By Tamar Miot, Car Accident Attorney at Miracle Law | Last reviewed: September 2026
Most car accidents in California lead to police reports. A police report may include numerous details – including intoxication levels, specific traffic violations, and even the speeds of various vehicles. These documents may prove useful for those who wish to pursue financial compensation after car accidents. How exactly do you use a police report in a personal injury lawsuit? What kind of evidence can a police report provide you with? Are police reports even admissible in personal injury trials? To answer these questions, consider a consultation with a Rancho Cucamonga car accident lawyer.
What are Police Reports?
The official term for a police report after a car accident is “traffic collision report.” If you were involved in a car accident, police will likely create a traffic collision report that describes your specific incident. Your report will contain various details.
The most basic details are the time and location of your crash. These might be more useful than you realize in a car accident case. For example, evidence may suggest that a negligent driver began drinking alcohol at 8 PM. If the police report shows that the accident occurred at 8:30 PM, then this implies they were intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The specific location of the crash may also prove important. For example, a negligent driver may attempt to argue that a confusing construction zone led to the crash. However, the police report may show that the crash occurred at an intersection several blocks away from the construction zone.
Police officers who respond to auto crashes may also interview various eyewitnesses. These eyewitness accounts may prove very useful, and they might represent the only source of reliable information in the absence of video footage. Names and contact information can help you and your lawyers track down these witnesses to obtain more detailed information.
Many police reports contain visual diagrams of the crash. These diagrams can help you visualize exactly how the collision occurred. Additional details may highlight the speeds of respective vehicles, the point of impact, and the various traffic signals or signs nearby.
Finally, a police report usually contains an officer’s personal thoughts about what caused the crash. For example, the officer might conclude that a distracted driver caused the collision. They may write their conclusions at the end of the report, providing a clear indication of fault. In many cases, accidents lead to tickets, traffic infractions, or even arrests. All of this information should be provided in the police report.
Obtaining a Copy of the Police Report
It is exceedingly easy to obtain a copy of your traffic collision report in California, and you can do this by filing form CHP 190. If you file this form, you should receive your traffic collision report relatively quickly. Any “Part of Interest” involved in the collision can file this form. This includes not only drivers, but also owners, passengers, parents, and guardians. If you print and complete the form, you can submit it in person or by mail to the nearest area office of the Highway Patrol. Note that requirements may vary depending on your specific municipality/county.
If you need help filing this form or obtaining your traffic collision report, you can always turn to your personal injury attorney for assistance. Sometimes, it’s difficult to determine which specific police department is investigating your collision. The California Highway Patrol only investigates certain collisions – and they will not have any record of your incident if it falls within the jurisdiction of another police department. Your lawyer can help you determine which specific police department is investigating your incident. Note that your attorney can obtain a report on your behalf without your involvement.
Why Your Police Report is the Key to Your Settlement
According to civil litigation data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the vast majority of personal injury cases—upwards of 90%—are settled outside of court.
Because most cases never see a jury, the traffic collision report acts as the anchor for your settlement negotiations. Insurance adjusters rely heavily on the responding officer’s initial findings to assess fault and determine how much they are willing to pay.
How we use it: In our own car accident cases at Miracle Law, the first things we compare are the officer’s collision diagram and the noted points of impact against the at-fault driver’s account of the crash. When the physical evidence recorded by the officer does not line up with the other driver’s story, that gap is often where liability turns in our client’s favor.
How to Get Your Police Report in Rancho Cucamonga
To get a copy of your traffic collision report, you must request it from the specific law enforcement agency that responded to your crash.
-
For local city streets: If your accident happened on a local road in Rancho Cucamonga, it was likely handled by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (which serves as the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department).
-
For highways and freeways: If your crash occurred on the I-15, I-210, or another state route, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has jurisdiction. You can request your report from the local CHP office located on Arrow Route.
What you need to know about requesting a report:
-
Cost: Expect to pay a small administrative fee, usually between $10 and $25, depending on the agency and the length of the report.
-
Timing: Reports are rarely available the same day. It typically takes 1 to 2 weeks for the officer to finalize the report and for the records department to process it.
-
Corrections: If you notice a factual error in your report (like an incorrect license plate or date of birth), you cannot erase the original document. However, you can contact the responding officer to request that a “supplemental report” be filed to correct the record.
-
What if no report was filed? In minor collisions, police sometimes do not respond to the scene. If this happens, California law requires you to file an SR-1 form with the DMV within 10 days if there were any injuries or property damage exceeding $1,000.
Are Police Reports Admissible Evidence in Personal Injury Trials?
Contrary to popular belief, police reports are generally inadmissible in California personal injury trials due to “hearsay” rules. Police reports fall under the category of “hearsay” because they describe statements made outside of court. For example, a police report might contain the statement of a negligent driver who admitted they were intoxicated after stumbling out of their vehicle. In this case (and countless others), the police report is a statement describing another statement.
California Vehicle Code 20013 states that accident reports should not be used as evidence in any trial. Time after time, judges in California have upheld this basic principle – continuously ruling that police reports are inadmissible in California injury trials.
If Police Reports are Inadmissible, Then Why are They Useful?
Even though police reports are inadmissible in personal injury trials, they are still useful. Over 90% of car accident cases never reach the trial stage, and they are instead settled outside of court. During settlement negotiations with insurers, the normal trial rules do not apply. Instead, injury lawyers and insurance adjusters follow a more informal procedure – and they often rely upon police reports to help determine liability.
Even if your case does go to trial, your police report may still prove useful. Your lawyer can carefully examine the report and collect a list of eyewitnesses. After contacting these witnesses, your lawyer can obtain statements that are identical to those that appear in the police report. Your lawyer can also contact the police officer who wrote the report and obtain additional statements from them. While an officer may be barred from sharing their opinion as to the cause of the crash, they can recount everything they observed after arriving at the scene.
Find an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in California
If you have been searching for a qualified car accident lawyer in California, look no further than Miracle Law. Our lawyers can help you collect, compile, and present various forms of evidence to support your case. Although police reports represent just one form of evidence, these documents may prove especially useful. To discuss this evidence in more detail, book a consultation with us at your earliest convenience. Each accident case is slightly different, and online research only gets you so far.
Español