The Accident Police Report could be the most important piece of information in determining who is at fault for the accident.

But obtaining this report can take a long time unless you take the necessary steps.

You need to get 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. If you do not remember, then you need to look at the Crash Information From, or Information Exchange Form (it is called different things in different states). This form is piece of paper the police gave you before you leave the scene. These forms are not the actual accident police report. However, they contain vital information about your accident. Names, insurance information, police department that responded to the accident, location, and vehicles involved in the accident will be included. 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 very willing to help you. Most states charge money 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 them (there will be an extra fee for that). From there, it will take about two to three business day to get your accident police report.

But what if the police do not show up? Then you can go to the police station and fill out a walk-in accident report, just go to the closest police station as soon as it is possible (if you are injured, then it would have to be after you go get checked out). If you do not have time to go the police station, you can ask for the from, take it home, fill it out, and then drop it off (or fax it) the next day.

Another way to do this is to simply go online and file the report on line. 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:

To download a copy of your state's patrol blank police report, click in your state below.

You will need Adobe Reader (the latest version is recommended) installed on your computer in order to open and read the police 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 have saved the file, locate where you saved it, and double click to open.

In order to print, open the downloaded file, and select the "Print" option from the pdf file menu.

 

To learn how to read the codes in the police report, click here.

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