How Do I Get the Accident Report from My Interstate 95 Car Crash?
Clients often want to know what happened after a devastating crash on the highway.
When innocent drivers or passengers are injured due to the unsafe acts of interstate truckers, other drivers or motorcycles, they are frequently removed from the scene by ambulance or first responders, and have little recollection of the facts of the impact.
In order to find out what happened, who else may have been involved in a multi-car crash, and what witnesses may have seen in the events leading up to the collision, getting the official Police Investigation Report is an important first step.
However, it is not always clear which police department has investigated your crash. Sometimes it is the county or city police nearest the crash scene. For accidents that occur in Virginia, it may be the Virginia State Police. You may need to call around to find the appropriate department. Once you determine that, you will need to provide the date, time, and location of the accident when requesting a copy of the report.
In major truck crash cases, not only might there be an investigation by the state and local law-enforcement authorities, but federal investigators may become involved as well. Interstate trucking is regulated by various Federal agencies, so there may be reports by several departments (Interstate Commerce Commission, OSHA, etc.)
Herndon crash injury lawyer Doug Landau notes that his clients often just want to get to the bottom of what happened, before going to the Traffic Court hearing.
Once there has been testimony in a General District Court traffic case, it is difficult to undo. The official report may become final and valuable information may have been lost. The General District Courts do not have a court reporter, so the Herndon Virginia law firm Abrams Landau, Ltd. sends a court reporter to the Traffic Court in every serious crash case to preserve the testimony for later use in the civil case for damages. That way if a defendant changes his or her story, or there are questions that arise later, we have an accurate record of the testimony.
If you or someone you know is involved in accident I-95 or another interstate highway, please email or call Abrams Landau, Ltd. at once (703-796-9555).