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A car accident police report is the official account of a crash. The report lists the date, place, vehicles, drivers, witnesses, injuries and damage, plus the officer's notes. This sample form follows the same sections, for drivers, insurers and employers documenting a crash.
Key facts
A car accident police report includes the who, what, where and when of a crash: the people and vehicles involved, what happened, the injuries and damage, and who saw it. The form on this page groups those details into nine sections, in the order shown below.
| Section of the form | What it holds | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Basic information | The date the form is filled out | Use today's date, even for an older crash |
| Vehicles | Make, model, year, license plate and VIN of each vehicle | Copy the VIN from the registration papers |
| Drivers | Full name, address, license number, phone and email of each driver | Match each name to the driver's license |
| Accident description | Date, time, location, directions of travel, speed and events | Write events in order, without opinions |
| Injuries and damage | Who was hurt and what each vehicle lost | Name the damaged part, such as the rear bumper |
| Witnesses | Names and contact details of people who saw the crash | Add a phone number or email for each one |
| Police and emergency response | Officer's name, badge number, department, report number, medical help | Copy the report number exactly |
| Person filing the report | Name, signature and date of the person completing the form | Use the spelling on your ID |
| Internal use only | Who received the form and what followed | Leave it blank for the receiver |
An officer's own crash report often adds a diagram of the scene, the point of impact and the road, weather and light conditions. Those fields help a reader picture the crash, so the description section of this form is a good place to note them too.
A car accident police report sample shows how a completed report reads, section by section, so you can see the level of detail each part needs. The sample below uses made-up names and numbers.
Sample (made-up details): Date filed: March 4. Vehicle 1: 2019 Honda Civic, plate ABC1234, VIN 1HGBH41JXMN109186. Driver 1: Dana Ruiz, 12 Elm Street, license D1234567. Vehicle 2: 2016 Ford F-150, plate XYZ9876. Driver 2: Sam Lee, 48 Oak Avenue. Accident: at about 5:40 PM on March 3, Vehicle 1 was stopped at the red light on Main Street at 3rd Avenue, facing north. Vehicle 2, also northbound, struck the rear of Vehicle 1. Injuries: Driver 1 reported neck pain and was checked at the scene. Damage: Vehicle 1, crushed rear bumper and broken left tail light; Vehicle 2, cracked grille. Witness: Pat Kim, 555-0100. Officer: Ofc. J. Brown, badge 4412, City Police Department, report no. 26-01873.
The sample keeps to what the writer saw and measured. It names streets, directions and damaged parts, and it labels each person by role, such as first driver or witness, so a reader always knows who did what.
A car accident police report is most useful when someone is hurt, the damage is serious or the drivers disagree about what happened. It gives insurers, employers and lawyers one shared account of the crash.
For example, if a driver rear-ends your car at a stoplight, causing substantial damage to your vehicle and injury to your neck, a police report would document these details, supporting your insurance claim.
The police report is written by the responding officer, while this form is filled in by a driver or another person involved and handed to the organization that asked for it. An employer, a fleet manager or an insurer can use the form to collect the same facts the officer gathers. When an officer did respond, the form's police section links the two documents through the officer's name and the report number. For a statement from someone who only saw the crash, a witness incident report fits better.
The form is filled out section by section, from basic information to the signature, and the nine steps below follow its order. The form can be typed on a computer or printed and written by hand.
The form goes faster with these details close at hand:
A clear car accident report is short, factual and consistent, so every name, date and number lines up when someone checks it later. The accident description is the part readers study most, so it deserves the most care.
A mistake found after you finish, such as a wrong plate number, is easy to fix before the form is handed in. Keep a copy of the final version.
Crash report rules differ from state to state: each state decides which crashes an officer reports in full and who may read the report. The sources behind this page cover Florida; for any other state, ask the responding department or the state's motor vehicle agency.
Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, the investigating officer completes a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form only when a crash caused a death, an injury or complaints of pain, involved a violation of s. 316.061(1) or s. 316.193, left a vehicle needing a wrecker, or involved a commercial motor vehicle.
The long form under Fla. Stat. § 316.066 includes the date, time and location of the crash, a description of the vehicles, the names and addresses of the parties and witnesses, the officer's name, badge number and agency, and the parties' insurance companies.
When the long form is not needed for a crash on a Florida public road, Fla. Stat. § 316.066 has the officer complete a short-form report or hand the drivers an exchange-of-information form.
Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, crash reports that show the parties' personal details are confidential for 60 days after the report is filed. During those 60 days, Fla. Stat. § 316.066 lets the parties, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents, their insurers, law enforcement agencies, victim services programs and government agencies get the report right away.
To get a confidential report, Fla. Stat. § 316.066 requires a person to show a valid driver license or other photo identification and file a written sworn statement that the report will not be used for commercial solicitation of accident victims.
A copy of the crash report comes from the department that responded to the accident, and that department tells you how to request it.
The police officer who responds to the crash writes the police report, usually from what the officer sees at the scene and what the drivers and witnesses say. A driver or another person involved fills in a form like the one on this page.
Usually yes: a police crash report is the report the investigating officer writes, and "accident report" and "traffic crash report" are other names for it. Florida, for example, calls the officer's version the Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form (Fla. Stat. § 316.066).
Some states also ask drivers for a report of their own. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, a driver in a Florida crash that damaged a vehicle or other property and needs no law enforcement report must submit a written crash report to the department within 10 days after the crash.
Yes. You can type into the fillable PDF on a computer or print the form and write by hand. Either way, read through every section once more before you sign.
Contact the department that wrote the report and ask how to correct it. Bring your notes, photos and the report number, and point to the exact detail that is wrong, such as a plate number or a street name.
Check that every name, date and plate number matches your documents. Sign and date the form, hand it to the person or organization that asked for it, and keep a copy for your own records.
The incident report forms page lists report forms for other kinds of incidents, each with its own guide.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
