What To Do When Police Will Not Come Your Motorcycle Accident Site
When you are riding your motorcycle and get into an accident, common sense says that you need to call the local police department to come to the accident site. Having a police report can be what helps your insurance claim, as well as a potential personal injury claim if it is necessary. The police document all the important information, such as contact information or accounts from witnesses, and can even assign fault if it is clear based on the accident site.
Unfortunately, it's possible that the police may not come to the scene. This could be because the accident happens on private property, or the police are simply too busy and your accident is a low priority. If you find yourself in this situation, here is what you should do.
Collect As Much Info As You Can
Start by getting the basic information from the accident site. Some things you'll want to be sure to get include:
- Contact info for passengers in the vehicle
- Contact info for witnesses at the accident site
- Photos of the vehicles after the accident, including where the vehicles stopped.
- Photos of skid marks from either vehicle to identify braking distances
- Photos of the traffic conditions at the accident site
Hopefully, you'll have your smartphone with the camera working after the accident. If not, write down as much information as you can. The more evidence you have will help prove who was responsible for the accident if you eventually need to make an insurance claim, or have a personal injury you need to get compensated for.
Report The Auto Accident
You may be able to walk away healthy from the accident, but you need to file a police report about what happened. It will help document everything that happened for future claims, and have an official record of your viewpoint of what happened. This can be done by going to your local police station in the city where the accident occurred.
Keep in mind that states have their own requirements about when you must report an accident. For instance, Ohio requires an accident to be reported if there was an injury, $400 in damages, or an uninsured driver was involved. A report must be filed within 6 months of the accident.
If you do find that you need to get compensated for an injury that happened due to the accident, it is best to work with a lawyer that can guide you through the process. A motorcycle attorney like those at Scherline And Associates may be able to help.