Why The Police Might Not Show Up In An Accident
The police generally show up in auto accident scenes and generate accident reports. Many people know that they should stay at the accident scene until the police arrive. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, and the police might fail to show up in some accidents.
Why the Police Might Not Come
Here are a few reasons the police might not show up at your accident scene.
Private Property
The police officers may be reluctant to come to accident scenes on private property. For one, the police may not have the jurisdiction to determine faults for auto accidents that occur on private grounds. The police may not even have the authority to issue citations in such cases. These two reasons make some police departments not want to bother with accidents on private grounds unless the accident has some criminal element to it.
Minimal Property Damage
The police can also fail to show up if the accident involves minimal property damage. A fender bender or a sideswipe that causes nothing but paint scratches, for example, might fail to attract the attention of the police.
No Injury
The police will usually not come to auto accident scenes without injury victims. Say someone hits your car while backing out of a parking space, but the impact is minimal, and no one is injured. The police might not show up at the accident scene. The police reluctance makes sense since the police have limited resources and must prioritize other things.
Underway Disaster
Lastly, the police might not respond to an auto accident scene if there is a disaster underway in the vicinity. As mentioned above, the police have limited resources and must prioritize the distribution of such resources. For example, if a building has collapsed or an active shooter situation is underway, the police may give priority to those situations over a minor auto accident.
What to Do
Even though the police might not show up, you still need to treat the accident with the seriousness it deserves. Here are a few measures you should take:
- Ensure everyone is safe
- Take contacts of the victims and witnesses
- Tow your car to a secure location
- Seek medical care if necessary
- Report the accident to the police
- Report the accident to your insurance company
As you can see, the police still need to know about the accident and generate a report for it. Don't sideline the police simply because they didn't come to the accident scene.
For more information, reach out to an auto accident attorney.
