How Police Reports Affect Pedestrian Accident Claims

How do police reports affect pedestrian accident claims? Although they aren’t final legal findings, they do provide valuable information, including the date and time of the accident, the identities of the parties and witnesses, observations at the accident scene, environmental conditions, and whether the driver was charged with a crime or issued a citation.

Your pedestrian accident lawyer may use this information to inform further investigative directions and their approach to your case. The claim itself is primarily based on other forms of evidence, but the police report provides an initial picture of the accident.

How Police Report Information Affects Your Pedestrian Accident Case

Of course, police reports capture the driver’s personal information, allowing your attorney to identify potential sources of compensation, such as insurance policies, but that is only one reason why police reports may be important to your claim.

A Police Report May Indicate Your Attorney’s Investigative And Strategic Direction

While police reports aren’t a final finding on fault, they do record potential contributing factors. These provide investigative directions and evidence your attorney may use to strengthen your case. For example, if police laid DUI charges against the driver or issued a citation for reckless driving, that may provide evidence of the driver’s negligence or misconduct.

Seeking Further Information From Witnesses

Witness information may be important too. After obtaining your police report online, your attorney may wish to interview witnesses in search of additional observations that they failed to mention in their initial statements. They may even have helpful photographic evidence that they didn’t think was important at the time.

Helping to Identify Liable Parties

Other accident scene observations may indicate additional liable parties. For example, an accident report showing that you stepped into the road to avoid debris on the sidewalk may suggest that another party bears some responsibility for the conditions that contributed to the accident. Or, being struck on a poorly-lit crosswalk may imply negligence on the part of a government agency or contractor.

A Police Report May Prepare Your Attorney For Challenges Defendants May Raise

Apart from providing directions your attorney may use to build a case in your favor, a police report can also indicate how insurance companies may challenge your claim. In Illinois, 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/2-1116 stipulates that you cannot recover compensation if you are found more than 50% at fault.

If you are eligible for compensation but contributed to your accident, your settlement will be reduced by your share of fault. For instance, if insurance adjusters believe they have evidence showing you were 30% at fault, they will argue that you only qualify for compensation covering 70% of your damages.

Using the police report as a starting point, your attorney may be able to predict grounds insurance adjusters may use to challenge your claim and work to address the objections they raise.

Police Reports Are Not Legal Findings

Police officers do not seek to determine civil liability through their reports. A police report may affect your pedestrian accident claim, but it is only part of the body of evidence. An attorney may investigate far more deeply, striving to construct a much more detailed picture of your accident through the evidence they gather.

Although police reports are not final determinations of fault, they can play a valuable role in helping attorneys investigate pedestrian accidents, anticipate challenges, and build a well-supported claim for compensation.