Is a Police Report Required?
If you’re involved in a car accident, there’s a lot you have to keep straight. In the thick of it all, you and the other party might not want to file a police report. It might mean, after all, that you’re stuck waiting for the police to get there, assess the situation, and it will just slow everything down. Today, the Car Crash Captain looks at if that police report is necessary, and why you should get one.
When is a Police Report Required in Texas?
There are two, three if you are particular, times when you are required to have a police report after a car accident here in Texas.
Property Damage – Every wreck involves property damage. A police report, however, is necessary if that wreck results in over $1,000 worth of property damage. In this day and age, you’re quite unlikely to have an accident that results in less than a grand in damages.
Injury – If there are any injuries in the wreck, you have to call the police. We say “if you are particular” because if someone died in the wreck, then you also have to call the police, but it’s hard to have a death occur if there aren’t any injuries.
Essentially, every wreck should involve at least contacting the authorities. Even if you swap information with the other driver, agree on who is at fault, and then both of you leave, you could actually face criminal charges for hit-and-run.
When Can you Skip the Police Report?
That begs the question of when can you skip the police report? Let’s say you hit a patch of gravel, skid into the curb, and dent the rim on your car. Maybe $800 worth of damage and no injuries – you can skip the report there. If you slide into the back of someone’s giant truck that has a big metal bumper on it, and the hood of your 1997 Honda Civic now has a big scrape in it, you probably don’t need a police report.
You still might want one.
Should you Ever Skip the Police Report?
If you’re filing an insurance claim, the police report carries a lot of weight to it. Even if you agree with the other party as to who is at fault, it’s your word against their word. When it comes time to settle the claim, they can retract and say they never admitted fault. Now you’re in for a longer battle to get your rig fixed.
A police report means that you don’t have to go through that long battle.
The bottom line – if there’s more than one party involved (see above for that slide on some gravel and bust up your rim scenario above for a single party accident example), then you should contact the police.
Herbert Law Group Takes Away Your Stress
We work with people who have been injured in wrecks, or the families of those who have been killed. Without injuries, it’s a stressful time, but there’s not a lot that a lawyer can do to maximize your settlement claim.
If you were injured, though, then your one and only goal should be to heal from those injuries. Stress from dealing with insurance companies only creates more issues and prolongs your healing process. Let us do the stressful stuff, you do the healing stuff.
Let’s talk about what happened. Call our offices at 214-414-3808, or fill out the contact form on our site, and we’ll have a free conversation to determine our course of action.