Police Reports and Your Car Accident

After a car accident, things are really hectic. There are lights, sirens, emergency responders crawling all over the scene… there’s a lot going on. You and whomever else was involved are pretty shaken up, and even if you feel like you’re calm, cool and collected, chances are you’re a little off your game.

As the police put together their incident report, which most jurisdictions require to be done after they’re called to the scene of an accident, they’re going to use your statements and the other parties’ statements to attempt to reconstruct what happened. Because they didn’t actually witness the accident (in most cases, anyway), they can only rely on those statements.

Does that make police the best judges of who’s at fault for your car accident?

Not always.

Every case is different, which your personal injury lawyer has probably already told you. Don’t worry, though – your attorney’s job is to dig through the details to determine what really happened. He or she might uncover solid evidence that proves the other person was at fault, even if police ticketed you or claimed that you were at fault in their incident report.

Your Priority: Giving Your Lawyer All the Details

You can help your attorney help you by ensuring that he or she has every last detail about the accident. If you’ve done your homework, you know that pictures of the accident (even pictures of the damage to your vehicle) can be incredibly helpful to your case. You probably also know that your attorney will want to talk to witnesses, your insurance company, and maybe even the other party’s insurance company.

If you can, create a timeline for your lawyer. Detail what happened leading up to the car crash, how it happened, and what happened immediately after. Get a copy of the police report, even if it says you were at fault; your attorney needs as much information as possible in order to build the best strategy and protect your legal rights.