A police accident report is a crucial piece of evidence if you are involved in a personal injury lawsuit in California. An accident report establishes a baseline account of what happened in the crash, and it may contain other useful information as well. Without this report, an insurance company may even try to argue that you have no proof the accident ever happened.
The California car accident attorneys of Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers can help you request a crash report and assist with any other aspect of your case. Our San Diego car accident lawyers have been helping crash victims for 15 years and have recovered millions in compensation for our clients. We will gladly help you request an accident report, as well as find additional evidence to support your claim. For more information on requesting police accident reports or our other services, call (619) 233-5020 or visit our contact page.
What Should You Do After an Accident?
One of the worst things that can happen to anyone is being involved in a traffic accident. But you are not alone. With more than 25 million licensed drivers in California, it is certainly not an unusual occurrence. Unfortunately, that fact does not make it any easier when you or someone close to you has sustained a serious injury due to another driver’s negligence.
There are a number of things you should do immediately following the collision to ensure that the injured parties receive medical attention and that there is accurate documentation of the accident.
Your first priority is to help the injured parties, including yourself. You or another passenger should call 911 to report the accident and to alert medical personnel and law enforcement to come to the scene. While medical workers attend to the injured parties, the responding officer will inspect the accident scene and fill out a detailed CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report. After the officer has filed the report, you can request a copy of it by printing out and completing the CHP 190 form.
Requesting a Police Accident Report in California
The first step in requesting a car accident report in California is to figure out which agency filed the report. If the crash occurred on a state or federal highway, the accident report was most likely filed by the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report Form
In order to get a copy of the responding officer’s CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report, you must:
- Attach a copy of your driver’s license or other photo ID to the CHP 190 form. If you do not have a photo ID, a notary must certify the form or your personal statement.
- Once your form is verified, attach your ID to the form, and mail it or bring it to an area office.
- A copy of the completed CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report report will be mailed to you upon receipt of payment.
CHP 190 Form
To obtain an accident report from CHP, you will need to fill out form CHP 190 and be sure to include the following information:
- The date of the accident
- The location of the accident (be as exact as possible)
- Your name (if you were driving) or the name of the owner of the vehicle (if you were a passenger)
- Your mailing address
- Your signature
- A photocopy of your driver’s license
You will also need to pay a fee as part of your application. CHP charges $10 for any report that is 1-25 pages long, which should be enough for a typical accident report. Once you have completed the form, you can send it and your application fee to the CHP San Diego office at
5902 Kearny Villa Road
San Diego, CA 92123
San Diego County Sheriff Department
If you were hurt in an accident that did not occur on a highway, you would need to request the crash report from a different law enforcement agency. In the San Diego area, the two agencies handling accidents that do not occur on highways are the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department offers several ways to request an accident report. The first is to submit a request online through their Public Records Center. The second method is to submit a request from the local Sheriff’s Station that handled the accident. Finally, you can fill out a Service Request Form and mail it to the following address:
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Attn: Records & ID Division, Cases Section
P.O. Box 939062
San Diego, CA 92193-9062
The Sheriff’s Department normally charges a $20 fee for a copy of a police report. However, the first copy of a report is free if it is requested by a crash victim or their representative (i.e., your lawyer).
San Diego Police Department
If you need to request an accident report from the San Diego Police Department, you have a few ways to do so. The first is to submit a records request online, which requires a small fee but is also the most convenient option for many people. The second option is to call 866-215-2771 and ask for your report.
Third, you can submit a request by mail to:
SDPD Records MS#726
P.O. Box 121431
San Diego, CA 92112
Be sure to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope and a $12 check or money order made out to the San Diego City Treasurer.
Finally, you can visit the police department’s Records Division in person at
1401 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
If you go in person, you will also need to pay a $12 processing fee.
What Is in a California Police Accident Report?
The CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report is the starting point in building a case against a negligent driver. It documents every detail relating to the accident. It is possible that the report may imply that you were negligent to some degree in causing the accident. But you can be confident that one of our experienced lawyers at Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers will gather evidence to help disprove that allegation if you were not at fault.
- The first part of the report contains the location, time, and date of the crash, information about the parties involved and their vehicles (including insurance data and damage estimates). If there are pictures of the collision scene, they will be included.
- The second section details damage to the vehicles and other property, as well as any possible causative factors such as weather, driver inattentiveness, safety restraints, driver impairment, roadway conditions, markers, signals or signs for traffic control, types of collisions (front, rear, side, rotational, rollover accidents); descriptions of vehicles, passenger seating locations in vehicles, and other factors, such as pedestrian involvement.
- The last section is the law enforcement officer’s sketch of the accident scene.
Other relevant information that may be found in a police accident report in California includes:
- The names, address, and other contact information for all the drivers involved in the accident
- The owners of the vehicles involved in the accident
- Any other interested parties involved in the accident (passengers, witnesses, etc.)
- Whether or not any citations were issued
- The reporting officer’s opinion about the cause of the crash
This information is crucial for establishing a basis for a personal injury claim. Another good reason to request an accident report is to make sure all the information is accurate. If you believe part of the accident report is incorrect, a lawyer can tell you how to request a correction.
Other Evidence and Documentation You May Need
Besides obtaining a copy of your CHP 555 Traffic Collision Report by filing a CHP 190, you should keep a file of all the paperwork related to your injuries to share with your attorney.
- Office visit summaries (diagnoses, recommendations for care, current and future)
- X-rays, scans, and laboratory tests
- Medical procedures, such as biopsies and operations
- Prescription medications
- Bills from doctors, surgeons, anesthesia professionals, hospitals, laboratories, rehabilitative services, and caregivers
- Records of bills, receipts, and insurance statements (including the amount paid toward them), either by you and/or a medical insurance company.
Why Choose Us?
If you are unsure about how to wade through the vast number of details included in the CHP 555 report, rest assured that one of our attorneys at the Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers will go over every line with you. Just call (619) 233-5020, or fill out our contact form for a free consultation. This is the time for you to speak up about anything you believe is inaccurate in the report.
When Ross Jurewitz and his wife Lee established the firm in 2007, they made a commitment to always represent victims. They know that insurance companies have a vested interest in preserving their assets, not in getting you the compensation you deserve.
At Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers, we do not back down from the lawyers insurance companies hire to represent their interests. And if expert testimony helps us to get just compensation for you, we will call on our list of professionals representing all fields to serve as witnesses. We also have access to a pool of medical professionals who will attend to your needs while we proceed with building your claim. You’ll owe nothing upfront.
Contact a San Diego Car Accident Attorney Today
The San Diego car accident lawyers of Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers have many years of experience helping crash victims request and read accident reports along with requesting other evidence they need as part of a personal injury case. Our San Diego auto accident attorneys are standing by to hear you out and explain your options.
Call (619) 233-5020 or visit our contact page today for your free initial consultation.
