In Wake County, there are a number of local law enforcement agencies that may come to the scene of a car wreck, including the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. If you are involved in an automobile accident specifically within Raleigh city limits, the most likely scenario is that the Raleigh Police Department will come to the scene. After you have spoken with Raleigh police department and received your necessary emergency medical care, you may want to obtain a copy of your DMV-349 Crash Report for insurance claims purposes. Fortunately, the Raleigh Police Department finalizes and publishes their Crash Report about as fast as any law enforcement agency in North Carolina. Many large commercial advertising law firms will obtain a copy from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle and send you a copy in the mail as part of their direct mail solicitation campaigns.
If you do not receive a copy of your DMV-349 Crash Report the mail, you can visit The Raleigh Police Department’s website and obtain a copy. If you have your report number, using that number is the most sure fire method to locate the correct Crash Report. Alternatively, you can use your last name or the date of the automobile wreck to search the website.
Depending upon the complexity of the wreck and number of drivers involved, it could take as little as one day or many days for the police to publish a report. In cases involving severe criminal conduct, including intentional assaults using an automobile and drunk drivers, sometimes the Raleigh Police Department will not publish the report on the website. In that event, you may need to go through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The Raleigh car accident attorneys of Maginnis Law can assist you both in understanding your DMV-349 Crash Report and in pursuing your bodily injury rights against the at-fault driver and his or her insurance company. Most importantly, unlike many law firms, our attorneys will not shy away if the Crash Report is incorrect. We may still be able to assist you with your case. We know many times the reporting officers only speak to one side and do not always conduct a full and fair investigation, often times wrongfully assuming they know what happened. We have successfully recovered fair compensation in countless cases where the reporting officer was proven to simply have “gotten it wrong.”
For a free consultation with a Raleigh car accident personal injury attorney, contact our office at (919) 526-0450. You can also visit our contact page to send a confidential message. If you have a case where we believe we can help, we offer a contingency fee such that you pay no attorneys fees unless and until we recover a settlement or verdict on your behalf.
