The Importance of a Police Accident Report in a Texas Truck Wreck Injury Case
If you've suffered an injury in a motor vehicle accident or truck wreck in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, most likely there was a police report filled out by the local police agency that responded to the call. Speaking as a board certified personal injury trial lawyer, this is one of the most important pieces of evidence which can help suport your claim against the trucking company.
However, sometimes if the cars are drivable and nobody goes away in an ambulance, the responding officer will not write a police report and will instead give you a form to fill out and send in to the state. This is called a blue form.
In most of the truck accident cases we see at the Anderson Law Firm in Fort Worth, an accident report is filled out. The accident report is the very beginning of all investigations involving a car, motorcycle or truck accident. It is a key piece of evidence for the insurance company and all the lawyers involved in a truck wreck claim.
The first thing our personal injury attorneys at the Anderson Law Firm do when they're hired after an accident is get the police report. It's normally made available three to five days after an accident and it costs $6.00. Some of the cities in North Texas actually have them available online at policereports.us.
Once we obtain the accident report, we'll review it to make sure it includes the correct information, like who was driving the vehicle and the insurance information. We'll also look at something on the back of the report in box 36. That's the location where the officer assigns fault for the accident. Sometimes fault will lie with just one party and sometimes the responding police officer will assign fault to both the drivers or no one at all.
The assignment of fault is not a final determination and can be disputed. The accident report is a great beginning point for the investigation, but by no means does it make the final determination of fault in the truck accident case.
If you have any questions regarding a Texas truck crash report, please give the Anderson Law Firm in Fort Worth a call at 817-294-1900. During our free case consultation, we'll go over your crash report and see what your legal options are.
