It is quite common for my clients to complain that there are a lot of mistakes in the police report from a car accident and that the report is in error. Minor mistakes in accident reports are quite common and usually do not warrant concern. If the report has minor typographical errors or has your wrong birth date or license plate, etc., it is not a problem worth concerning yourself. Personal injury attorneys and insurance companies are both accustomed to dealing with inaccurate police reports.
If, however, you feel that the accident description does not accurately reflect the facts of the crash, or if the report fails to acknowledge passengers in your vehicle, it may be worth contacting the responding officer to fix the mistakes. Police officers will rarely make assumptions about how an accident occurred unless they were an eyewitness to the crash. Rather, they will talk to both drivers and and summarize their statements in the report. It is for this reason that police often do not give out citations after an accident. Unless the officer actually witnessed a driver speeding, he or she is unlikely to cite the driver for speeding even if the damage suggests excessive speed.
In general, police reports are only a starting point for investigating an auto accident and are most useful to identify all the involved parties and insurance companies. The statements are, essentially, inadmissible at trial, and are less important than detailed statements or depositions.
Therefore, to make a long story short, do not let an inaccurate police report cause you too much unrest. Only if there is a fatal or damaging flaw in the report should you take the effort to contact the reporting officer. He or she will not change the initial report anyway and will only add your subsequent statement as an attachment to the original report.
Of course, all cases are unique and you should raise any question or concern with your car accident lawyer right away.
If you have been involved in an auto accident, it is imperative that you speak with an experienced auto accident attorney right away. Contact my office for a free consultation.