The following is via 1010 Wins:
If you get into a fender bender on Staten Island, don’t expect the NYPD to rush to the scene.
NYPD Assistant Chief Kenneth Corey is the borough commander. He told NY1 that his officers have been responding to 10,000 fender bender calls a year, and doing so could lead to problems in an emergency situation.
“Each one with an average service time of about an hour. And that’s a tremendous number of hours that could be spent on working on something else, and if we’re talking about improving response times to emergency situations where seconds count, it could be very significant,” he said.
Going forward, drivers will be responsible for gathering insurance information and reporting the incident on their own. Calls to 911 will be screened and fender benders directed to a recorded message.
#MondayMorning: Starting today if you’re involved in a vehicle collision on #StatenIsland resulting in property damage, you no longer have to wait for officers to respond. Drivers have 10 days to file a report with the NYS DMV. Please visit: https://t.co/JlK6TMtFOK pic.twitter.com/b9JFaJuCbO
— NYPD Staten Island (@NYPDstatenIslnd) March 18, 2019
“Let the cops do some other business instead of responding to something that’s minor that can be taken care of between two people,” Staten Island resident Herman Garcia said. “I think it’s a good policy I mean, if it’s a minor fender-bender, people should be able to iron it out and do it themselves, and each exchange a insurance and I, you know, contact information.”
While some worry that there will be problems with the reporting process, the department may consider citywide expansion.
(Source: 1010 Wins)
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3 Responses
What if the other driver refuses to share his insurance information or even his name/drivers license?
Why only Staten Island???
I understand that insurance compinies need an official document to document an accicdent. What I never understood is why what the police write in the report has any value. Did they witness the accident? Its usually he said she said. A few years ago an electric scooter broad sided me. The guy was riding on the sidewalk which is why the cop told me I wasn’t geting a ticket for not yeilding. The EMTS told me the guy was very drunk and one of them even gave me his contact info if i need a witness. Yet in the accident report the cop wrote I was making a turn and collided with a bike. There was no mentiion it was an illeagal electric bike. No mention he was riding on the side walk and no mention he was drunk. My son had an accident once where a car sevice made a u turn in middle of 39th street ( – a two way street) My son who was going from 13th avenue towards 14th avenue, swerved and hit the back of the car. The cop wrote car making uturn at the intersection of 13 avenue and 39th street was hit from behind by my sons car. That couldn’t be what happened since 13th avenue is a one way street how are you making a u turn?