A good personal injury case is built on solid evidence. If you have been hit and injured by a careless driver, you may need to understand what is meant by evidence. One form of evidence, in particular, can provide both a wealth of information as well as provide a strong wedge to provoke compensation. Read on to learn more.

The Accident Investigation

Once you have reported the accident to your own insurgence agency, an investigation will get underway. Your own insurance agency will work alongside the other driver's agency to find out who was at fault. You must contact your own agency and provide them with a statement about the accident, even if the wreck was clearly not your fault. It's common to be contacted by the insurance adjuster for the other side and asked to give a statement. You must never speak to the adjuster for the other side. You are not required to do so, and a refusal to give a statement will have no negative effect on your compensation. On the other hand, you might damage your case by speaking to the other side's insurance adjuster.

There is another type of investigation that is more neutral, however. The responding officer to the accident scene must complete a form known as the accident report (or police report). This report is performed either at the scene or shortly thereafter, and you should obtain a copy of the report as soon as possible. The officer will provide a summary of the way the accident happened based on the initial information available at that time.

Prime Information

If the accident was caused by the other driver, the accident report will very likely note that information. While this report may not necessarily be admissible in a court of law, that does not mean that the opinion of the responding officer is not valuable. When it comes time to negotiate a settlement, the police report and the officer's opinion as to fault in the wreck holds a great deal of weight. The other side knows that if the case should come to trial, the responding officer may be called as a witness for your side, and this testimony is entirely admissible.

Additionally, if the other driver was cited for traffic violations, the police report will contain such information. When the other driver's actions were so egregiously negligent that an accident was the result, the presence of traffic citations provides you with one less thing to prove: fault.

For a better understanding of the importance of the accident report to your personal injury claim, speak to your local personal injury attorney services.