- It proves that a collision actually occurred. You would be amazed at how often this is an issue. It is not uncommon for the other driver, even drivers who have apologized and said it was their fault, to deny even being in an accident. I even had a case in which the driver repaired his own vehicle at his own expense, in an effort to obscure the fact that he had been involved in an accident. We actually had to have the car inspected to prove that it had been repaired.
- It identifies the other driver and his insurance. As discussed above, it is not uncommon for the other driver to deny being in an accident that they were in. What is more, it is not uncommon at an accident scene to get incomplete information about the other driver. As such, even if you do exchange information, you may not be able to identify the other driver or locate his insurance later. If the other driver is from New Hampshire, insurance information will not be on the vehicle’s registration. You may forget to ask, or the other driver may not want to tell you. They will tell the police though. I have written an article on what to do if you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident which has a significant discussion of what to do at an accident scene.
- It gives the accident greater weight and credibility. Sometimes you do not have injuries until hours or even days after the accident. Other times, you may delay treatment hoping that the injuries will go away. If there is no police report, there may be difficulty tying those injuries back to the collision.
- It helps to prove fault. If drivers are ever going to admit that the accident was their fault, it is going to occur right after the accident. I cannot tell you how many times I have had clients come into my office and tell me that the other driver apologized; the other driver admitted fault or the other driver in some other way accepted responsibility only to find that the driver was now denying fault or the insurance company was claiming that the driver was denying fault. Sometimes it is simply a matter of memory changing the way people want it to. Sometimes it is the understanding that insurance premiums are about to go up or someone in the family is going to be upset. Sometimes I think they are coached, often by their insurance companies, and even by their insurance company lawyers. Whatever it is, it is not uncommon for a person to admit that they are wrong at the scene and deny that they were wrong later. I have even had people admit liability to the police, only to deny it later. The insurance company will eventually back down in those cases.
- It expedites getting your car repaired or your deductible waived. The insurance company has a right to conduct an “investigation” of a loss before it pays. As such, getting the insurance for the at fault party to pay for the damage to your vehicle can be time consuming. Getting your own insurance company to waive your deductible can be equally time consuming. In fact, if there is no police report, the at fault insurance company will not pay until it speaks with its own insured. I have had a number of cases in which the at fault party simply ducked its own insurance company, thus delaying my client’s ability to get the car repaired. However, if there is a good strong police report, especially a police report that says that the other driver admitted fault, it becomes very difficult for the insurance company to delay paying for very long. Your own insurance company may quickly waive the deductible under those circumstances, even if the at fault insurance company has not yet agreed to pay. This is especially true if the other driver is cited.
- It helps you to get immediate emergency medical care. When the police come to an accident scene, they will often call an ambulance. Very often people who are shaken up at accidents do not immediately realize the seriousness of their injury. They are too full of adrenaline. However, the EMTs are trained to deal with this issue; administer treatment at the scene and transfer you to the hospital right away when necessary. The EMTs help to deal with another common problem of people delaying medical treatment when they ought not to.
- It may give an accurate description of vehicle placement. The better way to address this issue is to take pictures of the cars immediately after the accident if you have a smart phone or camera available. I have blogged on this subject here. It is commonly the case when there is a dispute about how an accident occurred that the physical damage to, and location of, the vehicles tells the story. It is not uncommon after an accident to get two different versions of what the locations of the vehicles were after a collision and even of the locations of the physical damage. It is important to remind the officer to put these things in the report. For example, I have actually had head on collisions where the officer did not report who crossed the center line. If the other driver left a trail of skid marks, it may be worthwhile to ask the officer to write that into the report as well. However, please be sure to ask calmly and politely.
- It documents the presence of your passengers. It always amazes me how often at-fault drivers claim that they did not injure all the people that they did. I had one case where the accident occurred on the interstate in the middle of the night, and the other driver claimed there were no passengers in my clients vehicle. All eight (8) of my clients signed refusal of treatment forms with the EMT. However, some care is needed. If the police are not shipping people away from the accident scene in ambulances, they themselves may not be paying attention to who the passengers are. It is not a bad idea to make a list of your passengers and hand it to the officer. At a minimum, you should take the officer to your car and show the officer your passengers.
- It identifies witnesses and gets witness statements. Sometimes witnesses to accidents stick around. There are some people who do not want to talk to the police and would prefer to give their information to you, but there are others who will only talk to the police and give their information to the police. For those people, you either need to have the police get their information or the witnesses might as well not exist.
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