CHP Priorities was: my turn

[VeeWdriver@aol.com (VeeWdriver@aol.com)]

What it boils down to is that all traffic accidents are civil and not 
criminal matters unless DUI or reckless driving is involved (and no, not 
paying attention and hitting something/someone does not constitute reckless 
driving).  If the parties involved have current registration, driver's 
license, and insurance, both parties only duty is to exchange information.  
When a report is made, it is done as a courtesy in most cases.  We do 
accident reports on ALL injury accidents and property damage (over $1500 
minimum) accidents and as many others as the call load will allow.  My 
department has what we call "Community Service Officers" which are civilian 
employees who are trained in traffic control and accident report writing who 
handle these whenever possible to free up officers for the flood of domestic 
violence calls, shopliftings, drunk asshole with a gun/knife/etc, fights, and 
what have you.  A typical traffic accident can tie you up for an hour (and in 
most cases the parties involved can wait up to an hour for us to even GET 
there).  And in a town where apparently people don't know how to drive, we 
get quite a few traffic accidents (just ask Koabi, his brother was recently 
rear-ended in his Rocco).  Insurance companies get pissed, but, there's 
nothing in the law books that says an accident report MUST be filed.  Often 
times they tell their customers that they won't start a claim until one is 
filed.  In that case, we have a non-emergency phone number where an account 
of the accident is taken over the phone, just to make the insurance company 
happy.  It's always the insurance companies who fight these things out anyway 
and half the time they don't even go by what the report says, only what their 
insured says.

It was good that somebody showed up and took your report, though.  You can 
often times get screwed when the other driver's story changes.


Tom in Tucson
www.area-53.com
Ten VW's, two Audi's, one Porsche, one Chevy, two GMC's and a John Deere.  :)