HOW CAN POLICE REPORTS AND OREGON DMV ACCIDENT REPORTS IMPACT YOUR ACCIDENT CLAIM?
In Oregon, the police may or may not respond to an accident. Even if the police do respond to an
accident, they may not create a report depending on the internal procedures of the law enforcement
entity that responded to the call. Regardless of whether or not a police report was created, every
person involved in an accident in Oregon must file a DMV Oregon Traffic Accident and Insurance Report
when:
1. Damage to your vehicle involved in the accident exceeds $2,500.
2. Any Injury from the accident no matter how minor the injury.
3. Death.
4. Damage to anyone’s personal property exceeds $2,500.
5. Any vehicle has damage over $2,500 and any vehicle is towed from the scene as a result of the
accident.
The DMV Oregon Traffic Accident and Insurance Report must be filed within 72 hours of the accident.
The Oregon Traffic Accident and Insurance Report itself is confidential. If you wish to keep a copy for
your own records you have to do so before you file it. You do not have to share your DMV Oregon
Accident and Insurance Report with any other party or insurance companies. The form is available
online or at any DMV location.
If you do not know the identity, insurance information or contact information of witnesses or the other
party involved in your crash, you can obtain that from the Oregon DMV
HOW TO OBTAIN THE POLICE REPORT OR INFORMATION FROM THE OREGON DMV?
Each law enforcement agency in Oregon prepares and keeps their own police or accident reports. If you
do not know the responding agency, the attorneys at Dwyer Williams Cherkoss can help you determine
which agency likely responded to your accident. If you know the responding agency, you can obtain a
copy by contacting that agency and filing a report request and pay the required fee.
In order to obtain contact information on who was involved in the accident from the DMV, call the
Oregon DMV Accident Unit at (503) 945-5098. Information from the DMV is only available to specific
individuals having need of such information, such as attorneys for parties, the parties or family
members.
WHAT IF THERE IS NO ACCIDENT REPORT?
This is a common occurrence in Oregon, even when a law enforcement agency arrives on the scene. It
is important to determine if an accident report exists for your accident. If law enforcement personnel
responded to your accident. But no report was created, the other party may try to avoid liability even if
they admitted it at the scene. If the other party is at fault, but the insurance company is blaming you or
denying liability as a no-fault accident, Dwyer Williams Cherkoss might be able to help. Attorneys at
Dwyer Williams Cherkoss can sometimes get information from responding law enforcement personnel
about liability, witness, road conditions even when no report was filed. Determining if a police report
was created and looking through the information in the report promptly after an accident is very
important. Missing information can sometimes be obtained directly from the responding officer even if
they have not filed a report.
WHAT INFORMATION IS IN A POLICE REPORT?
The police report should contain extremely valuable information about who was driving the vehicles
involved in the accident, information on the vehicles themselves such as license plate numbers, vin
numbers, witnesses, road conditions, right of way, other factors such as weather, if the accident was in a
school or construction zone, and whether alcohol or other suspected intoxicants might have been
involved. All of this information is extremely important to any accident claim. Insurance companies
often rely on the information contained in a police report to determine who was at fault or determine if
the impact was strong enough to cause serious injury.
The police report often contains a narrative statement summarizing what the witnesses and drivers
involved in the accident say. This information is often what is used to determine if someone is given a
citation related to the accident.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF AN ACCIDENT REPORT IS INCORRECT
People make mistakes, whether it is the officer misunderstanding something said, or a witness
misstating something they saw. Perhaps the other driver simply lies about what happens. Dwyer
Williams Cherkoss Attorneys is very successful at helping our clients overcome these problems and get the best
outcomes for their individual case.