When a police officer responds to a car accident, the situation can be hectic, and they may miss vital facts when writing up the report. When you obtain a police report and discover that it contains an error, you have several options for rectifying it.
Getting compensation for your losses may be easier if you contact an experienced Toledo car accident attorney. Depending on your insurance company only can result in them undervaluing or denying your claim.
Common mistakes found on police reports?
On a police report, several mistakes might be committed, including the following:
- Factual errors, such as names and dates
- Omitting important investigation findings
- Grammatical errors, such as spelling and punctuation
- Providing ambiguous details or witness statements
- Using language that is hard to grasp
- The failure to provide details about the accident would make determining the fault more difficult.
Any inaccuracies in an accident report can sometimes be attributed to bias. For example, a police officer can incorrectly blame a driver in a sports car for speeding.
A mistake may not always be the fault of the responding police. Witnesses could have missed important information by failing to reveal it when making statements to police officers.
How do I rectify a disputed fact?
Correction of a factual error in a police report is more complex than correcting a mistake in a police report that the liable party challenges.
Some disputed facts, such as a driver’s license expiration date, may be easier to prove than others. If the insurance company claims you were driving with an expired license, simply provide a copy of your driver’s license to settle the dispute.
In contrast, the police department or the insurer may need to review previously recorded facts based on new evidence in other conflicts.
You might be able to use the following evidence to contest an incorrectly issued fault:
- Photographs and videos were taken at the scene
- Statements/testimony of witnesses
- Dashcam video
- Black box for vehicles
Evidence may also help you prove a disputed error, which may reduce the value of your claim, even though you won’t be prevented from claiming compensation. For instance, suppose your police record states that you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. You may be able to establish that you strapped up using data from your vehicle’s black box.