Overcoming a negative police report: a case study

In the summer of 2013, Richard was driving home from the beach with his family. He approached an intersection near his home and waited at the green light for oncoming traffic to pass so that he could safely make a left turn. After waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, Richard began to make his left turn just as the light turned yellow. Unfortunately, a car coming from the left ran a red light and smashed into the side of Richard’s vehicle.

The police responded to the scene. They only spoke to Richard for a brief minute, but spent a long time talking to the other driver, a young woman. Richard’s car was damaged beyond repair and his neck and back were badly injured. He began seeing a chiropractor for weekly treatment.

He contacted the insurance company of the person who hit him but the insurance company refused to pay for Richard’s car, or for any of his medical bills or other losses. The insurance company stated that the young woman who hit Richard claimed that he had run the red light, not her. Also, the police officer had stated in his report that Richard had admitted running the red light, which was not true.

When to call for help

Richard realized that he needed help to force the insurance company to pay for his damaged vehicle, his medical expenses, and his pain and suffering. He knew he needed a good personal injury law firm, so he called us. After we met with Richard we believed he was in the right and set out to prove that the other driver had been at fault.

We found witnesses who were driving behind Richard that agreed that the other driver had run the red light, not Richard. However, the insurance company still refused to accept responsibility. We believed Richard deserved financial compensation for his injuries and that he was being taken advantage of by the insurance company so we filed a lawsuit on Richard’s behalf. The case was tried before a jury in Snohomish County Superior Court in December 2015.

Even though the defense attorneys had the police officer testify against Richard, we had prepared a strong case. The witnesses who were driving behind Richard when the accident occurred told a very different story than the police officer. After a four-day trial and two years of fighting, the jury found the other driver at fault for the accident and Richard won the case. He received compensation for his medical costs, pain and suffering and property damage.Photo by West Midlands Police / CC BY