Bad News for Accident Victims if Police Don’t Attend the Scene

News reports on Saturday suggest that the Ottawa Police Service is planning to reduce its attendance at motor vehicle accident scenes in order to reduce police costs in this area.  The plan is, apparently, to have people attend a collision reporting centre.

If this plan solidifies, it will be of vital importance that accident victims be very careful to document the location of the vehicles and how the accident happened with cameras and witness statements.  Currently, there is often little dispute about liability (who is at fault for the accident) because the police document what occurred, speak to by standers and generally invetigate the scene as required.  Without police attendance, there will be a lot more reliance on the honour system.

Remember that if you are injured after a motor vehicle accident, you can still call the police, even if the injuries are or seem to be “minor”.  What seems minor at the time, may become much worse over the hours or days that follow.

We believe that injured accidence victims will lose out on fair compensation if the police are not called to the scene.

For more information about your rights after a motor vehicle accident in Ottawa, call us at 613 233-4529.

About the Author: Brenda Hollingsworth

Brenda Hollingsworth co-founded Ottawa’s Auger Hollingsworth in 2005 with her husband Richard Auger. Together, their mission was to create a personal injury law firm for Eastern Ontario that is unrivalled in the province for customer service and legal expertise. Brenda was named an Ottawa Business Journal Forty Under 40 award recipient and took home the Women’s Business Network’s Businesswoman of the Year award in the Professional category. She was also recognized as one of Ottawa Life Magazine’s “Top 50 People in the Capital.” She is often quoted as an expert and has appeared in media outlets such as CTV, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Sun Media, CBC, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, CFRA and many legal publications.

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