Once you get your hands on the police report after a serious accident, you should review it carefully. If there are minor errors and typographical errors, you can let those slide. However, if you notice something significant that might affect an assessment of liability or an assessment of injuries, you should consider filing a supplement. Different police authorities have different procedures to filing a supplement so you should check with them for their procedure.
Here is WHY you should consider a supplement - if you don't, the insurance company for the party at fault will use it against you. For example, they will say, "Well, if you didn't agree with the report, how come you didn't call the police and/or file a supplemental report?" Your reluctance or failure to file a supplement will be viewed by some as implied consent to the contents of the report. I recently had a case where my client got injured on a motorcycle when another vehicle entered his lane, causing a head-on collision. Well, the police report had the other vehicle crossing the double yellow line but not quite as my client remembered it. I encouraged him to file a supplement to the report, if only to demonstrate he didn't quite agree with the officer's recitation of the facts and the diagram drawn by the officer. Comments are closed.
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March 2023
by Robert MansourRobert Mansour is a personal injury lawyer serving Santa Clarita, Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, Newhall, Stevenson Ranch, Castaic and surrounding communities. |