Phoenix Personal Injury Attorneys Discuss Police Reports in Arizona
Mark Breyer
April 29, 2009
Usually after a car accident in Arizona, the police come to the scene of the accident and subsequently create a police report. Police reports following auto accidents in Arizona are called Arizona Crash Report. They have the same report style by every city and police department in the state of Arizona. For years, these used to be called Arizona Traffic Accident Report. In 2009, the style, format, and substance of Arizona police reports changed a little, but they remain similar. If it is a wrongful death accident, the police report can take up to 6 months to be finished, sometimes even longer. Depending on the injury level – in other words, depending on how serious the personal injuries were that people suffered in the car accident – the report can be done and ready for the public in a few days or many months.
The first thing to know about police reports is that they are created by each individual officer that goes to the scene. If you want to get a copy of your police report, you need to know which police department came down to the scene of the accident. Many times, it is helpful to know the officer as well. Depending on the injury, the Arizona Police Officer will give the injured victim or their family something called a police report "exchange card." Basically, an exchange card is a little piece of paper that holds a lot of information on the automobile accident. The exchange card usually includes the police report number, the date of the accident, the location of the accident, the name of both drivers involved in the accident, the Officer's name and badge number, and sometimes the address and insurance company of the other party as well.
Recently, the Police Officers have not been including the address and phone number of the other party as there has been a huge movement to keep this information private. However, the police agency´s understandable goal of keeping private information away from people who may engage in identity theft cannot be greater than the need of someone hurt in an accident to get a hold of the negligent driver and their insurance company to make a needed claim. This is an area where an experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer may be needed just to get a hold of the at-fault driver, and until recently this was never a problem.
To obtain a copy of your police report, it is helpful to have your exchange card available. Many police reports now offer those involved in car accidents the chance to receive a copy of the police report online. Some of the police reports, like Phoenix Police department, offer the police report for free. You must know the police report number and the name of both drivers, usually, to get the police report to come up online though. As an example of different Arizona cities and how they handle accident victims ordering police reports, the City of Mesa Police Department also offers the police report online but there is a charge of $5.00. Usually, we request a copy of the police report for our clients so they do not have to worry about getting the report. For those clients who have waited to call our office, they may already have the police report and we review the report with them.
On the police report, each vehicle that is involved in the accident is listed. For instance, if there were two vehicles involved in the car accident, then there would be a slot that says vehicle number 1 and another slot that says vehicle number 2. Typically the police may write in vehicle number 1 as the "at fault driver," but that is not always the case. On the first page of the police report, it will have the police report number, the date of accident and the location of the accident. The report will also list each driver, passengers and witnesses. Also, there will be a number listed next to each person in the vehicles. That number correlates with the level of injury to the people involved in the accident as thought by the police officer. Many times this number is a source of argument between the injured party's attorney and the insurance company. Why is that? That is because many times the police officer does not think the person is injured and it later turns out that the person has a torn rotator cuff or some other significant injury. Basically, that number is the police officer's first impression of the injury level of the people involved in the car accident. We have seen cases where the officer lists "no injury" and our client was hospitalized afterwards due to the severe injuries suffered.
It is important when involved in a car accident to remember that witness information is very important. The police officer will list the name, address and phone number of the witness. It is important to make sure witnesses are contacted as soon as possible because witnesses can disappear and their testimony can be vital to the case. On the first page of the police report is also listed the insurance information of the adverse party. This is information all of Arizona´s top personal injury lawyers can use as a starting point in contacting the insurance company listed; however, those same lawyers know how common it is to have to look to other sources to find the actual insurance companies that need to be contacted. The police report is usually nothing more than a starting point in the process of the investigation. On occasion, the police will not list the entire police report number or the insurance company contact information. We recently had a case where the police listed the insurance company EMC as the insurance with no phone number. We quickly found out there are many subsidies of this insurance. As a result, we contacted the adverse driver but he would not cooperate and give us his insurance information. Therefore, we had to file a lawsuit to obtain the insurance information. Many times drivers who are at fault will try to avoid giving the injured party their insurance information.
On the second page of the police report one can usually locate detailed information about how the accident happened, the citations that were given out, and more specifics about the inattentiveness or carelessness of the drivers as determined by the investigating police officer. This page always contains vital information. The other pages usually contain witness statements or more detail from the police officer who investigated the scene. On the second page, we look to see whether there was any initial indication to the investigating police officer of things that could lead to punitive damages after an Arizona traffic accident.
This is just a very general review of police reports in Arizona. The police departments such as the Tucson Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Chandler Police Department, Scottsdale Police Department, Mesa Police Department, and many others may train their officers differently about the way they want this form filled out. Also, if a car accident happens on the highway, it is important to remember that the police report is usually obtained from the Arizona Department of Public Safety because that is most often the police department that responds to the call when on the highway, as opposed to the police department of the city where it happened.
