Car Accident Police Report: When & How To Get A Report (2024)

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Updated: Oct 3, 2022, 12:32pm

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A police report is an incident report created by a law enforcement officer who responds to the scene of a car accident. The report, taken at the scene of the accident, will include specific details related to the crash, statements from drivers and parties involved in the accident, witness statements and other important details noted by the officer. Police reports are necessary to help make determinations of damage and fault after a car accident.

Insurance companies and car accident lawyers place significant emphasis on what the police report contains, especially if the law enforcement’s evaluations point to one driver bearing most — or all — of the fault.

For these reasons, even in a minor car accident, a police report is essential evidence to protect your own legal rights and support any future insurance and legal claims anyone involved in the car accident could make, including seeking a settlement or a car accident lawsuit.

To get a police report after a car accident, you’ll need to bring a law enforcement officer to the scene if one is not already present. Once you and your passengers are in a safe location, call 911 to verify law enforcement and first responders are dispatched to the scene.

You are not legally required to talk to the police, but it may be in your interest to provide your side of the story for the police report. Do not admit fault, either accidentally or intentionally, and speak only about the facts of the incident.

Before the law enforcement officer(s) leaves the scene, obtain their name(s), badge number(s) and the police or incident report number if available.

A car accident police report usually contains the following:

• Details of the car accident, including the people, vehicles and property involved
  • Identifying information about parties involved may include addresses, phone numbers and insurance information
  • Identifying information for witnesses
• Approximate time, date and location of the incident
  • Weather, roadway and visibility conditions at the scene
• Statements from drivers, passengers and witnesses
• A diagram or drawing of the car accident
  • Location
  • Path of the vehicles
  • Point of collision
  • Descriptions of damage to the vehicles and or persons involved
• Violations of the law or citations, if any
• Other findings or conclusions about how or why the accident occurred, including the officer’s opinions as to the cause of the collision and/or a determination of fault

Facts Versus Opinions in Police Reports

Police reports can contain both facts and opinions noted by the law enforcement officer. Details such as the make and model of the vehicles involved, the location and time of the accident and the weather conditions at the scene are facts.

A determination of fault — who caused the car accident, or is mostly to blame — is the opinion of the police officer. The police statement’s opinions still carry weight, but insurance companies will also separately collect relevant information to form their own opinions and conclusions about who is at fault.

If you need to obtain a police report, there are a few ways to do it.

You can request a copy from the local law enforcement office that drafted the report. If you have the report number provided by the responding officer, you can call the traffic division of that agency and they should be able to provide you a copy, usually with an administrative fee (around $15 on average). Some cities will allow you to do this online in addition to in-person.

If you do not have the police report identification number, the agency should be able to locate it if you can provide the date, time, location of the accident and your name.

Alternatively, your insurance company may have already obtained the report, and if so, you may be able to request a copy from them without associated fees.

Note that it could take up to a few weeks for the responding officer to complete the report and for it to become available.

The insurance companies for all parties involved in the car accident will conduct their own investigations into the incident. Since the insurance adjusters were not witnesses to the event, one of the first pieces of evidence they will review is the car accident police report.

In the event an insurance company comes to a different opinion than the police report or the other driver’s insurance denies your claim, a police report could potentially support your case when it comes to a fault determination.

Police reports can be used as evidence in a car accident lawsuit — but only in certain instances and jurisdictions.

Police reports are permitted to be used as evidence in small claims courts, but the rules are different if the case goes to trial in your state’s court of general jurisdiction, also known as a circuit court or superior court. At this level, litigants are held to the rules of evidence, which can sometimes exclude “hearsay” evidence collected as an out-of-court statement.

Some jurisdictions may have exceptions to the hearsay rule and allow you to admit some or all of the police report. In other jurisdictions, police reports may be considered “public records” or “business records” and be entirely admissible.

An experienced personal injury attorney in your jurisdiction can advise whether a car accident police report may be used as evidence.

Most insurance policies require you to report any accident to them within a certain period of time (which could range from one day to 30 days) even if you are not making a claim. Some states also require that you file a report with the DMV about the accident.

After a car accident, you may consider making an insurance claim or filing a lawsuit to recover damages. Alternatively, you may notice the other side has filed an insurance claim or is preparing a lawsuit against you.

Whether or not the police report is on your side in determining who was at fault for the accident, we recommend seeking legal advice and representation from an experienced and qualified car accident lawyer. In addition to protecting your rights and acting as a liaison between all involved parties, an attorney can also help you seek fair, complete compensation for accident-related losses and damages.