Reader’s Question:

I visited my friend in California and he let me borrowed his car. However, while driving around the city using his car, I was involved in a vehicular. I have no auto insurance. I am from Ames, Iowa and hold and an Iowa driver’s license. My question is, where do I file the SR-1 form? Is it in California or Iowa? I am really confused.

Tyra

Ames, IA

I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. I hope you are feeling better.

Now going back to your question, the accident happened in California so you must file the SR-1 form in California not in your home state. Accordingly, a report must be done to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if an accident resulted to:

• Damage to property amounting to more than $750;
• Injury to people involved, whether it is a minor or serious injury and;
• Death to a person.

Regardless, if you are the at-fault party or not, you are still required to file the report to the California DMV. This is also required to the other party involved. You must remember though that this must be done within 10 days from the time the accident happened. To be able to submit the report you need to get the form from the said department. It is also available though the CA DMV website. Once you have completed the report, mail it to the address written on the form.

Since you’ve mentioned that you do not have auto insurance I am hoping that your friend has car insurance on the car you are driving because if not then I am afraid that you are up to a bigger problem. If you frequently borrow your friend’s car, I would suggest you tell your friend to ask his/her insurer in California to know if you will be covered by his/her car insurance policy in an event that another accident happened.

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