10 days. In South Dakota, if a crash caused injury, death, or $1,000 or more in property damage, it must be reported. If law enforcement did not investigate at the scene, your brother generally needs to make sure a written crash report gets filed with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety within 10 days.

The next question he should be asking is: who investigated, and is there already an official report number?

That matters because if the Pierre Police Department, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, or another agency responded and completed the crash report, he usually does not need to file a separate driver report himself. A lot of people who moved from other states miss that detail and assume the insurance claim is enough. It is not.

If the wreck happened on or near US-14, US-83, or another highway around Pierre during summer tourist traffic, it is common for a commercial van crash to get handled by a responding officer. But if the cable company driver talked everyone out of calling police, or the vehicles were moved and nobody made a report, that can become a problem fast.

He should pin down these facts today:

• Did an officer come to the scene?
• Which agency responded?
• Is there a crash report or case number?
• Were photos taken before the vehicles were moved?

He should also notify his insurer right away, but the insurance claim does not replace the South Dakota reporting requirement.

For an injury claim, South Dakota also gives a 3-year statute of limitations from the crash date. That is the bigger deadline after the report issue is handled, especially if he is missing hourly work and needs the medical bills and wage loss documented early.