Reading Your California Car Accident Report

If you’ve been hurt in a crash, the police accident report can be critical evidence

A police crash report is official documentation of a car accident as prepared by law enforcement detailing the circumstances, parties involved, and facts of a vehicle collision. It serves as an authoritative account for insurance, legal, and personal purposes following an incident. Crash reports provide an objective account of the accident's details. Therefore, the reports are crucial for insurance claims and potential legal disputes about fault or injury severity.

If you were injured in a San Fernando Valley car accident, you want to ensure your report is interpreted correctly and used effectively in legal proceedings or insurance claims. Our experienced Los Angeles car accident attorneys can help. To request an official police report of an accident you were involved in, please provide Oaks Law Firm with the details in our form. Or contact us for a free case evaluation.

• First name.
• Last name.
• Email.
• When did the accident occur?
• Enter the address where the accident occurred, or closest intersection.
• Enter your police report number – if you have one.
• Which agency was present on scene?
• Briefly describe your relationship to the victim.
• Message.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) 555 Traffic Collision Report is a comprehensive document that includes key details about a vehicle accident. Here’s what you can expect to find on each page:

Page 1

On the first page, you will find fundamental information such as the date, time, and location of the collision, including the city, county, and district in which it occurred. This page also indicates whether the vehicles involved were towed away or if photographs were taken at the scene. Additionally, the report provides extensive information about the drivers and the vehicles involved in the crash. This includes:

• The type of parties involved (e.g. driver, pedestrian, parked vehicle, bicyclist, or other).
• Personal details about the driver such as their name, address, and phone number.
• Vehicle information including the license plate number, year, make, model, and color.
• The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
• The insurance carrier's name and the policy number.
• An estimation of the damage sustained by each vehicle.

Page 2

Page two of the crash report includes several details about the accident. At the beginning of the page, there's documentation of any property damage caused by the crash, including the property owner's name, address, and a description of the damage. The police also use specific codes to document various aspects of the crash, detailed as follows:

• The seating positions of all vehicle occupants.
• The type of safety equipment utilized (such as seat belts and child restraints).
• Airbag deployment status.
• Instances of occupants being fully or partially ejected from the vehicle.
• Driver inattention contributing to the crash.
• Environmental and situational factors like weather, lighting, road conditions that contributed to the crash.
• Types and functioning of traffic control devices present.
• The nature of the crash.
• Types of vehicles, objects, and parties involved.
• Actions of any pedestrians involved at the time of the crash.
• Vehicle dynamics prior to the crash.
• Involvement of drunk or drugged drivers.

Additionally, the report includes a sketch illustrating the sequence of events during the crash.

Page 3

The third page of the report focuses on individuals affected by the crash, detailing injured parties, witnesses, and passengers. In its top section, it classifies the injuries as fatal, severe, or other visible types, and identifies who was injured (driver, passenger, pedestrian, bicyclist, or other party). The rest of the page provides specific information about the injured, including their name, address, phone number, injury type, the hospital they were taken to, and the party responsible for their transportation.

Page 4

Page four presents a decisive and exact diagram illustrating the events of the crash, which is drawn from pure fact, devoid of any interpretation by the investigating officer. At the page's conclusion, the name and ID number of the investigating officer are prominently displayed.

Click here for printable PDF of full accident report instructions.