edgalang

I just read my police report yesterday and it basically made me look like a total idiot. The drawing that the officer made looked like I just wanted to plummet my car into the center divider even before entering the turn, but quickly before the impact, decide to do a 180. This is my letter to the CHP office, hoping to have that report edited. What are my chances?



To Officer E.Beauchamp or attending Supervisor,



I'd like to request reconsideration about the information regarding my Traffic Collision Report filed on Jan. 27, 2002 (local report # 010387). In the first line of my statement regarding speed, the officer at the time of the accident asked how fast I thought I was going right before the impact. I then continued to tell him that I attempted to accelerate to regain control of my drifting vehicle and that my speedometer might have showed 80mph during the spin. Prior to the curve I distinctly remember cruising at 70mph since I had my cruise control on from the moment I entered 580 from Chatham Road.

I in no way thought that the officer in question would automatically assume that 80 was my initial cruising speed, since I did distinctly state that I accelerated to regain control. After reading the police report for the first time (02/06/02), I find that the statements written and diagram drawn inaccurate and would like it to be corrected. Nowhere in the diagram does it explain how or why my right rear end was damaged, and from the initial sketch, it just seems like the car drifted left BEFORE making the turn for no apparent reason. Further readings into the report also state that the WEATHER, ROADWAY SURFACE, and ROADWAY CONDITIONS were marked as Clear, Dry & Normal.

I respect Officer Beauchamp's judgment and opinion in the summary and cause portion of the Narrative Supplemental, but I would like to at least have my statements and drawing of the incident corrected for accuracy. Attached is my very own drawing of the accident along with the written statement I've provided my insurance company. I urge you to please consider my request, since I do realize that this document will be kept in records for a minimum of four years.

Also, in the Traffic Collision Coding portion of the report, officer Beauchamp marked "B" that I was "proceeding straight" in the MOVEMENT PRECEDING COLLISION section, yet that portion of 580 involves you moving your steering wheel to the right (I would of assumed that this would be marked a "D" making a right turn, but seeing as this is not an intersection, I could understand why). I know this is purely logistics, but I would also like to have that looked into. Thank You.



Ernest Galang
02/07/02

nameeri

I dont know...i would say your chances are 50/50. Hopefully the person who sees this letter will actually take the time and edit the report. I certainly hope that they do, but i dont have a lot of faith in the police when it comes to re-assessing their own work. Ive had some bad luck when a report was filed about a burglary commited on my Civic. The report was not that great, or accurate, but they just wouldnt change it. Good luck anyways man..

fortunate

Coming from an insurance standpoint, chances are slim to none. CHP are notorious for writing up bad or no reports. You were lucky to even get the CHP to write up a report, most civil authorities won't write reports unless someone is injured.

Also, the equipment used to make a PR will affect the quality of it. Most PR's, especially in the Alameda/San Francisco area are highly detailed and look as if a computer was used to draw out the lines and diagrams.

Lastly, did the officer ever take your statement? If it's a counter report, they sometimes just ask a couple key questions and put the story together with the evidence they have.

DJ Iceman

While I compliment you on writing a fine letter (unemotional, polite, persuasive), I doubt they will change the report. For one thing, the cops are all too busy to go back and make what, in their minds, are insignificant tweaks to an already-filed piece of paperwork. But the other thing is that your story sounds, to me as an impartial outsider, a bit fishy. You had the cruise set at 70, started to lose control, and ACCELERATED to 80 before hitting the divider? Not only would no rational driver step on the gas when losing control, but it would be next to impossible to gain ten miles an hour while slipping.

Also, you were "proceeding straight" down the highway; I would imagine that the turn section of the form is intended for intersections, offramps, etc. Finally, why do you bring up the "clear, dry, and normal" stuff--if you disagree, your letter should explain that.

Good luck!

tdoh

I can personally attest to that; a while back some body shop guy driving a customer's M3 (just got it fixed and was returning it to customer) turned left in front of me without yielding the right of way. CHP bike cop saw the whole thing, but decided not to write up a report because there were no injuries. Just my tough luck--because of the lack of a written report my insurance company decided that I was at fault solely because I hit the other guy. I had to argue my case and even took it to the California Department of Insurance before CSAA decided to change it to "less than 50% at fault." Not exactly the decision I was looking for but as long as it meant that I wasn't gonna be assesed a point on my driving record and have my premiums go up, I wasn't gonna push the issue any further. the worse kind of insurance claim to resolve from a claimant's standpoint is one where there is no report and no witnesses willing to offer testimony one way or the other; essentially you have to convince your insurance company that the other party is lying in order to have a claim go your way, assuming of course you know that you weren't in the wrong.

