TRAFFIC LAWYERS CAN HELP CLIENTS OVERCOME INACCURATE POLICE REPORTS
Traffic lawyers do not have the luxury of creating the facts of their cases. Traffic lawyers have to deal with the facts as they arise.
One place traffic lawyers look to determine what the facts were in a given car accident is the police report. Many people believe that, as official government documents, police reports must be accurate. In fact, experienced traffic lawyers know that police reports can wrong.
Police officers often write police reports in great haste. Details may be lost. The officer’s first priority may be to clear the accident scene quickly, so traffic may resume. The police report may get short shrift.
Rarely do police officers make a thorough investigation at the scene. Accidents, where someone is very seriously injured or killed, may be exceptions.
Officers usually interview the parties at the accident scene. But those interviews are typically very short. The cop makes a snap judgment as to the credibility of the drivers. Those snap judgments can be wrong.
Sometimes, the police officer may issue a traffic summons to a party who was not at fault. Or the officer may fail to issue a summons to a party who was at fault.
If there is an inaccuracy in a police report for an accident you were involved in, it is sometimes possible to have a corrected report issued.
If you are ever injured in a traffic accident, you should promptly retain a qualified attorney. For example, if a summons was not issued to the other driver, traffic lawyers can assist clients with filing charges themselves. Generally, clients only have 30 days from the date of the accident to file such charges.
Traffic lawyers also often can help their clients have police reports amended.
You do have longer than 30 days to sue the other driver in civil court for monetary compensation. But if a justified summons is not issued against the other driver in municipal court, or if the police report is inaccurate, it may negatively affect your chances to receive money damages. You should contact an experienced traffic attorney right away.
