5 Major Roles of A Police Report in Your Personal Injury Case

If you are involved in an accident, then one of the first steps to take immediately after the incident is to file a police report, as this can prove incredibly important. Usually, the police officer will be a neutral third party reporting the incident as they have observed it, which can serve as significant evidence for your personal injury case.

Hence, you need to leave the accident scene only after the police arrive, except if you need to seek medical attention immediately or fear for your safety at the accident scene.

What Is an Accident Police Report for Personal Injury Cases?

In personal injury cases, an accident police report is a document created by a police officer present at an accident scene that describes the scene in detail. The report contains vital information about the accident, including who was involved, the unique circumstances, and other factors such as personal injury damages, which can serve as evidence for your personal injury claim.

Attorneys can use the police report to support your personal injury lawsuit. Details provided in this document may allow your attorney to seek compensation and a fair settlement offer.

Roles of a Police Report in a Personal Injury Case

If you’re making a personal injury claim after a car accident, the police report could play a significant role, some of which includes;

1. Insurance Claim

Police reports have a significant impact during the insurance claim settlement negotiation phase of a car accident case; insurance adjusters for driver needs to use the police report to get an overview of the initial sense of how and why the accident happened. Your insurance company will need access to any relevant information about what happened when the car accident occurred.

2. Fault Determination

The police report can serve as proof that the other party was at fault in your personal injury claim. For you to sue someone for causing your injuries, your attorney will have to prove that the other party was negligent or reckless for you to obtain a fair car accident settlement, and one of the ways to prove this is by using the police report.

3. Account of Witness

Sometimes, proving a fault in a personal injury case might require you to bring up an eyewitness. Here, the police report will be necessary since it contains vital information, such as a list of witnesses on the scene and their contact information, if available.

This is substantial evidence, especially in aggressive driving, defective tires, or distracted driving cases. Eyewitness accounts and accident scene footage can be helpful in a personal injury claim.

4. Impact of Damages

The police report contains valuable evidence, such as photos taken before and after the accident, showing the extent of the impact of damage sustained by the vehicles involved. These determinations can be worth a lot of money in accidents, especially if the lawsuit reaches court and is handled by an experienced car accident lawyer. if the harm is deemed bad enough in your lawsuit, it might result in potentially punitive damages

5. Settlement

Your attorney will ensure that an accurate and fair settlement is given to you or pursue compensation in some other form, such as medical expenses, lost wages from lack of earning capacity, damages via emotional distress, pain and suffering, and so on, using the details outlined in a police report.