What Is In My Georgia Accident Report?

Traffic accidents frequently happen on Georgia’s increasingly crowded roads. It’s almost inevitable that you’ll be involved in one, no matter how safely you drive. When that happens, you’ll need an official accident report written on-site by law enforcement. To get one, you have to report your crash.

That’s why it’s extremely important to call the police regardless of how severe your accident seems. From a fender-bender with no injuries to multi-car accidents that caused serious injuries, having a police officer present will protect your safety and your legal interests.

The State of Georgia requires police officers who respond to a car accident to file a report within three days of the crash. Having this accident report will protect you and any other parties involved from false accusations about the accident.

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What Is an Accident Report?

Every collision in the state of Georgia must have an accident report if the resulting damage is greater than $500. In that report, you’ll find detailed information documenting what happened. This evidence could be important to your insurance company or your legal case if you seek compensation from the other driver. The responding officer might:

Take photographs of the crash site
Look for evidence of damage
Interview any witnesses
Write down notes about the scene and circumstances of the crash
Take measurements of the crash site

Once the initial investigation is complete, the officer will fill out an official accident report. It contains multiple sections that detail the facts they were able to confirm about the crash.

The Parts of a Georgia Accident Report

There are several categories within a Georgia crash report. Each of these categories contains relevant information regarding the accident. An accident report in Georgia will contain:

Identification and Location

This section provides basic information that the responding officers document after arriving at the scene. It includes:

Date and estimated time of the incident
Exact location of the incident complete with latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates
Kind of road where the crash occurred (toll, private, public, etc.)
Whether it occurred in a work zone
Precise description of the street
Details about the nearest intersection as a reference point

Vehicle Information

Agency case number, the identifier for this crash used in government documents
Date and time of crash
City
County
What road and intersection of the crash, along with other location data.

Driver Information

A check box for “Suspect is at fault” for either driver
Name and address
Driver’s license and insurance information
Basic information about the vehicles involved in the accident, including VIN and tag number.
If the driver is not the owner, this section can be used to record owner’s information

Other Persons/Tow

Here, the investigator will list the personal information of the party who owns or leases each vehicle and is responsible for the steps that follow the accident. The list includes:

Name and address of the party owning or leasing the vehicle
The vehicle’s proof of registration and the registration number
The names of the towing company and lot where the vehicle was taken

Deposition of Those Injured or Killed

In this section, the investigator summarizes any injuries that were suffered. Regardless of whether the injuries were minor, major, or fatal, the details will be limited because each victim will have an additional dedicated form. The framework of this section includes:

The victim’s vehicle and seat within the car
The hospital where the victim was sent
If the accident was fatal, the date and time of the victim’s death

Charges (If any)

The investigator will determine if any laws were violated and list them here. It’s important to note that these charges aren’t final. Some crashes require additional charges, while others are dismissed.

Damages

In this brief section, the investigator documents any serious damages caused by the accident. That might include totaled vehicles and personal property damage, such as broken fences or mailboxes. It’s an initial assessment, not a final accounting.

Commercial Motor Vehicle Information

If any of the vehicles involved are owned by a commercial organization, the investigator detail the following in this section:

The name and address of the commercial carrier
The estimated weight of the vehicle
Kind of commercial vehicle
Information on any hazardous cargo
A list of events leading up to the accident

Contributing Factors and Conditions

In this section, the officer will list any road conditions or weather that could have influenced the events of the crash. If slippery roads, stormy weather, or any other external factors might have contributed to the crash, they’ll be listed here.

Narrative and Diagram

This section includes any miscellaneous information and a detailed account of how the accident happened. The law enforcement officer might also document who they believe was at fault and what steps the at-fault party took or failed to take to cause the accident.

In addition to the narrative of what happened, the investigator will create a diagram of what happened based on the evidence they gathered. This diagram could be useful in negotiations with insurance companies or at court if necessary.

Investigator Information

This is where the investigator documents their role in assessing the accident. They’re obligated to state:

The date and time of the accident
The time they were informed of the accident
The time they arrived at the crash site
Their full name
Their badge number
Which agency they represent

Other Things to Know About the Georgia Accident Report

The investigator writing the report at the scene of the accident must have extensive knowledge of the codes for each reported item.

There is no room in the accident report section to record anything except the numerical code. Georgia’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report must be written by an experienced and well-trained professional investigator.

The next section is for commercial vehicles.

Information like the number of axels, cargo body type, whether the driver has a commercial driver’s license and a brief section concerning how the accident happened is included.

Georgia’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report has an extensive section that allows the investigator to develop a narrative about the accident. The narrative section begins with five questions:

Manner of collision
Location at area of impact
Weather
Surface condition
Light condition

Witness information is also recorded in this section, along with extensive information about all the occupants in the vehicles involved in the crash. The occupants section also records data about any injuries to the occupants, whether they were ejected, extricated from the vehicle, what their injury was and if they were treated or taken to a hospital. All of these questions can be answered with short phrases.

The GMVCR also asks the investigator to draw a simple picture that describes the accident, to illustrate the narrative.

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We were founded on a mission to assist people who were involved in car wrecks in Georgia by providing giving them access to the resources they need. By providing free crash reports, helpful advice, and connection to legal and medical resources, we hope you can put your accident behind you once and for all.