In this video, attorney Ted Spaulding explains the standard process for Atlanta police responding to car accident calls, and what to expect if this happens to you.
Hi. Just last week, the Atlanta police department came out with a directive that they are not going to be responding to car accidents in Fulton County anymore unless there are injuries reported.
Hi, I’m Ted Spaulding. I’m an Atlanta personal injury trial lawyer, and I’m the founder here at Spaulding Injury Law. Keep watching this video to find out what this really means on the ground as this policy is being rolled out for injury victims and car wrecks.
So I’m gonna give you a real life example of what we’re seeing regarding the effects of this new policy by the Atlanta police department. So I got a call the other day from a lady who was in a wreck in downtown Atlanta, and she called the police. She was injured and she told them, you know, she was okay, no one was severely injured. They think they’re gonna be all right. The cars are drivable. The operator said, well, we’re not gonna be able to respond to the wreck then because no one has severe injuries, life threatening injuries. So even though they’re reporting to the public that they’ll still show up if there’s a report of injuries, apparently what’s really happening is it’s got to be severe injuries for them to be willing to show up.
This is very problematic, quite frankly, for both sides of the equation in a car wreck case. For us, the plaintiff side, very problematic because it lends toward fraud. In this case with this lady, it became a he said she said as to who was at fault in what otherwise was a clear car wreck case of liability of the at fault driver, not her. So fraud is a big issue, both sides, quite frankly, but for us and our plaintiffs, it’s very concerning without a police officer investigating, talking to both sides, getting the story, documenting it, how do you prove fault? So we’re very, very concerned about this, especially now that we’re hearing on the actual ground that it’s not just reporting of injuries at all, it’s reporting of severe injuries.
So what can you do other than continuing to call and report that you have injuries, and really explain that, even if you don’t think you have a lot of injury, you’re gonna have some sort of injury. See if that gets them to come out. Otherwise everyone’s got phones. What I would suggest is you gotta do a better job of taking photographs immediately after a wreck right where the cars are of the entire scene of both vehicles showing in essence how the wreck occurred. I would also recommend that you speak the at fault driver and record it on your phone. I think that is very, very important going forward because you’re not gonna have someone who can document what the other driver says happened to then prove that see they were at fault.
So this is becoming very problematic. We’re hoping this won’t last very long. We’re sad to see that what the Atlanta police department has told the public is not what’s actually bearing out there on the ground on a day to day basis. Again, hopefully this resolves sooner than later and they’re back responding to every call of a car wreck in the Atlanta area.
If you have any comments, issues that you have seen, please respond to this video below. If you’ve got questions, concerns, if you’ve got a potential claim or case you’d like to see if my firm can handle, please reach out to us. Again, comment to this video. Go to our website, spauldinginjurylaw.com or give me a phone call. Two phone numbers for you, 470-695-9950 or 770-744-0780. Thanks so much for watching this video.
