Accident Report Question For Police Officers

[Old Moparz]

The question is, what can be done, if anything, when the investigating officer makes a mistake regarding who's fault it is on the accident report?  

My wife & I drive our daughter to school & drops her off in front along with the other parents. On this day my wife took her & parked at the curb to let her out. It can be very busy at times so some people either double park, stop in the travelway, or pull into wherever there is an open space along side the curb. On this particular day, my wife was parked at the curb like usual, but had opened the passenger side window to tell our daughter something since she was already out of the car, but then heard a loud scraping noise.

Another woman dropping off her kid saw an opening in front of my wife & pulled in, in front of her car but misjudged the distance & side swiped the front, driver's side of my wife's car. The damage on my wife's car wasn't as bad as the other car since she dragged the passenger side along the corner of my wife's front bumper. The other woman got out, was upset, & apologized to my wife for hitting her car. My wife called the police to report it & an officer showed up.

The officer never asked anyone what happened but looked at both cars & went back to his patrol car. He did tell my wife that the accident report can be picked up in a couple of days at the police station. She picked it up yesterday & saw that the officer wrote down that my wife pulled away from the curb & struck the other vehicle, therefore my wife caused the accident. As far as I know there are no other witnesses & the officer won't be available to ask about it until Monday when he comes in for his next shift.

I'm pretty ticked off by this, but don't want to jump to any conclusions about it until we hear from the officer about his report. My "assumption" is that he won't change the report, but I hope I am wrong.

[skip68]

I'm not a cop but I find it hard to believe that the officer wouldn't ask what happened.   Being that he didn't witness the accident he would have to take statements from both parties involved I would think.        
Good luck Bob and hope you get this report fixed.   Did your wife take pictures?    

[bakerhillpins]

Wow, that sucks.  The best you can hope for in this situation is that the lady who was all nice and apologetic at the scene will confirm that it is indeed her fault and have the report changed.

Next, I suppose, is a situation where you use damage evidence to prove which direction the scrapes occurred of which your insurance company should be able to help. If she hit her as the report describes then the scraping (or pushing) damage may be able to point out that the report is incorrect.

Did your wife happen to video or photo the situation just after it occurred?  Your daughter is a witness too. May be able to find some of her friends or others that overheard the conversation and what the other woman said.  

The pessimism in me in these situations suspects it will become a legal battle.  

I am frankly a tad perturbed that the officer didn't bother to even ask about what happened.

[Old Moparz]

I'd like to think that my wife would have at least asked the officer why he didn't ask what happened, but it's over & done with. She didn't take any pictures either, which also baffles me since she has a cell phone with a camera. I think part of the problem is that it was on school property & not a public road so it may be treated differently. I don't want to make any assumptions, but maybe the officer just assumed he knew what happened?   

One thing I can't get out of my head is that my wife was told that the woman who side swiped her used to be a NYC police officer & that her husband still is. Like I said, making assumptions isn't what I want to do, but..... 


Good point about the damage showing who was at fault, I'll take my own damn photos later today.

[bakerhillpins]

I'd like to think that my wife would have at least asked the officer why he didn't ask what happened, but it's over & done with. She didn't take any pictures either, which also baffles me since she has a cell phone with a camera. I think part of the problem is that it was on school property & not a public road so it may be treated differently. I don't want to make any assumptions, but maybe the officer just assumed he knew what happened?   

One thing I can't get out of my head is that my wife was told that the woman who side swiped her used to be a NYC police officer & that her husband still is. Like I said, making assumptions isn't what I want to do, but..... 


Good point about the damage showing who was at fault, I'll take my own damn photos later today.

The school grounds are considered public property, well if it's a public school anyhow, and the officer should have jurisdiction there yes? Wonder if the officer that arrived knew the lady through the job?

With all the hand held digital stuff we have these days it pays to just start recording anything and everything after accidents. Ya never know.

Good luck with all of it. I absolutely hate these situations.

[mpdlawdog]

I would take it to the officer and point it out and have them change it.  Call your insurance company and let them know what happened.  Not sure where you are but if it's private property we usually just take information (names numbers insurance info....)  we are not required to take a report on private property but I would always call the police to document it. I always get people who come in and say they exchanged info only to find out the other person didn't have insurance.  Also take photos.  Hope it works out.  Let me know if I can help.

[rabidue]

not a police officer but... I was involved in an accident with a non english speaking woman who was at fault. called the cops and told me to exchange info with the woman and bring info to the station for a report. 5 days later I went to get the report and the officer who wrote it, wrote it wrong. called my insurance company and they looked at the damage and the report. Insurance waived the deductable due to where the damage on my car was and the way to report was written. had AAA insurance at the time.. if that makes you feel any better. good luck

[68 Bullitt Charger]

Hi Bob, I am recently retired from the NY Highway Patrol after 20 years and have dealt with several thousand People and Report's. I am going to share my opinion's with you and please do not be upset and or offended.

