The Accident Police Report
It could be the most important piece of information in determining who is at fault for the accident
You need to acquire and understand the accident police report.
If you know which police agency wrote the report, then you should not have many problems figuring out who responded to your accident.
Sometimes there are different polices departments and it is difficult to determine who wrote the report. Sometimes both agencies do, sometimes they do not.
If you do not remember exactly what agency reported the accident, then you need to look at the “Crash Information Form,” or Information Exchange Form (it is called different things depending on your state).
This form is piece of paper the police gave you before you left the scene of the accident.
These forms are not the actual accident police report. However, they contain vital information about your accident.
Names, insurance information, the police department that responded to the accident, location of the accident, and what vehicles were involved will be there.
Here you can find out which police agency responded to the scene (Sheriff Department, County Police, State Patrol, etc.).
The next step is to actually go to the police station and request a copy of the police report.
Since you are a party to the accident, they will release this information as soon as it is available. Explain that you need this report so your insurance pays your damages.
The police department knows what you are doing. They will be willing to help you. Most states charge a fee for these reports ($5 to $15), depending on how many pages.
If the accident was bad enough, police officers take pictures.
Make sure you request all photographs (there will be an extra fee for that). From the time you request the report, it will take about two to three business days to get your accident police report.
But what if the police do not respond to your accident?
Then you can go to the police station and fill out a walk-in accident report. Simply go to the closest police station, as soon as possible, (if you are injured, then it would have to be after you go to get checked out).
If you do not have time to go the police station, you can ask for the form, take it home, fill it out, and then drop it off (or fax it) the next day.
Another way to do this is to go online and file the report there. Not all states have this option available, but it is worth to check if your state does since it could save you a lot of time.
Once you file the police report, or you get a copy of if, you will get something like this:
The above is a Washington state police report.
The names were erased to protect the innocent (and the guilty). As you can see, the report is very confusing.
There are codes, numbers, and the short blurbs on the left and right boxes. There is no actual statement from the police! To learn how to read the codes in the police report, click here.
You will need Adobe Reader (the latest version is recommended) installed on your computer in order to open and read these reports. You can get Adobe Reader here (a new window will open so you can download without leaving this page).
If you want to open the file in your browser window, you can just click on the link. However if you want to download the file to view later, then right click on the link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save File As."
Then select where you want to save the file on your hard drive.
Once you save the file, double click to open.
In order to print, open the downloaded file, and select the "Print" option from the pdf file menu.
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Bodily Injury eBook
Traffic ticket eBook
Total Loss eBook
1. Recorded Statement
2. Police Report
3. Overlay Sheet (Interpretation of Police Reports)
4. Accident Photos
5. Accident Diagrams
6. Accident Videos
7. Vehicle Damage Estimate
8. Lenght of time of the auto insurance claim
