The police report will list all witnesses identified by the responding officer along with their contact information. Police reports are available to the public (the process of obtaining a police report varies by state). However, there are a couple of resources that might help: Police reports Finding witnesses long after an accidentĪs mentioned above, identifying and locating a witness days or months after an accident can be challenging. Most police officers will attempt to locate and speak to witnesses on their own, but you don’t want to leave such an important task entirely up to them. Tweet thisįinally, be sure to alert the responding police officer to any helpful witnesses. Need a witness statement after an accident? Use your cell phone’s voice recording program to get a quick recorded statement. So, if the witness seems uncomfortable or agitated, simply take down their contract information and avoid pushing the envelope. Keep in mind that you want the witness to be on your side. Some cell phones even have voice recording programs that you can use to obtain a recorded statement. If the witness is cooperative and their statements support your claim, ask them to draft and sign a brief statement recounting what they saw. Where the witness was coming from and going to.Where the witness was positioned at the time of the accident.Once you obtain the witness’s contact information, you will want to determine: Telephone numbers of someone close to the witness (such as a spouse).For this reason, it’s important to obtain as much contact information as possible from each witness. Witnesses are notoriously difficult to track down after an accident. Witnesses might also overhear damaging statements made by drivers or passengers that, depending on the circumstances, might be admissible in court. Similarly, a witness who didn’t observe the actual collision may have seen that one of the drivers appeared injured or inebriated after the accident. Keep in mind that even if a witness didn’t observe the actual collision, they may still be able to provide valuable information.įor example, a witness may have observed one of the drivers failing to use their turn signal. Drivers and passengers in other vehicles. On the other hand, there are often a number of unbiased and sometimes overlooked witnesses to an accident such as: However, because these individuals are often friends and family members of the drivers, their statements, while important, are less credible. The most obvious witnesses to a car accident are the passengers of the vehicles involved in the collision. Enjuris Tip: Need help remembering what to do following a car crash? Download our post-accident checklist and keep it in your glove compartment.
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