Garda report after road traffic accident

JohnCleary

Hi guys,
2 years ago I was involved in a road traffic accident that almost left me paralysed fromt he wasist down. To this day I ache and with time it will only get worse unfortunately. However, to this day I don't know what happened. I don't know whos fault it was etc.

How would I go about getting the Garda's report from the scene? Is there such a thing?

Any help much appreciated!

JohnCleary

Anyone??

Thought this would be a simple question?!

haz

How would I go about getting the Garda's report from the scene?

I have no idea specifically, but if you have the date & time then the next step should be to find which Garda district would have attended the accident, then phone or write to the appropriate station to ask how you get this information. I guess that normally members of the public don't request this kind of information in person, but through a solicitor or an insurance company. Either way I am sure that it is an easy question for the Gardai to answer.

JohnCleary

I'm going to have a word with my solicitor this weekend - I'll keep an update incase the info might be able to help anyone else with the same question in future

Mutz

Go to a solicitor, ask him to write a letter to the Superintendent of the Station that dealt with the accident. Include your reg number, times & dates of the accident and you'll get a response.

JohnCleary

Mutz wrote:

Go to a solicitor, ask him to write a letter to the Superintendent of the Station that dealt with the accident. Include your reg number, times & dates of the accident and you'll get a response.

Cheers

NUTLEY BOY

Firstly John, sorry for your troubles. Hope your situation rsolves as well as is possible.

Your solicitor should apply to the local Superintendent's Office for an abstract report. This will contain statements from those who made them. It should identify parties by name and address who have not given statements but who might be in a position to do so. It should contain a rough sketch of the accident locus. If the gardai rendered any kind of technical examinations to the vehicles there might be a statement in the abstract report from a PSV inspector.

This should be a good place to start.

Given that the accident happened two years ago you need to step on it fairly smartly to avoid running out of time in which to make a claim. Bring this to your solicitor's specific attention.

Best of luck.

JohnCleary

Many thanks Nutley, at least I knwo what to ask the solicitor for!

NUTLEY BOY wrote:

Firstly John, sorry for your troubles. Hope your situation rsolves as well as is possible.

Your solicitor should apply to the local Superintendent's Office for an abstract report. This will contain statements from those who made them. It should identify parties by name and address who have not given statements but who might be in a position to do so. It should contain a rough sketch of the accident locus. If the gardai rendered any kind of technical examinations to the vehicles there might be a statement in the abstract report from a PSV inspector.

This should be a good place to start.

Given that the accident happened two years ago you need to step on it fairly smartly to avoid running out of time in which to make a claim. Bring this to your solicitor's specific attention.

Best of luck.

stmol32

Hi,

I was in an accident about a year ago. I wanted to get the report from the Gardai to find out what happened as well because I was taken away in an ambulance.

Over the next few months I called in to the station to ask for the report and was told constantly that they would leave a message for the Garda who took the statement. I don't know why they couldn't have looked it up on the system then and there.

In the end I was getting fobbed off so much that I had to get a solicitor involved because I thought they might have better luck. The solicitor got the run around as well and ended up having to write to the superintendent.

Eventually the superintendent wrote back to say the abstract report is now ready but, and here's the big kick in the boll head, I have to pay €83 before they'll release it to the solicitor.

I don't mean to be moaning about my situation compared to yourself, I'm injured but not paralysed so I should be grateful for that, but I found it to be such a slap in the face that what I thought would be a citizens right to find out what our gardai know about an accident I was involved with should cost so much money.

MidlandsM

Garda reports can cost more, over €120 - there is admin fee's involved.

I don't know what your complaining about? You're obviously contemplating putting in a claim and if and when you do, the insurance co will cover this admin charge in a payout.

You'll not be out of pocket, but the rest of us wull be with our premiums. Not being personal, but thats the system here.

newmug

MidlandsM wrote: »

Garda reports can cost more, over €120 - there is admin fee's involved.

I don't know what your complaining about? You're obviously contemplating putting in a claim and if and when you do, the insurance co will cover this admin charge in a payout.

You'll not be out of pocket, but the rest of us wull be with our premiums. Not being personal, but thats the system here.

He's complaining that, after receiving fcukall assistance or service, they're asking him for money. If, when he first asked, they had said, "ok sir, we'll get you your report within 5 working days. There is a cost of X", and he bloodywell got his report, then grand. But as usual in this country, the whole thing was half-arsed, and then they had the gaul to look for money. Dont forget who the victim is here. Windscreen washing at traffic-lights.

amcalester

What about making a request under the Freedom of Information Act of Data Protection Act?

