Licensed in Missouri and Kansas

Police Reports and Car Crashes

One of the most important pieces of evidence in car accident cases is the police report. It provides a number of key facts about how an accident happened and who was involved. It is also the foundation and starting point for every car accident case. It is therefore extremely important that you do everything you can to get a good, clear police report. So keep these things in mind if you ever get in a car accident.

Call the police, first thing. No matter how minor the crash or inconveniencing you may think it is to call the police, without a report it can be next to impossible to prove basic facts about an accident. Police officers are well-trained to respond to car accidents and will do so quickly and efficiently. It is their job to respond to accidents and they very rarely begrudge you calling them. Do not feel like you are wasting a police officer's time if you are in a car accident.

Be as thorough as possible in providing information to the responding officer. The information given to a responding officer is always the freshest - and generally the most reliable - evidence in a car accident case. Therefore make sure and tell the officer every detail about the accident, especially how it happened and whose fault it was.

Always make sure the responding officer gets valid contact and insurance information for the at-fault driver. It's important you are able to easily contact the insurance company of the at-fault driver to initiate a claim. Trying to track down a negligent driver can be a time- and resource-consuming endeavor. It can be avoided if the information is clearly contained in the report.

Finally, take down the officer's name and badge number or be sure and get the accident report number so you can get the report from the police headquarters later on. Again, this helps speed along the claims process.

If you have questions about police reports in car accident cases, please give me a call. I am a Kansas City personal injury lawyer and I have handled many car accident cases throughout Missouri and would be glad to talk to you.
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