Before riding, check your helmet fit, brakes, tires, handlebars, lights, reflectors, and battery charge. Make sure clothing, bags, and loose items cannot interfere with wheels or handlebars.

Document the vehicle, bike or scooter, road surface, traffic signals, signs, injuries, driver information, witnesses, insurance details, app ride records, repair estimates, and medical treatment.

Yes, a driver may be responsible if careless driving contributed to the crash. Examples may include unsafe turns, opening a car door into a rider's path, speeding, distraction, failing to yield, or driving too close to a cyclist or scooter rider.

Surveillance footage can be one of the most important forms of evidence in a hit-and-run, but it may not be saved for long. Businesses, apartment buildings, gas stations, parking lots, homes, and dashcams may capture useful footage. Ask for preservation quickly and document who you contacted, when you contacted them, and what they said.

Do not assume a partial license plate is useless. Write it down immediately and pair it with every detail you remember: vehicle color, make, model, body damage, bumper stickers, direction of travel, intersection, time, and witness information. Police, insurance investigators, or attorneys may be able to combine those details with camera footage or other evidence.

A police report can document the time, location, vehicle description, injuries, witnesses, and the fact that the other driver left the scene. California DMV guidance also requires certain accident reporting when someone is injured, killed, or property damage exceeds the reporting threshold. In a hit-and-run, the police report can become a key piece of the insurance and evidence record.