Edgalang--I wish you luck but quite frankly, if they even acknowledge your letter I would be very surprised. Why? The CHP cop who saw the accident I mentioned above gave me his badge number and all and even told me that he would remember the incident; however, when my insurance company finally contacted him, he claimed to not have remembered anything about it at all. Now, I don't realistically expect people, let alone cops, to remember every single incident over a period of years but jeez, it was only two months or so since the accident when the cop was contacted.

Tony

Mr.T

I agree with tdoh. Sorry but the CHP don't like me So my aswer might not what you be expecting. They see young driver. Decent car. Probably better than theirs. Don't really care cause they probably think your a ricer. Most likly won't you off the road So I saw send the letter anyways cause I don't think he can hurt you anymore than he already did. Atleast you know you tried

Mr.T

AcuraTL

What the CHP officer would probably do is attach your letter to them as a supplemental report. And no, they will probably not change a thing.

Laurelcrest

If you want their attention, staple a donut to the report. I know it sounds cynical, but I just went through a similar situation with a cop write up here in NY, and while the cop was writing it I asked her if I could take a look at it before she filed it (the report was in her hands, and it doesnt get filed for two days) just to fill in any blanks she had about the accident. She told me no, there's no way I could see the report prior to filing, but she assured me that there would be nothing detremental to my case in her report.

Of course, since she is not a lawyer she has no idea what is and what is not detrimental to a case, and she forgot to list on the report that there was a street sign that the other driver ignored.

Trying to get them to change that was fruitless, I had to take pictures of the sight myself and send them to my insurance.

edgalang

OMFG! I just got off the phone with the CHP and they called (10:00pm) just to tell me they acknowledge the receipt of my letter. The officer was uncertain about the proper procedures because this was the first he's ever received but gave me his word that it would at least go through the proper channels and that his supervisor will take care of it. He's going to go ahead and change my statement, but he's pretty much limited to what he can change to his conclusion. In his defense, said that if he was to ever to go court, that he would not be able to verify if the tire did cause the accident since he's not properly trained for that sort of thing. He said that I must of been pretty shaken up to fully recall what went on at the time of the accident so in addition, will also attach my statement that I wrote out in detail. As for my drawing, he's not sure what to do with it since the paper that they use are pretty standard, and that he openly admitted that the drawing that he did was just to simplify the accident and that the statement will be the one that is counted.

BTW...this was the final draft that I sent, re-edited because of the advise that was given to me from various sources (including this board).



California Highway Patrol
3601 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609


To Officer E.Beauchamp or attending Supervisor,


I’d like to request reconsideration about the information regarding my Traffic Collision Report filed on Jan. 27, 2002 (local report # 010387). In the first line of my statement regarding speed, the officer at the time of the accident asked how fast I thought I was going right before the impact. I then continued to tell him that I attempted to accelerate to regain control of my drifting vehicle and that my speedometer MAY have shown 80mph during the spin. Prior to the curve I distinctly remember cruising at 70mph since I had my cruise control ready from the moment I entered 580 from Chatham Road.

I in no way thought that the officer in question would automatically assume that 80mph was my initial cruising speed, since I did distinctly state that I accelerated to regain control. After reading the police report for the first time (02/06/02), I find that the statements written and diagram drawn inaccurate and would like it to be corrected. Nowhere in the initial diagram does it explain how or why my right rear end was damaged, and from the initial sketch, it just seems like the car drifted left BEFORE making the turn for no apparent reason. In fact, I did state that my right rear tire blew out, which will further be explained in my insurance statement regarding the very same tire that Big-O Tires repaired two days prior to the accident. Further readings into the report also state that the WEATHER, ROADWAY SURFACE, and ROADWAY CONDITIONS were marked as Clear, Dry & Normal, which furthers the assumptions of mechanical failure and not the overall driving conditions.

I respect Officer Beauchamp’s judgment and opinion in the summary and cause portion of the Narrative Supplemental, but I would like to at least have my statements and drawing of the incident corrected for accuracy. Attached is my very own drawing of the accident along with the written statement I’ve provided my insurance company. I urge you to please consider my request, since I do realize that this document will be kept in a database for a minimum of four years affecting my overall driving record.

Also, in the Traffic Collision Coding portion of the report, officer Beauchamp marked “B” that I was “proceeding straight” in the MOVEMENT PRECEDING COLLISION section, yet that portion of 580 involves you turning right (I am uncertain about the use of this description and whether or not it is only applied to traffic intersections). I know this is purely logistics, but I would also like to have that looked into. Once again, thank you for your time for looking into this matter.


Ernest Galang
02/07/02

blulegend

Wow, great! At least you got somewhere.

rominl

i am glad they got back to you. seems like you are dealing with a very responsible officier here. good luck bro.

DJ Iceman

Kudos to you, and good luck. I'm glad that you were able to get some constructive inputs from folks here, and that you were open-minded enough to take their suggestions. It's also nice to hear that the police are working to help you--this is usually the case, but so often all we hear about are the jerks. Please keep us posted!