On an accident report, does the vehicle order imply person at fault, i.e. is Driver #1 or Driver #2 assumed to be responsible?
by 
paloma
ANSWERS: 6
-
Based on the last couple of weather-related incidents I've had, I would say that it doesn't matter who is #1 or #2. I've been both and never been at fault.
-
This depends on the officer and what the laws are in each jurisdiction. The report will most likely imply who was at fault based on the details. I.e., Driver 1 failed to yield to Driver 2 implies that Driver 1 was most likely at fault. But does the order matter? Not necessarily. The purpose of a report is to explain the facts/details of an accident and as long as that is clear and the drivers are identified separately as 1, 2, 3 , etc., it likely won't make a difference. As stated in another post, weather related incidents are typically a draw and the officer will simply state "incliment weather/road conditions". The accident report is not the only factor considered by insurance claim adjusters. They do their own independent assesment and the accident report is just a part of it.
-
I live in Kentucky. When I was in an accident, my insurance company thought I was at fault at first, simply by the order of the accident report pages. The form for the person at fault is usually on top (not sure if driver #1 or #2). The agent had to read each page before she would believe the other driver was at fault.
-
The vehicle order of each driver makes no difference. the narrative of the accident report is where the blame lies........sometimes. some auto crashes are so mangled, that fault is hard to determine, especially if a death is involved and there are no witnesses. this is where a true traffic investigator comes into play. again, order makes no difference. hope this helps. end
-
At the agency at which I work, we have a policy of listing the at-fault vehicle first, but there's no hard and fast rule and some officers list the vehicles differently. What should clearly tell you who's at fault is the officer's narrative.
-
At our agency, we're taught to list the at-fault driver first so that our reports show uniformity, but I know not every officer does it so it can't be relied on. We also include a narrative and diagram with our final report, and the narrative will list the at-fault driver if fault can be determined. I have to disagree with some of the posted answers; it does matter which driver is listed as at fault for insurance purposes. Unless a formal investigation is done (as with a traffic homocide or a crash pursuant to a crime), only the insurance adjuster will ever see the car, and he/she doesn't determine fault, only damage.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC