if I start having to record that I'll start having to worry, any kind of
auto accident should be a significant enough and rare enough event that
the date stands out.

If you're like me, just because the event stands out in
your mind doesn't mean that you also remember the date it
happened ;-)

fair enough, I'm guessing that you'd remember enough to calculate the year
and month it happened, though I guess as life goes on that might be more
tricky.

Anne