ten days when the crash results in injury or death to any person or apparent damage to the property of any one person of $2,000 or more. That figure rose from $1,500 for crashes on or after July 18, 2026, and several police department websites still show the old number. NDOT and the DMV both read the duty the same practical way: if a law enforcement officer investigated the crash, the officer’s report is filed and no separate driver’s form is required; if no officer came, you file. The driver’s report is separate from the police report, and the statute makes it confidential: it is not open to public inspection and is not admissible in any civil or criminal trial except to prove that it was filed. It costs nothing, it satisfies a legal duty, and it cannot be used against you. My companion page on where to report a car accident in Nebraska has the NDOT portal and form, and the crash-report pages for the State Patrol, Omaha and Lincoln police, the county sheriffs and the major city departments.

Get the police report when it is ready. Reports typically take several days to a couple of weeks. Read it. Reports contain errors — a wrong diagram, a contributing-factor code assigned to the wrong driver, a witness omitted — and errors are correctable early and nearly permanent later.

The Call You Should Not Take Alone

Within days, the other driver’s insurance adjuster will call. The adjuster will be pleasant, will express concern, and will ask for a recorded statement “to get your side.” You are not required to give one to the other driver’s insurer, and you should not. The statement is taken by a trained professional whose job is to find the sentence that reduces the claim — a guess about speed, an “I’m fine” said out of politeness, an old back problem mentioned in passing. Nebraska reduces a recovery by the injured person’s share of fault and eliminates it entirely at fifty percent, so a recorded remark that shifts a third of the blame onto you is worth real money to the company on the other end of the line. Decline politely, give them your lawyer’s name when you have one, and let the file speak.

The same adjuster may offer a quick settlement for a few hundred or a few thousand dollars in the first two weeks. That offer arrives before anyone knows what your injury is, and signing the release ends the claim forever, including for injuries diagnosed later. Do not sign anything in the first month.

The Weeks After: Habits That Protect the Claim

Treat consistently and follow the plan. Missed appointments and long gaps read as “not really hurt” to an insurer regardless of the reason. If you cannot afford treatment, say so; there are ways to get care while a claim is pending, and I explain them in who pays your medical bills while the case is pending.

Stay off social media about the crash, the injury and your recovery. Insurers look. A photograph of you at a barbecue three weeks after a back injury will be in the defense exhibit list, context stripped. I have written about how insurers watch social media after a crash; the short version is that living your life is not fraud, but you should not narrate it online while a claim is open.

Keep a file. Every bill, every explanation of benefits, every mileage entry to a medical appointment, every day of missed work, every out-of-pocket expense. Keep a short journal of symptoms and what you could not do. Six months from now, none of this will be in your memory and all of it will be in your claim.

Handle the car separately from the injury. Property damage is its own claim and usually resolves quickly. Do not let the property-damage release become a release of the injury claim, and do not let the vehicle go to salvage before it has been photographed and, in a serious crash, before its event data recorder has been preserved — the car is evidence too.

The Nebraska-Specific Facts That Change the Math

Minimum insurance is $25,000. Nebraska requires only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash in liability coverage, and a great many drivers carry exactly that. In a serious injury, your own underinsured motorist coverage is often the largest source of recovery — and it comes with a strict procedure: before you accept the other driver’s policy limits, your own carrier must receive written notice by certified mail and gets thirty days to respond, or you can lose the coverage. Find your declarations page now and know your UM/UIM limits.

Fault is compared, and fifty percent is the cliff. Everything above about statements and evidence exists because of this rule. The insurer’s entire strategy is to move your share of fault upward; yours is to document what actually happened before the evidence disappears.

Distracted driving is provable without a ticket. Nebraska’s texting law is enforced only as a secondary offense, so the other driver will rarely be cited for it. That does not matter in a civil case; phone records and the driver’s own data can prove it, as I explain in proving the phone in a distracted-driving crash.

The deadlines. Most Nebraska injury claims must be filed within four years of the crash. A wrongful death claim must be filed within two years of the death. Claims against a city, county or the state carry separate and much shorter notice requirements. None of these deadlines is the reason to call a lawyer early — the disappearing evidence is — but they are the reason not to wait years.

When to Call a Lawyer, and What It Costs

Not every fender-bender needs an attorney. If you were hurt — if you went to a doctor, missed work, or are still treating a week later — the answer is early, before the recorded statement, before the quick settlement offer, and before the camera footage overwrites. A consultation with me is free and carries no obligation, and injury cases are handled on a contingency fee: no fee unless I recover for you. My guide to preparing for a consultation lists what to bring; the honest answer is that the first call needs nothing but what happened and where it hurts.

I have represented crash victims across Nebraska and western Iowa for fifteen years, from rear-end collisions on Dodge Street to multi-vehicle pileups on I-80, and the cases that go well share one thing: the client did the simple things in the first two weeks. If you were hurt in a crash, call (402) 378-9208 or send a message. The Omaha car accident lawyer page explains how I handle these cases from the first call to the courtroom.

Your Attorney

Frank Younes

Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.

More about Frank → · Free consultation: (402) 378-9208

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to call the police for a minor crash in Nebraska?

Call 911 whenever anyone may be hurt or the vehicles cannot safely move. Even in a minor crash, an officer’s report is the document every insurer reads first, and it records the other driver’s license and insurance information in a way no one can dispute.

What is the ten-day driver’s crash report?

Nebraska requires the operator (or owner) of a vehicle in a crash with any injury or death, or apparent property damage of $2,000 or more to any one person, to forward a driver’s crash report to the Nebraska Department of Transportation within ten days — NDOT and the DMV say it is needed only when no officer investigated. It is confidential and not admissible in court except to show it was filed.

Should I give the other driver’s insurance company a recorded statement?

No. You are not required to, and the statement is used to find something that shifts fault or minimizes injury. Decline politely and let your lawyer handle communication.

I felt fine at the scene but hurt the next day. Is it too late?

No. Delayed symptoms are common, especially neck and back injuries. See a doctor as soon as symptoms appear and tell the provider about the crash; the sooner the first record exists, the weaker the insurer’s causation argument.

The other driver only has $25,000 in coverage. What now?

Your own underinsured motorist coverage may pay the shortfall, but only if the statutory notice procedure is followed before you accept the other driver’s limits. Do not sign a release until that has been handled.

How long do I have to file a claim in Nebraska?

Generally four years for an injury claim and two years for a wrongful death claim, with much shorter notice deadlines for claims against government entities. Evidence disappears far sooner than any of those dates.