MICHIGAN ACCIDENT LAWYERS FIGHTING FOR CAR CRASH VICTIMS
If you were involved in a motor vehicle crash, you may be suffering from devastating injuries. While it is essential that you seek medical attention, it may also be beneficial to learn more information about the car crash you were in, through the traffic accident report, if you choose to pursue a claim for compensation.
Sometimes, after a wreck, you may be confused and in shock about what happened to you. You first time in a car crash leaves you unsure of how to proceed. You are not alone, a lawyer at the Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, P.C., can help you with your claim from beginning to end. A knowledgeable car accident lawyer should obtain the car crash report free for you at the initial consultation to help explain the significance and use of traffic crash reports for a Michigan claim. Our lawyers work relentlessly to gather the relevant evidence necessary to prove your entitlement to financial recovery for your damages and losses.
After a car accident crash, you may not be sure of all of the facts surrounding your auto accident or you may have difficulty remembering the exact sequence of events before, during or after the incident. A police car crash report is the first official investigation regarding an accident, which means it could help you understand some of the key aspects causing vehicle damages, injuries, and who is at fault for the accident.
Usually, an official accident report is the first place to start to learn about the accident. The information in the police report is an extremely valuable source of information for an accident victim. You are required to make a police report immediately after a car accident. The police investigation report prevents the other driver from denying the accident ever happened. The insurance companies involved will rely on the official police report to pay collision damage, process your pip claim, preliminarily determine fault, and initial reports of injuries. The police report also prevents arguments the claimed crash damages already existed prior to the accident, or that the injuries are never occurred.
After a crash, the investigating police officer will usually be dispatched to the scene of the accident. The police report is required by law and contains the road map for the facts and information the police is required to document at the scene of a car accident. The police will document the location of the accident, weather conditions, direction of vehicles, witness information, lighting conditions, and location of damage observed on the vehicles involved in the car wreck. All this information is helpful to prove a claim for no fault benefits and negligence against the at fault driver. For example, if the police officer observed damage to the front of the driver’s vehicle, this documentation will help refute a later story by the at fault driver that he never hit you. The police report can be useful if the police officer did his job correctly.
If the police officer fully completed the report accurately, the traffic crash report should include the following information::
The crash report usually does not contain detailed statements of both eyewitnesses and drivers involved in the accident. The police report may contain a statement of admission by a party involved in the accident or some information about what a witness saw. These notes of statements by the police can be important because they are taken shortly after the incident by a disinterested police officer. Usually, this information is seen as more reliable than contradictory testimony given months or years later in litigation.
The police report is usually not admissible in court. However, the investigating officer can refer to the information contained in the report to refresh his recollection when he testifies in your case. If the police officer observed the information contained in the diagram section of the report, the diagram may be admissible at the time of trial. If a civil lawsuit is filed, a capable attorney could subpoena witnesses identified in the police report for depositions or trial. A deposition is an out of court sworn statement taken after the witness is placed under oath in the presence of attorneys and a court reporter taking down every word being said.
You can contact the local police department that made the report for a fee or you can get a free copy of your police report at law firm of The Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, P.C. Almost all insurance companies will require an accident report if any damage or injury claim is being filed. You adjuster in the no-fault insurance claims, property damage and uninsured motorist claim will require a police report be made. If you have access to the internet a traffic crash report for any Michigan law enforcement agency can usually be downloaded for a fee online at the Michigan State Police portal.
After getting a copy of the police report, you need to know how to read and understand the report. You may find that some facts are omitted from the report and perhaps others are new to you. Changing the report is difficult so you may want to contact an experienced lawyer to help you analyze the crash report. If hurt in a car accident, a knowledgeable lawyer can help secure statements from eyewitnesses to try to determine how the crash happened and who was actually at fault. Sometimes the police come to the wrong conclusion for a variety of reasons.
Usually, the investigating police officer did not witness the accident. Some common reasons the police may be wrong is they didn’t speak to the injured driver who was taken to the hospital from the scene of the collision, or the police didn’t interview all of the witnesses, or misunderstood the crash scene physical evidence. Therefore, the police officer is relying on his limited knowledge of accident investigation and basic inspection of the vehicles and informal witness interviews when trying to figure out who caused the crash. Sometimes, this means that the police officer’s conclusions are flawed because they are based on inaccurate or incomplete information about how exactly an accident was resulted.
Sometimes, for example, one motorist is transported to the hospital, while the other driver is the only one who gave an initial statement about how the accident happened. Relying on one motorist’s version of the accident is unacceptable because the statement may not be true.
Although rare, if the information you read in an accident report is inaccurate, you should contact the police with your version of the crash to the investigating police department. The police department may consider this version of crash and even file a supplemental report or change the finding of fault. However, if the police refuse to consider your statement, you can still dispute the police officer’s finding of fault at the civil infraction traffic court proceeding.
If you were injured in a motor vehicle wreck, retrieving a car crash report can be beneficial with any potential legal claims in Michigan. However, reading and understanding a report can be confusing. By hiring an experienced lawyer at the Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, P.C., you get help with obtaining and reading a police accident report, as well as help using the information to prove your car accident injury claim. Contact us today toll free at 866-HIRE-JOE for a free consultation and police report. The Joseph Dedvukaj Firm rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.
