Do I Have to Call the Police After A Florida Car Accident?
Unfortunately, car accidents are a common occurrence. They are also very inconvenient, often occurring while you are on your way to or from work, an important appointment, or even picking up your children. Thankfully, most car accidents are minor, and the people involved are often able to just drive away from the scene. This can make it very tempting to just exchange insurance information with the other driver and go on with your day, without calling the police. But should you do this? When asked, we always advise people that the police should be called after every Florida car accident. While this can be time consuming in the case of a minor accident, there are a number of reasons why you should.
The Law May Require You to Call the Police
In certain cases, you are legally required to either call the police from the scene of the accident or report it to the police within a certain period of time after it. Florida statute §316.066 requires you to contact the police and file a report in any accident that involves or causes any of the following:
- $500 in property damage to either or both vehicles;
- Any injuries, “complaints of pain or discomfort,” or death;
- Any vehicle to require towing from the scene;
- Involved a commercial motor vehicle; or
- Involved a drunk driver.
In any of these cases, a report must be filed. If you do not call the police from the scene, the law requires that you must do so within 10 days from the date of the crash. You can do this by contacting the appropriate law enforcement agency where your accident occurred, which may be the Florida Highway Patrol, the county sheriff’s department, or the city police.
The Police Report is Your First Opportunity to Document the Crash and Any Injuries or Complaints You May Have
The most obvious reason to call the police to the scene of your accident is so that your accident can be promptly and properly documented. This will help to avoid any confusion later on as to what occurred. This is important, especially if there are independent witnesses who need to be interviewed. Interviewing them right away will ensure that the facts of what they witnessed are still fresh in their mind. This will make the witness less susceptible to attack later on due to the possibility of a faded memory.
More importantly, the police report is you first opportunity to document any physical complaints that you may have. This is important because the police report is the first place that the insurance company will look to see if you made any complaints if you later report a claim for injury. If there is no report, the insurance company will likely argue that the accident couldn’t have caused any injury because it was too minor to even report. However, if your back was sore at the scene and the officer noted that on the report, a later claim of a back injury can more easily be related to the crash. No matter what, it is always important to tell the investigating officer about any possible injuries, whether they may seem minor or not. This way, if the injury isn’t minor, and doesn’t go away, your complaints will be documented early and as close to the time of the accident as possible.
You May Not Know Your Injured Right Away
Oftentimes, people who have been involved in a car accident don’t even know right away that they’ve been hurt. Symptoms can sometimes take days to appear. If you don’t call the police, there will be no official record that your accident even happened. If you then later call the insurance company to report an injury, they are likely going to argue that there is no proof that your accident ever happened, or that something else was the cause of your injury because your accident was so minor that you didn’t even bother to report it. This can all be avoided by simply calling the police when your accident happens.
Call Jim The Lawyer, Accident and Injury Attorney, After a Riverview, Florida Car Accident
If you’ve been injured in a Riverview, Florida car accident, Jim The Lawyer is here to help you fight to get the maximum compensation you deserve for your injury. If you’ve been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, contact Jim The Lawyer, Accident and Injury Attorney, at
(813)937-9907 for a FREE Consultation and Case Evaluation.
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