If you’ve been involved in a car accident in Georgia and need to file an insurance claim, the official police accident report likely contains critical information for your personal injury case. If you’ve never been in this situation, you may not know how or where to get a copy of the official report. A car accident lawyer can assist you with securing a copy of the crash report.
The car accident attorneys at Butler Kahn can help. Our firm purposely limits the number of cases we handle so we can devote our effort and resources to seeking the results our clients deserve. When you choose us to represent you, you can expect the same.
If you’ve been involved in a car crash and need help securing a copy of the car accident report, reach out to the Georgia car accident lawyers of Butler Kahn for a free initial case evaluation.
Police accident reports may be obtained through the law enforcement agency that drafted the report, or you can request a crash report online through the Georgia Department of Transportation.
How Does an Accident Report Get Created?
In Georgia, an accident report could be generated in two ways.
First, if law enforcement is called to the accident scene, a responding officer will likely draft an accident report based on evidence they gather while investigating the incident. They will then file the report in the precinct’s computer database.
If the police do not respond to the crash scene, the drivers involved may have to file their own accident reports. Under Georgia law, drivers involved in an accident that resulted in at least $500 in property damage must promptly report the crash to the local police department, where an officer will then draft and file a crash report.
Why Is Filing a Police Accident Report Important?
Police accident reports are often one of the most important sources of information in a car accident claim. The events of a crash may happen so quickly and be such a shocking experience that the drivers involved and eyewitnesses may not have observed essential details about the accident or may not accurately remember what happened.
These police reports are often considered highly reliable, especially when drafted by an officer who responds to and investigates the accident scene. Information about the accident will be permanently recorded and therefore can be referred to in a car accident claim even if the drivers or eyewitnesses have forgotten those details.
No matter which way a police report is drafted, either on-scene or at the station, when filing the report, you should keep these key tips in mind:
- Be honest with the officer. If you lie, exaggerate, or intentionally omit details to spin the report in your favor, it can hurt your car accident claim if the truth comes out later. You might even be criminally charged with giving false information to law enforcement. However, you also should not admit fault for the accident. You may not know all the details of the crash. Let the officer, the insurance company, or a jury make their own determinations from the evidence.
- Ask for the name, badge number, and contact information of the officer who responds to the crash scene or takes your report at the police station. That way, you will know who to contact if you have questions or need to provide additional information.
- You can request to amend the report if you find an error or an omission once you’ve obtained a copy of the police report.
When Will the Accident Report Be Available?
Even though a police accident report may be filed on the day of the crash or the day you report the accident at the police station, it can still take several days before you will actually be able to request a copy of the report.
The report must be reviewed by superior officers and processed into the police’s database before it can be released. You can always ask the officer when they believe the report will be available, but their answer is never certain.
Police accident reports may be obtained through the law enforcement agency that drafted the report, or you can request a crash report online through the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Why Do You Want to Have a Georgia Accident Report Made?
When a police officer drafts an accident report at the scene of a crash, they might include a conclusion about which driver or party they believe caused the accident. The officer’s conclusion will not be the final say for civil liability. Because police are trained and experienced in investigating motor vehicle accidents, other parties will likely take their professional opinions into account later.
Because the officer is a neutral third party, their interpretation of liability could be especially persuasive in cases where the driver vigorously disputes fault for the crash.
Can You Get an Accident Report If You Didn’t Call the Police?
Even if you don’t call the police to the scene of the accident, you can still obtain a police crash report. If a collision results in at least $500 of property damage, Georgia law requires drivers to report it to law enforcement. However, you can still report these incidents to the police even if it seems the collision caused minor or no property damage.
When you report the accident to the local police, you can later obtain a copy of the written crash report the officer files.
Our Georgia Car Accident Lawyers Are Ready to Help You
If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Georgia, get a copy of your accident report right away. An experienced car accident lawyer can help you secure the report.
The team at the Butler Kahn is here to help you if you’ve been injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation with our Georgia car accident lawyers. Personal injury lawyer in Atlanta.
