How to Get a Car Accident Report in Los Angeles

If you get involved in a car accident in Los Angeles and wish to pursue financial compensation for your medical bills and property damage, you will most likely need a car accident report. Find out how to get one of these reports so you can use it during your car accident insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit.

How to Get a Police Report After a Car Accident in Los Angeles

To have a police report made after an automobile accident in Los Angeles, you must contact law enforcement and notify them about the crash. You are legally required to call 911 and report a car accident immediately in California if it results in injuries, deaths or property damage that appears to be at least $1,000 in value. 

Use a cell phone at the scene of the accident to call the police right away. If the car accident is minor and an officer does not respond to the scene, you must submit a crash report yourself to the Department of Motor Vehicles within 10 days. You can do this by filling out and submitting an SR-1 report.

Requesting a Copy of Your Report After the Crash

If you are involved in a car accident where the police come to the scene, you should always ask for the police report number before you leave. This will make it easier to obtain a copy of the police report later. There are two main ways to get a police report in LA: 

• Online: visit the official BuyCrash website to search for a report in the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). You can conduct your search using the report number, your last name and the date of the incident, or your last name and the street name where the crash occurred. Note that it may take up to 45 days for your accident report to appear in the system.
• Mail: download, print and fill out the Traffic Collision Report Request and mail it to the LAPD, along with a $15 check or money order made payable to the LAPD. If you are requesting a crash photo that was taken, include an additional $5 per photo. Send your materials to this address: Los Angeles Police Department, Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030.

If you have questions about how to obtain a copy of your police accident report, you can call the LAPD’s information line at 1-800-ASK-LAPD (1-877-275-5273) or visit lapdonline.org. If you want a status update on the LAPD’s receipt of a mailed request, contact their recorded line at (213) 486-8130.

Who Can Request a Copy of a Car Accident Report in LA?

The LAPD will not release traffic accident reports to just anyone. The individual requesting the document must be connected to the accident in some way, such as one of the drivers involved, a guardian of one of the drivers, an authorized person representing a driver, someone who was injured or suffered property damage in the accident, someone who may be found liable for the crash, or an attorney representing any of these parties.

How Can a Car Accident Lawyer Help?

Getting a crash report is just one of many tasks and responsibilities you will have after being involved in a car accident in LA. If you feel overwhelmed by the process of recovering from an auto accident and filing an insurance claim, you can hire an injury attorney in Los Angeles to handle your case for you. 

An attorney can help by obtaining a copy of the accident report on your behalf, collecting insurance information and filing your claim against the correct parties, gathering and presenting evidence to support your case, and filing a lawsuit in LA County, if necessary. 

For more information about how a lawyer can help after a motor vehicle collision, contact Rose, Klein & Marias LLP to request a free consultation.