ORLANDO, Fla. – As responsible drivers, we have to make sure all our paperwork for our car and drivers license are constantly in order.
To all those law-abiding citizens out there, you might be surprised when I tell you that in some cases, you’re not required to even get an actual crash report conducted by law enforcement after you have been involved in a crash.
Chris M. from the Orlando area asked if he was required to have police respond to a crash if it was minor and all parties wanted to handle it among themselves. I am here to tell you this is done almost every single day and in most cases done without a hitch.
Before you decide that you are going to handle this among responsible adults, a few things are required beforehand. In crashes where drivers are encouraged to conduct a self-report, the damage to an individual vehicle is usually below the insurance deductible, there are no injuries to anyone involved and both cars are able to be driven away. In these cases, drivers can choose to handle business on their own without having law enforcement participation.
I have seen and been in situations where the crash I was responding to was so minor that agencies would instruct drivers on how to conduct their self-report online. Majority of the time these crashes have occurred on private property, gated community, parking lot or other contained areas. This is normal and drivers should follow instructions by the agency responding.
If you ever want more information or need to file a self report here is the link.