If you have any questions to see if you have a case or need helping pursuing your accident injury claim, please feel free to call us or visit www.breyerlaw.com. There is no cost to give us a call, and we never charge for our time. Our client only pays us after we have been successful in obtaining compensation for them. We can be reached at 602-267-1280 from Tucson, throughout Phoenix, Valleywide, or from anywhere in Arizona. We can obtain a copy of the police report to review with you.
To obtain a copy of a Phoenix Police Report or just to see how these documents appear, click here.
The first thing to know about police reports is that they are created by each individual officer that goes to the scene. If you want to get a copy of your police report, you need to know which police department came down to the scene of the accident. Many times, it is helpful to know the officer as well. Depending on the injury, the Arizona Police Officer will give the injured victim or their family something called a police report "exchange card." Basically, an exchange card is a little piece of paper that holds a lot of information on the automobile accident. The exchange card usually includes the police report number, the date of the accident, the location of the accident, the name of both drivers involved in the accident, the Officer's name and badge number, and sometimes the address and insurance company of the other party as well.
Recently, the Police Officers have not been including the address and phone number of the other party as there has been a huge movement to keep this information private. However, the police agency´s understandable goal of keeping private information away from people who may engage in identity theft cannot be greater than the need of someone hurt in an accident to get a hold of the negligent driver and their insurance company to make a needed claim. This is an area where an experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer may be needed just to get a hold of the at-fault driver, and until recently this was never a problem.
To obtain a copy of your police report, it is helpful to have your exchange card available. Many police reports now offer those involved in car accidents the chance to receive a copy of the police report online. Some of the police reports, like Phoenix Police department, offer the police report for free. You must know the police report number and the name of both drivers, usually, to get the police report to come up online though. As an example of different Arizona cities and how they handle accident victims ordering police reports, the City of Mesa Police Department also offers the police report online but there is a charge of $5.00. Usually, we request a copy of the police report for our clients so they do not have to worry about getting the report. For those clients who have waited to call our office, they may already have the police report and we review the report with them.
On the police report, each vehicle that is involved in the accident is listed. For instance, if there were two vehicles involved in the car accident, then there would be a slot that says vehicle number 1 and another slot that says vehicle number 2. Typically the police may write in vehicle number 1 as the "at fault driver," but that is not always the case. On the first page of the police report, it will have the police report number, the date of accident and the location of the accident. The report will also list each driver, passengers and witnesses. Also, there will be a number listed next to each person in the vehicles. That number correlates with the level of injury to the people involved in the accident as thought by the police officer. Many times this number is a source of argument between the injured party's attorney and the insurance company. Why is that? That is because many times the police officer does not think the person is injured and it later turns out that the person has a torn rotator cuff or some other significant injury. Basically, that number is the police officer's first impression of the injury level of the people involved in the car accident. We have seen cases where the officer lists "no injury" and our client was hospitalized afterwards due to the severe injuries suffered.
It is important when involved in a car accident to remember that witness information is very important. The police officer will list the name, address and phone number of the witness. It is important to make sure witnesses are contacted as soon as possible because witnesses can disappear and their testimony can be vital to the case. On the first page of the police report is also listed the insurance information of the adverse party. This is information all of Arizona´s top personal injury lawyers can use as a starting point in contacting the insurance company listed; however, those same lawyers know how common it is to have to look to other sources to find the actual insurance companies that need to be contacted. The police report is usually nothing more than a starting point in the process of the investigation. On occasion, the police will not list the entire police report number or the insurance company contact information. We recently had a case where the police listed the insurance company EMC as the insurance with no phone number. We quickly found out there are many subsidies of this insurance. As a result, we contacted the adverse driver but he would not cooperate and give us his insurance information. Therefore, we had to file a lawsuit to obtain the insurance information. Many times drivers who are at fault will try to avoid giving the injured party their insurance information.
On the second page of the police report one can usually locate detailed information about how the accident happened, the citations that were given out, and more specifics about the inattentiveness or carelessness of the drivers as determined by the investigating police officer. This page always contains vital information. The other pages usually contain witness statements or more detail from the police officer who investigated the scene. On the second page, we look to see whether there was any initial indication to the investigating police officer of things that could lead to punitive damages after an Arizona traffic accident.
This is just a very general review of police reports in Arizona. The police departments such as the Tucson Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Chandler Police Department, Scottsdale Police Department, Mesa Police Department, and many others may train their officers differently about the way they want this form filled out. Also, if a car accident happens on the highway, it is important to remember that the police report is usually obtained from the Arizona Department of Public Safety because that is most often the police department that responds to the call when on the highway, as opposed to the police department of the city where it happened.
If you have any questions to see if you have a case or need helping pursuing your accident injury claim, please feel free to call us or visit www.breyerlaw.com. There is no cost to give us a call, and we never charge for our time. Our client only pays us after we have been successful in obtaining compensation for them. We can be reached at 602-267-1280 from Tucson, throughout Phoenix, Valleywide, or from anywhere in Arizona. We can obtain a copy of the police report to review with you.
To obtain a copy of a Phoenix Police Report or just to see how these documents appear, click here.
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