Not sure if either applies here but might be worth looking into.

stmol32

I never wanted to get solicitors involved in the first place or let it become a claim. All I wanted was to ring the insurance company and say driver X was involved in an accident and I need to pay my hospital bills. I couldn't do that, however, because the Gardai wouldn't let me know the details of the insurance company.

If I was involved in a fender bender between cars we would have just exchanged details and there would have been no problem. I was carted off in an ambulance so I didn't have that luxury.

I'd like to say I'm sorry about your premiums but I'm really not, thats exactly what insurance is for.

I didn't bother going into this earlier because the main point of my post was to give the OP a heads up that there might be a charge involved.

McCrack

Abstracts are 40 something euro, a person applies in writing enclosing a cheque to the Supers office for it. It can take months to receive depending on a whole range of factors.

MidlandsM

newmug wrote: »

He's complaining that, after receiving fcukall assistance or service, they're asking him for money. If, when he first asked, they had said, "ok sir, we'll get you your report within 5 working days. There is a cost of X", and he bloodywell got his report, then grand. But as usual in this country, the whole thing was half-arsed, and then they had the gaul to look for money. Dont forget who the victim is here. Windscreen washing at traffic-lights.

agreed, the OP should have gotten better and faster attention.
Re; asking for money for a report, I see no issue here, it's a pain for AGS to do all this paperwork when they could be doing other duties like crime prevention or protolling etc.

amcalester wrote: »

What about making a request under the Freedom of Information Act of Data Protection Act?

Not sure if either applies here but might be worth looking into.

Not applicable as its a matter in the hand of AGS.

stmol32 wrote: »

All I wanted was to ring the insurance company and say driver X was involved in an accident and I need to pay my hospital bills.

Then, its a claim you're lodging. Why dodge saying it - there's nothing wrong with what you are going to do if you were genuinly injured.

McCrack wrote: »

Abstracts are 40 something euro, a person applies in writing enclosing a cheque to the Supers office for it. It can take months to receive depending on a whole range of factors.

+1
and Abstract reports vary from €40 to over €120,I'd check the cost in the first instance before drafting a cheque, costs are depending on the complexities.

SparrowTown

MidlandsM wrote: »

Not applicable as its a matter in the hand of AGS.

data protection act applies to the garda. So you are entitled to request it. They may refuse and have to give a reason why and you can ask the Data protection Commissioner to investigate if not happy with response or lack thereof

MidlandsM

SparrowTown wrote: »

data protection act applies to the garda. So you are entitled to request it. They may refuse and have to give a reason why and you can ask the Data protection Commissioner to investigate if not happy with response or lack thereof

not to my understanding because it may predudice court proceedings....however, if you have a citation to quote different?

SparrowTown

MidlandsM wrote: »

not to my understanding because it may predudice court proceedings....however, if you have a citation to quote different?

Yes that is why i said they may refuse but they have to give reason why and the person has a right to complain to data protection comm if not happy.

Data Protection Comm may find in favour of garda if, as you say a case is pending, or possibly in other circumstances. Not sure. But i was just saying he can apply and has to be given a reason if refused and can ask data protection comm to look into it

MagicSean

stmol32 wrote: »

I never wanted to get solicitors involved in the first place or let it become a claim. All I wanted was to ring the insurance company and say driver X was involved in an accident and I need to pay my hospital bills. I couldn't do that, however, because the Gardai wouldn't let me know the details of the insurance company.

If I was involved in a fender bender between cars we would have just exchanged details and there would have been no problem. I was carted off in an ambulance so I didn't have that luxury.

I'd like to say I'm sorry about your premiums but I'm really not, thats exactly what insurance is for.

I didn't bother going into this earlier because the main point of my post was to give the OP a heads up that there might be a charge involved.

Generally the insurance company will send a written request to the garda and an abstract will be provided once a decision has been made not to prosecute an individual ot once that prosecution has been completed. There was nothing stopping you reporting it to your insurance company.

stmol32

Sorry, I thought I had mentioned that I was on a bicycle and was hit by a car.

Bosco boy

stmol32 wrote: »

Sorry, I thought I had mentioned that I was on a bicycle and was hit by a car.

you need to consult with a solicitor and he should write to the Gardai with the details of the accident and request the garda abstract and any statements etc, the abstract will include insurance details and the details of the driver of the vehicle. You should have no problems if this is done.