Should You Call The Police For Minor Car Accidents in WA?

I was in a car accident once.

Just a few years ago I experienced my first accident. I was driving down Summitview as someone was pulling out of a parking lot. His turn was too wide but he wasn't slowing down.

I couldn't swerve into on-coming traffic so I just let it happen. He wasn't going fast enough to cause too much damage.

It was funny, we both pulled over, an elderly gentleman got out of the car. When I saw he was a senior citizen I was concerned for his wellbeing so I jumped out and started charging towards him to make sure he was okay. He saw me, a 6'5, 300lb man heading to him so he got back in his car. I asked if he was okay and showed concern.

We exchanged insurance info, his front was a little dented, the side of my car got a little dent and a few scraps. Both cars were very drivable, we wished each other a nice day and that was that. No injuries, no yelling, I didn't even think to call the police.

It wasn't until later when I thought to myself maybe I should have, just so there'd be an official record of it.

But why would the police care? Insurance will have a record of it when it was settled, which it was very quickly. But should you contact police for every minor accident like this?

Do you need to call the police when the car accident is a minor one?

The short answer is no, you really don't.

There are a few stipulations to consider, though.

If there is an injury or more than $1,000 in damage then you should file a collision report. Police can do this for you, but you don't need them to do this for you. Though if there is an injury involved, I would probably get them involved just to make sure all is done correctly.