If you are involved in a car accident you should immediately report the crash to the local police and request to have an officer sent to the scene. When the officer arrives, ask that they begin to complete a Traffic Collision Report. This report, often referred to as a police report, will be a great help to the personal injury attorney you hire if you decide to pursue a claim for damages.
Failing to request and obtain a police report could be a disservice to your case and ultimately reduce your eventual recovery. We’ve outlined some basic information about Traffic Collision Reports including what they could contain, why we think they’re important, and how attorneys use them when representing injured clients.
A Traffic Collision Report is a summary of information about an accident. The report may contain both facts and opinions of the officer, parties involved, and witnesses. Since these police reports are a third-party collection of information gathered shortly after an accident, they are often regarded as reliable and accurate.
The information contained in a police report will vary. However, the following list includes information that is usually included in a police report as well as information that may be included in a police report. There is no right or wrong way to write a report – it will depend on specific the situation in which it is written. You can request to have the police officer at the scene to include specific information if you think it may be important. Police reports may include:
No, police reports are not admissible in California courts. They are considered to be inadmissible hearsay. Hearsay is an out of court statement that is then used to prove the truth of a matter asserted in court. Since the police report is the statement of an officer outside of the courtroom, it is considered hearsay. In California, it is “well established that traffic accident reports are not admissible in evidence.” However, they are fair game to attorneys who want to gather information about an accident.
As you can see, a police report could contain a significant amount of information. Even though a police report may be inadmissible evidence in California, a personal injury attorney can use the information to help create a persuasive case. The police report will help to give your attorney, at the very least, a general idea of what happened and who was involved. The more detailed your police report, the more information an attorney can gather. The more details your attorney has, the greater the chances of maximizing awards of compensation.
An attorney can use information contained in a police report to:
This is not an exhaustive list, but rather an indication of just how helpful a police report can be. Since police reports are a snapshot of the accident almost immediately afterward, they can help to preserve information that generally fades with time. A witness’s memory may fade and weather conditions may change. Police reports can at least provide information to guide later attempts to recall this information.
If you are involved in a traffic accident in California you should contact an experienced attorney immediately. An attorney can be an invaluable resource when you are trying to recover from an accident-related injury. To learn more about how an attorney may be able to help you, contact the law office of Glotzer & Leib, LLP today for a free consultation.
“Mr. Glotzer represented me after I was involved in a car accident. I was badly injured,but the insurance company refused to offer me a reasonable settlement. I decided to find an attorney and decided to hire Josh.
His law firm did a great job on my case. They were very responsive to all my questions and obtained a great resolution for me. I received way more money than was originally offered. I would recommend their firm to friends and family.”
“Mr. Josh Glotzer is a great attorney. Over the last 15 years he has helped me on a number of cases with professionalism, and more importantly a positive outcome in my favor. I have referred him to a number of friends and colleagues, all of which have been equally as happy with his legal representation. I trust him and confident in legal ability. I highly recommend his law firm.”
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“My wife was in a car accident last year and Josh did an amazing job representing her. It’s very refreshing to see someone in his profession that actually cares and puts his clients first. He’s the best in the business and I feel so fortunate that I was referred to him. Keep up the great work and thanks for everything you did for my family!”
“I was in a rear end car accident last year and hired Mr. Glotzer’s office. It wasn’t a big case but their office helped me with my property damage claim and did a good job resolving the injury portion of the case as well.”
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