Almost immediately after you are involved in a car accident, you must pull over to a safe area and dial 911. Soon after, a law enforcement officer will arrive at the scene to conduct an official car accident report. Read on to discover what is documented in this report and how one of the seasoned Howard County car accident attorneys at Lloyd J. Eisenberg & Associates can offer you further support.
What is included in an official car accident report?
First of all, if you were involved in a car accident due to no fault of your own, but still incurred serious injuries and damages as a result, you may be seeking a monetary award. You may do so through an insurance claim, a personal injury claim, or both. For these claims, you may be required to provide a significant amount of proof that shows the negligence of another driver and the amount of compensation you need to reach a full recovery. One pivotal piece of proof is a copy of your official accident report.
Put simply, a law enforcement officer will initiate and file an accident report to officially document the details of your car accident. Such details are as follows:
- Statements made by each party involved, along with witnesses.
- Identifying information of each party involved, along with witnesses.
- Date, time, and location of the accident.
- A diagram of the accident.
- Location of damage to the vehicles involved in the accident.
- Any citations or violation of law that occurred.
- Any opinions as to who or what caused the accident to occur.
What should I do if a law enforcement officer does not arrive at the scene?
You may not want to call a law enforcement officer to the scene of your accident if you were just involved in a minor fender bender. Though, it is not advisable to decide against this.
Nonetheless, if you do not call them, you should still take it upon yourself to collect information from the other driver(s) involved. This is so you may file a driver’s crash report with a law enforcement agency later on, along with an insurance claim and personal injury claim. With that being said, you should ask the other driver(s) involved for the following:
- The make and model of their vehicle.
- The license plate number.
- Their driver’s license number.
- Their legal name, phone number, and email address.
- Their insurance company name and insurance policy number.
In addition, you must make a personal note of the date, time, and location of the accident. You must also take photos and videos of your injuries, your vehicle damages, any hazardous road conditions at play, and anything else you deem relevant.
In the end, one of the competent Howard County auto accident attorneys at Lloyd J. Eisenberg & Associates is here whenever you are ready to initiate your personal injury claim. Simply contact our firm at your earliest possible convenience.