First I realize your Wife and Daughter explained the Accident to you however you were not there and sometime's what appear's to be what happened is not exactly correct from either party involved. IMO the Officer investigate's the accident himself as a trained accident investigator for your respected State as I was here in NY. The Officer SHOULD then interview all Person's involved including any Witnesses and after all of this he/she would make a determination as too what happened and who was the cause of the accident. I hightly doubt the Officer did not talk to you Family Member's as maybe they forgot or did not remember discussing the accident with the Officer.

My suggestion would be to completely read the report again, observe if there were any witnesses, and if your Family Member's involved really feel there was no discussion, your Wife, Daughter and Yourself should request a meeting with the Officer at the Station House and ask what determined how your Wife became at fault. Your Wife and Daughter should recant what they feel happened and what the other Driver stated in regard's to being at fault.

Any accident report can be added to however never changed. I believe the Officer can do an amendment which would be another accident form that can be attached to the original Report. If your Wife feel's the Officer is wrong regarding who is at fault still, have her ask the Officer for the Civilian Ammendment which can be attached and then the Insurance Companies will battle it out.

Officer's are human and can make mistake's however once the fact's are known they should take the appropriate action's.

All the best and good luck Bob,
Joe C NY

[Old Moparz]

Hi Bob, I am recently retired from the NY Highway Patrol after 20 years and have dealt with several thousand People and Report's. I am going to share my opinion's with you and please do not be upset and or offended.

First I realize your Wife and Daughter explained the Accident to you however you were not there and sometime's what appear's to be what happened is not exactly correct from either party involved. IMO the Officer investigate's the accident himself as a trained accident investigator for your respected State as I was here in NY. The Officer SHOULD then interview all Person's involved including any Witnesses and after all of this he/she would make a determination as too what happened and who was the cause of the accident. I hightly doubt the Officer did not talk to you Family Member's as maybe they forgot or did not remember discussing the accident with the Officer.

My suggestion would be to completely read the report again, observe if there were any witnesses, and if your Family Member's involved really feel there was no discussion, your Wife, Daughter and Yourself should request a meeting with the Officer at the Station House and ask what determined how your Wife became at fault. Your Wife and Daughter should recant what they feel happened and what the other Driver stated in regard's to being at fault.

Any accident report can be added to however never changed. I believe the Officer can do an amendment which would be another accident form that can be attached to the original Report. If your Wife feel's the Officer is wrong regarding who is at fault still, have her ask the Officer for the Civilian Ammendment which can be attached and then the Insurance Companies will battle it out.

Officer's are human and can make mistake's however once the fact's are known they should take the appropriate action's.

All the best and good luck Bob,
Joe C NY

I appreciate the input & take no offense at anything. 

Just to add to what I posted, my daughter was already out of the car & didn't see the accident happen so she isn't a witness. She was walking away from the car after she closed the door when my wife opened the passenger window to tell her something. That is when the other car side swiped her front fender. People do forget & make mistakes, including police officers, but the other driver knew what she did & apologized to my wife for hitting her car.

I had a hunch that the report cannot be changed, but wanted to ask to be sure. She will go back to the police station on Monday to talk to the officer & see what he has to say as far as how he came to his conclusion of what happened & who was responsible. My wife isn't afraid to tell me when she does something like have an accident since I'm not the irate husband who freaks out over that kind of stuff. Could she have forgotten that she said something to the officer? Maybe, but I seriously doubt that she would forget that she reversed the story of who hit who.

[68 Bullitt Charger]

Hi again Bob,  just realized that you too are from NY and not that far from me. In NYS you can request the Report to be amended if your Wife feel's the fact's are incorrect. If you have a difficult time you me email me and I will give you my phone number to further assist your Family in any way possible. Good Luck and let me know if you need further assistance. Joe C NY

[Old Moparz]

Hi again Bob,  just realized that you too are from NY and not that far from me. In NYS you can request the Report to be amended if your Wife feel's the fact's are incorrect. If you have a difficult time you me email me and I will give you my phone number to further assist your Family in any way possible. Good Luck and let me know if you need further assistance. Joe C NY

Hey there Joe, thank you for the offer to help.     I'll see how it goes after she speaks with the officer on Monday & PM you if I need to.

[resq302]

Bob,

There ya have it from someone who is or was on the job in the same state.  I know in NJ, the only person that can change the report is the officer making the report.  If your wife was parked and she was hit, I would assume that it would be the persons fault that was moving unless your wife was parked illegally.  You won't believe how many people come in to dispatch wanting an officer to change the report because it wasn't "right" or that something was omitted.  It could have been something as simple as the officer writing down the corresponding parties info in the wrong spot when he took the intial information.  Such as driver 1 is written down as driver 2 in his book and vice versa. 

Just take it for what it is worth as coming from someone in dispatch for a police dept in NJ.  NY could be totally different and probably is!