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Should Every Car Accident Be Reported To Police? October 26, 2022

If you plan to make a claim, the existence of a report increases your chances for a desirable outcome, as per personal injury lawyer in St. Albert.

Ways that a police officer could be of help at scene of accident

• He or she could call 911 and request emergency medical care.
• Same officer could arrange for protection of the scene; that helps to preserve evidence.

Situations in which presence of police officer required, in some states

Whenever one or more persons have been injured
Whenever the value for the resulting damage equals or exceeds a given figure.
Whenever the other driver has committed a traffic violation, such as:

—Driving while under the influence
—Speeding
—Driving through a red light
—Operating a vehicle that did not have a functioning rear end light

The availability of a police report speeds the rate at which the claims process can be completed

• In the absence of such a report, the chances for a prolonged investigation would increase.
• In the absence of a document with an officer’s signature, the adjuster would feel more able to make suggestions, regarding questionable acts by the plaintiff/claimant.

What sorts of questionable acts could an adjuster suggest if there were no report from a police officer?

If the adjuster were to learn that the driver had been relying on the operation of a surgical device, then he or she might suggest that the same driver should have been wearing 2 seat belts.

Obviously, if that were true, then an officer would have had grounds for giving the driver a ticket. Yet no officer had come to the scene. Hence, the driver had not received a ticket. Still, an adjuster could suggest that the driver had been negligent.

Maybe the driver of the damaged vehicle did not have an I-phone. Still, an adjuster could suggest that the same driver had sought to avoid observation of the accident by a member of low enforcement. That suggestion could cast doubt on the driver’s intent, following the accident’s occurrence, as per personal injury lawyer in Spruce Grove.

Perhaps the driver of the damaged vehicle did not have an extensive driving record. That fact could encourage introduction of the suggestion that the same driver’s skills were not what they should be. That could result in placement of a temporary hold on the same driver’s right to sit behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle.

A young driver might suffer from favoritism towards an older, and ostensibly more experienced driver. The insurance would be more apt to believe the story from the favored driver. The chances for the development of that particular line of thinking would increase, if the insurance had not had to challenge any of the officer’s comments, due to the non-existence of a report.