What Information Is Required In The Accident Report?
In any Florida auto accident which property damage or injuries occur, people are required to contact the police and obtain a Florida auto accident report. Most cities in Florida use a standard accident report known as the Florida Traffic Crash Report. The Auto Accident Report or Crash Report contains much of the information needed to pursue a Florida auto accident injury claim.
Some of the information you will find in the auto accident report is:
- The date, time and place of the accident.
- A description of how the accident occurred, and a diagram of how the accident occurred.
- The names, addresses and phone numbers of the owners and drivers of each car involved in the accident.
- The names and policy numbers of any insurance policy insuring the driver and the cars involved in the accident.
- The weather and lighting conditions.
- A dollar value of the estimated amount of property damage.
- Any other factors contributing to the accident such as other vehicles or roadway construction.
Obtain your crash report to make sure your accident is documented properly.
The Florida Legislature recently passed an automobile accident law which restricts people from obtaining a copy of a Florida Automobile Accident Report. People allowed under Florida’s auto accident laws to obtain the report are generally limited to the parties involved in the accident, insurance companies for the parties involved in the accident, news agencies, and the legal representatives for the parties involved in the accident.
Many people, particularly insurance company adjustors, take what is written in a Florida Automobile Accident Report as indisputable. However, because many cars are often moved immediately after the accident and before the police officer arrives, the police officer is left to recreate the auto accident based upon the information given to him by people involved in the automobile accident or witnesses.
Although Fort Lauderdale car accident reports are not admissible at trial, the crash report has much of the information necessary to evaluate whether you may have a claim for personal injuries arising out of a Florida automobile accident.
Florida’s Dangerous Roadways
Look out for drivers talking on cell phones.
Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle (FHSMV) issues several Florida car accident reports throughout the year which detail where, why and how most Florida car accidents occur. One of the most significant auto accident reports that the State of Florida publishes is the Distracted Driver Report. This report focuses on the impact a distracted driver has on his or her ability to drive a car in Florida, and its relation to a Florida car accident. Reports indicate activities such as reaching for a moving object, interacting with passengers in your car, adjusting the music or entertainment system in your car, or talking on your cell phone are factors associated with higher crash occurrences. In fact, most states, and even some individual cities, have discussed passing laws banning the use of cell phones and text messaging phones while a person is driving.
A recent study released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute determined that drivers that are text messaging while operating their cars are 23 times more at risk of being involved in an accident, then when not texting. The study also measured the time spent when drivers take their eyes from the road to send or receive a text message. The accident report showed that drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their phone or texting device in the moments before a crash occurred. To put this in perspective, a car traveling at highway speeds can travel almost two football fields in 5 seconds!
The Florida Car Accident report revealed just how frequent the use of cell phones and text messaging is with Florida drivers:
- 1 in 7 drivers admits to text messaging while driving;
- 46% of 16 and 17 year old drivers say they text message while driving;
- 48% of 18 to 24 year old drivers text message while driving;
- 67% of 25 to 34 year old drivers talk on their cell phones while driving; and
- 65% of drivers with a college education talk on their cell phones while driving.
Despite this, only five states, and the District of Columbia, have laws banning the use of cell phones for all drivers.
The State of Florida also puts out its Florida Traffic Crash Statistics Report which compares the Florida car accidents. In 2008 alone, this Florida Car Accident Report studied close to 250,000 car accident which occurred, involving close to 350,000 drivers and almost 3,000 deaths which occurred in these accidents. Of the almost 3,000 fatal crashes which occurred in Florida, more than one-third of the Florida car accident deaths were alcohol related.
Don’t Suffer from Your Accident Without Compensation. Contact a Top Fort Lauderdale Car Crash Attorney Today!
A Fort Lauderdale car crash attorney at the Maus Law Firm can navigate the legal system for you and battle to obtain the compensation you need. There’s nothing to lose when you hire us, since you only pay if you win! Complete our contact form or call us at 1-855-999-5297 for a free consultation.