Unfair Police Reports About Car Accidents
Police reports seem boring, but if you read them thoughtfully enough, they are as full of detail as a police procedural drama or action movie. The officer’s handwriting is approximately the midpoint between the illegible scrawl of a physician and the elegant pen strokes of a professional calligrapher. Ernest Hemingway would undoubtedly approve of the brevity of the author’s writing style, the scarcity of subordinate clauses. A police report sounds like an unadorned recitation of facts. You will not find a “furthermore” or a “whereas” added for rhetorical effect, but whether it sounds like it or not, a police report about a car accident is making an argument. It is saying which driver is at fault for the accident, or if they are both at fault, it is saying which driver bears a greater share of responsibility. Insurance companies can twist your words in a recorded statement into enough pretzels to fill a farmer’s market, and they can make the pictures you took at the scene of the accident show what they want them to show, but they must respect the police badge and take the police report at its words. This is fine, except when the police report is unfair or inaccurate. If you are planning to file a car accident insurance claim, and you are worried that the police report could harm your case, contact a South Jersey auto accident lawyer.
A Police Report Can Make or Break Your Insurance Claim, So Make Sure It Is Accurate
A police report can be your best hope for getting enough money from an insurance settlement to cover your accident-related financial losses. The officer who wrote the report is an ostensibly neutral party, not trying to tell the story from one driver’s side or the other’s. Likewise, the author of the part witnessed the vehicle damage firsthand and wrote the report minutes after it happened.
Traffic cops are only human, though, and they might omit important details. Whether they mean to or not, they might make it sound like you have more fault for the accident than you really do. Before you send the police report to the insurance company, read it thoroughly. Imagine the claims adjusters reading it and looking for excuses to pay less on your claim because of statements that could be interpreted as you contributing to the accident. If the report has errors, you should notify the police department of this and ask them to issue an amended report. Attach evidence to support the changes you want them to make, such as pictures from the scene of the accident or a doctor’s report from your emergency room visit. A lawyer can help you read your police report critically and suggest amendments.
Contact Monaco Law About Car Accidents
Contact Monaco Law PC in Marlton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss your car accident case. Joseph Monaco is a New Jersey and Pennsylvania wrongful death and personal injury lawyer serving Atlantic County, Bucks County, Burlington County, Cape May County, Camden County, Chester County, Cumberland County, Delaware County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Ocean County, Salem County, Susquehanna County and all of New Jersey.
Source:
msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/after-a-minor-accident-that-wasn-t-my-fault-the-responding-officer-wrote-the-report-in-a-way-that-shifted-partial-blame-onto-me/ar-AA1X2jVs?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=699fc2638c7a4d599fd1180ac006d8e9&ei=27
