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If you’re involved in a car crash in Connecticut, the police accident report (called a Connecticut Uniform Police Crash Report, Form PR-1) becomes a critical piece of evidence in your claim. While the report itself may not be admissible in court, if the investigating officer is called to testify in a deposition or at trial, the report will form the basis of that testimony.
Insurance companies carefully review this report to determine fault and decide whether to approve or deny a claim, so you need to be aware of what it says. Here’s how to read your Connecticut accident report.
Connecticut Uniform Police Crash Report (Form PR-1)
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/ct_form_pr1_rev06_2014.pdf
Page 1 (Crash Summary Front)
The first section gives an overview of the accident, including the number of vehicles, time, date, location, and severity – fatal, injury, or property damage only (PDO). Note that some injuries have delayed-onset symptoms, so just because no injuries were apparent at the time doesn’t guarantee that no one was hurt.
Click here to download a printable PDF of How to Read Your Connecticut Car Accident Report.
The rest of page 1 describes the conditions at the time of the crash and the harmful events that occurred during the crash, including the manner of impact (such as “front to front” or “front to rear”), weather, and characteristics of the location, such as an intersection or bridge.
If this page indicates an obstruction other than the vehicles involved may have contributed to the crash, such as “Backup Due to Prior Crash” or “Obstruction in Roadway,” there may be liability assigned to the person who caused the obstruction.
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Page 2 (Crash Summary Back)
The officer’s written narrative describes their observations of the crash. Read this section carefully, as it may contain information not mentioned anywhere else in the report.
Page 3 (Motor Vehicle Information Front)
This page and the next page describe an individual vehicle involved in the crash. The report will include as many copies of pages 3 and 4 as there were vehicles involved.
Basic information on the vehicle, including the VIN, year, make, model, color, and location, can be found here.
The crash information section describes what happened to the vehicle in the crash and specified more information about the vehicle itself.
Pay close attention to the “contributing circumstances” section, which can affect liability for the crash – for instance, if a vehicle that was rear-ended had taillights out.
Insurance information for this vehicle is at the bottom of the page.
Page 4 (Motor Vehicle Information Back)
If any non-vehicle property was damaged, it is described here
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Page 5 (Motor Vehicle Driver Information)
This page describes the driver of the vehicle mentioned on the previous pages. Again, there will be as many copies of page 5 as there were drivers involved in the crash.
Contact information is at the top of the page; driver’s license information is on the left side.
This page describes whether the driver was wearing a seatbelt or helmet and whether they were ejected or an airbag was used, all of which can affect liability for injuries.
>Pay particular attention to the right side of this page, which includes information on distracted driving, impairment, and potentially negligent or reckless driving.
The bottom of the page includes information on injuries, medical treatment, any tickets that were written, and drug or alcohol tests.
Page 6 (Motor Vehicle Passenger Information)
This page describes any passengers in the vehicle mentioned on previous pages. If the vehicle had more than four passengers, additional copies of this page will be used; likewise, if there were multiple vehicles with passengers, you’ll see a copy of this page for each vehicle.
>Each section includes the passenger’s contact information, seating position, whether they were wearing a seatbelt or helmet, whether they were injured and if so, where they received medical treatment.
Codes used are described on the right side.
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Page 7 (Non-Motorist Information)
This page describes any non-motorists (e.g. pedestrians or cyclists) involved in the crash. One copy of this page will be used for each non-motorist.
“Striking Motor Vehicle ID” should correspond to one of the vehicles described on the previous pages.>
The non-motorist’s name and contact information appear near the top of the page.
The middle section provides ID information and describes the non-motorist’s actions during the crash. Carefully review this section, as it could affect liability.
The bottom of the page explains whether and how the non-motorist was injured, as well as any citations or drug tests.
