Reading Your New York Police Accident Report

When you’re involved in a car crash in New York, the police accident report becomes a key piece of evidence in your claim. The insurance company will review this report as evidence in its determination of fault. Moreover, if the investigating officer later needs to testify in a deposition or in court, their testimony will most likely be drawn from the report.
You need to know what your report says – and what it means for your case. Here’s how to read it:

New York Police Accident Report (Form MV-104A)

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/ny_par_mv-104a_rev06_2004.pdf

Page 1

The first section is an overview of the accident as a whole: the date and time, location, number of vehicles, and number of injuries and fatalities.

Click here to download a printable PDF of Reading Your New York Police Accident Report.

On the left and right, the vehicles involved in the crash are described, beginning with the name and contact information for the driver of each vehicle.

Below the driver information is identifying information for the vehicles themselves, including the name and address on the registration as well as the license plate, year, make and model.
If any citations were given to the driver of either vehicle, they are documented in section 5. This may be evidence of negligence.

The middle of the page documents vehicle damage, including both location and severity. The accident diagram must show the direction of travel with each vehicle numbered.
Carefully review the written description. Any information that doesn’t fit elsewhere in the report will be recorded here.

The last section of the report lists all the involved people (a second page will be attached if necessary). The codes in this section indicate where each person was seated, whether safety equipment was used, and how severe their injuries were. Refer to the code sheet to interpret this information.