When car crashes happen, police officers are often among the first people to arrive at the scene. While EMTs and other first responders are trying to make sure everyone involved gets the medical care they need, police are trying to determine what happened. That job includes compiling information they know about the crash in police reports. You may not know that police reports are extremely useful in planning car accident lawsuits, as they have many details about the crash that you may have missed or forgotten over time.
To obtain a police report in Jersey City, you have several options. You can get the report online, request it via mail, or go to the relevant police department and ask for it in person. Once you get your report, you should review it with legal counsel to see if the report’s recitation of events matches yours and whether anything needs to be addressed in your claim.
To start getting help with your claim, call the Jersey City car accident attorneys from Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C., at (201) 777-1111.
How to Obtain Your Police Report in Jersey City
You can get the report online or in the mail, or you can go to the relevant police department and pick it up in person. One thing our New Jersey car accident attorneys can help you with is determining which police department responded to your accident. This is important because you have to get the report from the department that has it on hand. If your accident occurred in or around Jersey City, it is most likely that Jersey City police responded, and the report will be archived with their department. However, if another police department responds, you will have to get the report from them instead. For example, if Hoboken police respond to your crash, you will get the report on their website portal, which will ultimately take you to CrashDocs.
Get Your Report Online
Probably the quickest way to obtain your report is to go to the New Jersey state portal and request it online. To do this, you go to the portal, select whether your accident was a toll road or non-toll road accident, and then enter the relevant information, like your case number, license plate number, or last name, to start looking for your police report. If you are confused about the process, our attorneys can help you.
If your car crash happened on a Jersey City toll road, getting your report online is probably your best option because those roads are administered by the NJ State Police, not a particular police department. Accordingly, a local department would not have your report on hand. However, you might be able to contact the local office for the State Police in the area where the crash happened.
Request it By Mail
Another way to get your report is to ask for it in the mail. To do this, you fill out a form and submit a check as payment in the same envelope. Getting your report by mail will likely be slower than requesting it online, as the police department will probably take at least a week to mail it to you.
Get it in Person
Finally, you can go to the relevant police department and request the police report for your crash in person. Getting your report directly from the police precinct can sometimes be even faster than getting it online because they will have it in their records before the report is uploaded to an online database. Suppose you intend to get your report in person. In that case, it is probably a good idea to call ahead of time and ensure that the police department’s recordkeeping staff are still there, as they may close that particular office earlier than the rest of the police department.
Police Reports for Accidents Resulting in Death in Jersey City
If someone tragically dies in your car crash, there is a different process you may need to follow to get your report. You must go to the portal for fatal crashes to get reports for accidents that result in death. Additionally, the report must be picked up in person, not mailed or requested online. Getting a police report for a fatal car crash can be scary, but our lawyers can help you through the process if you are nervous or have concerns.
How Do Police Reports Help After Jersey City Car Crashes?
Once you have your police report, you may wonder how it can help improve your case. Generally, police reports cannot be used as evidence at trial. However, police reports are extremely useful in other ways.
It Can Help You Figure Out Who to Sue
A police report can help determine who to include as defendants in your claim. A police officer needs to make note of everyone involved in the crash, so there may be parties in the report that you did not know were involved in the accident who you may want to sue in court. For example, if you were badly hurt and had to go right to the hospital, you probably did not get a lot of information about the crash, so a police report can be invaluable in building your claim.
It Has Details About the Crash
Police reports are chock-full of important information about your accident, including weather and road conditions, the officer’s understanding of how the accident occurred, who they think may be responsible, and much more. All that information can benefit your case, even if the police report is not used as direct evidence. For example, suppose a defendant claims that it was “pitch black,” and you did not have your lights on. If your police report says that it was a full moon and both motorists had their lights on, you can use that detail to help direct questions and bring those facts into play in your case.
Contact Our Jersey City Car Accident Attorneys Now
Call (201) 777-1111 today for a free consultation with the Jersey City personal injury attorneys of Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C.