traffic accident with a police officer

Factual Questions
1

if you get into a traffic accident with a police officer, does another officer still need to come to the scene of the accident to hear both sides of the story and assess the situation, or can the officer who was involved in the accident itself handle the situation alone?

2

I’m not 100% certain, but I’d imagine that you’d need another officer to come. There’s a huge conflict of interests for the police officer involved in the accident, and it would be extremely suspicious if they handled it and cited you.

3

I was a full time cop for 5 years, and I still serve part-time for a local department. I can tell you that the policy of both departments was, no matter what, a third officer show up to take the report. Then both cops beat the hell out of the civilian. (Just kidding. Jesus, I’m just kidding!:p)

What usually happens is, a supervisor shows up and is all cranky about what the hell happened, even if the accident wasn’t the officer fault.

In Wisconsin if an ON DUTY cop had an accident that is 100% not his fault, there is a form he/she fills out that is sent to the DOT.
The accident is then not reported on his driving record.

4

hijack

About 2 years ago, two cops managed to run into each other at a lit intersection at 3am (one had a blinking red light, the other a blinking yellow) while responding to a call. It was all over the newspapers. No one was hurt and we all thought it was hilarious.

Not a week later our family of four was out driving in our van when a cop car comes streaking up a perpendicular road, is about to run the stop sign, sees our van approaching at the last minute, and slams on the brakes. Everyone in our car burst out laughing and we all pointed at the cop. I’ve never seen a more sheepish looking individual. He buried his face in the steering wheel until we passed.

We laughed the entire way home. There have been no more cop/driving incidents since.

5

Slight hijack…
In Georgia, if a cop hits you, on duty or off, he or she is not at fault for insurance purposes…a friend was in an accident caused by a police officer and her insurance company had to pay for the damages. I’ve heard this is being changed, though.