Some common advice about what to do after car crashes involves taking stock of your surroundings and obtaining as much information as you can for use in a future lawsuit. When car crashes happen, a lot of different things can happen. If you are badly injured, you could be immediately evacuated for medical treatment. Even if you are not badly injured, the shock and adrenaline from the experience may make it difficult to take stock of things and get your bearings about what is going on. Fortunately, there are other sources of information you can rely on, like police reports made right after the accident. For those reports to be useful in a claim, though, you have to get your hands on them.
In order to obtain a police report in Sandy Springs, you can contact the Sandy Springs Police Department directly or request your report online. It can take some time for a report to be made available, so you should not worry if you can’t obtain it immediately, especially if the accident happened very recently.
Get in touch with the Sandy Springs car accident attorneys from Rice, Murtha & Psoras and talk about your claim by calling (470) 287-3070.
Getting a Police Report for a Car Accident in Sandy Springs, GA
If you want to obtain a police report in Sandy Springs, there are a couple of paths available to you. If you aren’t exactly sure which one is correct for your specific situation, our Roswell, GA car accident attorneys can look over your situation and point you in the right direction.
Contact Sandy Springs Police Department
You can also contact the Sandy Springs Police Department directly. They can be contacted by calling their non-emergency number, going to their website, or you can go to the department in person to request your report. The Sandy Springs PD website uses Police2Citizen, an online tool that helps you request police reports without having to travel anywhere. If you elect to go to get your report in person, make sure that you go during regular business hours and give yourself enough time for them to process your request once you get there. The records desk sometimes closes earlier than the stated time on the website, so it is better to err on the side of caution to give yourself enough time to request your records.
There is a $5 when you request a police report. When you request your report from the police department, you should have any details and information about the accident you have to hand so that you can help them understand what report you are looking for. Information that can help with this includes the rough date and time of the crash, the street it happened on, and your name as well as the name of anyone else involved in the crash. If you do not have this information to hand, our attorneys can help you get it so that you can be ready before you request a police report.
Georgia Department of Transportation and Buycrash
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has a website you can use to request crash reports for your particular accident. There is a link you can click which will take you to BuyCrash, an online tool to obtain crash reports used across the country by many states, including Georgia. Follow the portal instructions and enter the relevant information about your incident. If you have concerns, issues, or other problems with this process, our lawyers can assist you and make sure that you request a report properly.
How Long Do I Have to Wait to Get My Police Report in Sandy Springs, GA?
The time it takes for a police report can vary depending on the circumstances. Usually, they will be available one to two weeks after your accident.
Information Contained in Police Reports in Sandy Springs, GA
Police reports have a lot of valuable information that can be used to help your claim, even if the police report itself is not used as evidence or shown at trial. Our lawyers can use police reports to find parties who can serve as potential defendants, witnesses, and more. Police reports are also useful for finding information that could potentially help or hurt your case, which can help our lawyers build a stronger argument for trial.
People Involved in the Crash
A police report will have the names and other information about any drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or other people involved in the car crash. This can be very valuable to our attorneys in determining potential witnesses, defendants, and other people who may have information relevant to your claim.
Crash Location
The place where the car accident happened will also be in police reports. Car accidents are scary and hectic, so it is easy to lose track of simple details like where a crash happened in all the commotion. This is especially true if you had to be evacuated for emergency medical treatment and did not have time to take all of the information in after your accident.
Environmental Conditions
The state of the road, the weather, and other things may also be in a police report. This can be especially important if you are claiming that an accident happened because of poor road conditions. Alternatively, if the defendant claims that they did something like move out of the way of a pothole, you can look at the police report to see if it matches up with that claim.
Our Sandy Springs, GA Car Accident Attorneys are Here to Help You
Rice, Murtha & Psoras has Sandy Springs personal injury attorneys ready to discuss your case when you call our office at (470) 287-3070.