Accident Attorney Advice
Here’s the scenario: you’ve just experienced a car crash. Say the other driver gets out of their vehicle and says they’re sorry. They tell you they weren’t paying attention and didn’t notice the stop sign. They ask about how you’re doing. You tell them you don’t see any blood but that you’re shaken as a result. The other party suggests an exchange of information. They tell you to let the insurance companies hammer out any claims regarding damage. This sounds okay and you both exchange drivers’ license and insurance information and (with the vehicles being drivable) you both leave the area.
It seems like it was a sensible thing to do, however, when you later communicate with your insurance company they inform you the other driver has said they and not you were the one who had the right-of-way and that it was you who did not stop. Your insurance company also tells you that this person inquired to whether you were hurt and you had told them no at the time. When your insurance company asks if there were any witnesses you tell them that there were people in the area but you did not get any contact information from anyone.
How can you avoid the situation like this from happening? On the one hand a call to the police won’t stop another driver from lying (to the officer or to the insurance company). If you do call the police officer he or she will be able to assess the damage to your vehicle and that of the other driver, any debris that may be on the roadway as well as the positions the vehicles are in. Things like this can help determine who was responsible for the car crash. Also, the police officer will (or should) take down statements from you and the other driver or drivers involved. The authority of a police officer is such that in many cases it would prevent another driver from lying about the accident. In addition, the police officer can jot down the names and addresses and contact information of those involved as well as insurance, license and registration information.
In some cases the officer may draw a diagram the wreck which includes points of impact and rest. Other things such as skid marks can help an investigator determine the speed of the vehicle(s) prior to the accident. All these things can allow a police officer to determine the party at fault in the collision.
Traffic accident? Yes, call the police
Another benefit of calling a police officer to the scene is that he or she can create a traffic collision report. This important tool will preserve the evidence at the scene as well as information that an injured party may not be thinking about. In our imaginary scenario above, you were shaken by the accident and very likely not able to think clearly. As a disinterested third party the police officer can take down all the relevant information. In addition police officers are trained in investigating traffic collisions. All the information is taken down and put into a traffic collision report can be a valuable resource in the future.
One caveat: oftentimes clients of mine who have been in vehicle collisions where an officer arrived on scene tell us that the officer did not want to take a collision report because no one appeared to be injured. If I can stress one thing it would be that you demand that the officer DOES take the report. At the very least, if your back, ankle or neck is hurt at all or even if you have a mark across your body from the seatbelt which restrained you during the accident, then there is at least some degree of injury. If you demand a report and the officer still refuses, be sure to take down their name badge number. When you are giving information to police officer who is creating he collision report I also urge you NOT to downplay any injuries. If something is hurting you– if there is any degree of discomfort–say it so that this is put into the report. It’s important that police officer or driver of the other vehicle not say that you are uninjured if that’s not the case. If you do not know the nature or severity of your injuries and the officer asks if he or she should call paramedics, the recommendation of this car accident attorney is that you do so.
Officers Assist Injury Lawyers
In general the vast majority of police officers are competent in taking down important accident information at the site of the collision. They can also help arrange tow trucks or ambulances if there is a need for either especially if one or more parties is injured. And having the traffic collision report to refer to in the future when negotiating with insurance companies or in a court of law can make things much easier. If you’ve been injured in a traffic accident or any other type of accident involving negligence, call the offices of Kyle Scott Law Tustin for a free consultation. 714-544-1460. If you are hurt, we can help!