Georgia Highway Patrol Reports: What You Need To Know
Anytime there’s a vehicle accident that results in an injury, death, or a specific amount of property damage, there must be an accident report filled out in Georgia. Here, we want to review what you need to know about Georgia Highway Patrol reports when it comes to your Atlanta car accident claim and recovering compensation for injuries or property damage.
What is in the Reports?
There is very specific information located in an accident report, and the insurance carriers are going to need this information. A Georgia Highway Patrol report will typically begin with indicating what started the accident. This can include a narration of the officer stating that one driver entered a busy intersection through a red light or that a large commercial truck had a tire blowout and swerved into a median and into other cars.
Contributory factors
Also included in a Georgia Highway Patrol report will be other factors that contributed to the accident and which parties may share fault. For example, suppose there is one driver intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, but perhaps one of the other vehicles was speeding and unable to avoid the accident that was primarily started by the impaired driver. This could lead to shared fault for the incident.
Road conditions
The accident report will mention whether or not there were any adverse road conditions that contributed to the incident, perhaps potholes, low visibility, snow and ice, etcetera.
Traffic conditions
A Georgia Highway Patrol report will also know the volume of traffic at the time the incident occurred. The report will also note whether or not one or more drivers were going in the wrong direction in the wrong lane.
Vehicle maneuvers
If there were any out-of-the-ordinary vehicle maneuvers involved in the accident, this will be noted in the report. This could include a vehicle driving in reverse, breaking suddenly, performing a U-turn, passing a blind curve, etc. The report may also note whether or not there were any skid marks and note what they believe these skid marks indicate.
Vehicle types
The types of vehicles involved in the accident will be listed. This can include passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, SUVs, larger commercial trucks, buses, etcetera. The report will also list any damage to the vehicles and which side of the vehicle the damage occurred on.
Types of injuries
The police officer will also notate the nature of the injuries, at least as far as the injuries are known at the time the report is written.
How You Can Obtain a Report
There are various ways to obtain a Georgia Highway Patrol report. This includes online, going in person to the Georgia Highway Patrol office, or asking an attorney to obtain the report on your behalf. We strongly encourage any person who has been involved in a vehicle accident that was investigated by the Georgia Highway Patrol to obtain their accident report. This is the best way to ensure proper recovery of compensation through the insurance carrier, but the report will also be necessary for those who have to file a civil personal or property damage lawsuit against an at-fault driver.