A few weeks ago, we wrote a post about what you should do in the wake of a car accident. That post was designed for people who have been in an accident and are physically capable of carrying out some post-accident steps, such as gathering evidence, preserving evidence, and talking to witnesses and accident victims. However, many motor vehicle accidents are serious, and the people involved are in no condition to be doing any of these things after the collision.
What are they supposed to do? How are they supposed to get the information they need to legally prepare for the post-accident situation they have been handed?
The answer is: the police report. Any accident that involves serious injuries is going to be investigated by the police, and as such, they are going to generate a report containing all of the vital information involved in the accident. The police will present information about the people involved in the accident, the witnesses to the accident, the circumstances of the crash, the evidence that was at the scene, and, finally, the report will assign blame in the accident (in some way).
As you can probably tell, the police report is a very important piece of information that accident victims need to utilize properly if they are considering legal action.
One other thing to note about the police report: just because what it says may seem like it is “final,” it actually isn’t. Police reports are often amended in light of new evidence or testimony about an accident. An amended police report could help you make your case against a potentially negligent driver.