Editorial Standards, Corrections, and Fact-Checking Policy
Local Accident Reports publishes crash and incident reports drawn from law enforcement records, transportation agencies, and other public sources. This page explains where our information comes from, how it is verified before and after publication, how to request a correction or a removal, and how quickly we respond. It applies to every report we publish.
Last updated: August 28, 2026. Reviewed annually.
Who Is Accountable for This Content
Local Accident Reports was founded in 2020 by Nile Hutchins and operates from 151 Calle De San Francisco, Suite 200, San Juan, PR 00901.
Editorial decisions, including what gets published, corrected, updated, or removed, are the responsibility of Hernan Beresnak, Managing Editor.
Three groups produce every report. A research team locates and pulls source records. Writers build the report and independently confirm what the research team supplied. Editors review the published piece against the original sources. No single person moves a report from source to publication alone.
Questions about this policy go to [email protected] or 888-657-1460.
Where Our Information Comes From
Every report starts with a record from an agency that responded to or investigated the incident. We work from primary sources first and use secondary reporting only to fill gaps that the primary record leaves open.
Records we report from. These carry an identifiable responding or investigating agency, and a report can be built on them directly.
- Agency computer-aided dispatch and traffic incident feeds, including the California Highway Patrol Traffic Incident Information Page and state 511 incident systems
- State highway patrol and state police crash releases and public logs
- Municipal police department press releases, blotters, and public information officer statements
- County sheriff’s office releases, including in jurisdictions where a sheriff polices city streets
- Official agency accounts on social platforms operated by a police department, sheriff’s office, fire department, highway patrol, or transportation agency, which we treat as agency statements
- Fire department and EMS response records where they are public
- State department of transportation incident and closure feeds
- County coroner or medical examiner releases for fatality confirmations
- Federal sources including the NTSB, NHTSA, and FARS
- Court and charging records where an incident has produced a case
Sources that point us to an incident. These bring an incident to our attention, and we work from the agency record behind them.
- Verified incident-monitoring and scanner-derived services that relay dispatch data from a responding agency. We use the agency dispatch record these carry, and the report names the agency, not the service.
- Established local news outlets, cited and linked, where an outlet obtained detail that no public record carries.
What we do not use. Anonymous tips. Unverified eyewitness or bystander posts. Comment threads and forums. Accident aggregation sites that republish content with no identifiable agency behind it. If a detail cannot be traced back to a named responding or investigating agency, it does not appear in the report.
How We Verify Every Report
Verification runs in three passes, handled by different people, because the person who writes a claim is the wrong person to confirm it.
Pass one, at the source. The research team confirms that the record is genuine, that it comes from an agency with jurisdiction over the location, and that it is the most current version the agency has issued. Records superseded by a later release are discarded, not merged.
Pass two, before publication. The writer independently checks every element against the source document rather than against the research summary: date and time, street and cross street, city and county, direction of travel, number of vehicles, number of people injured or killed, the agency that responded, and the spelling of every proper noun. Any element the source does not state is left out. Nothing is inferred to make a report read more completely.
Pass three, after publication. An editor reviews every report published in the previous 24 hours against its original sources. This pass exists to catch what a writer working quickly can miss, and it is the reason a factual error on this site is normally short lived rather than permanent.
Two distinctions cause more errors in crash reporting than anything else, and we check both explicitly. Fatal crashes and traffic deaths are different counts. Injuries reported at the scene and injuries confirmed at a hospital are different figures.
How We Handle Developing Stories
Early crash information changes. Agencies revise injury counts, release victim identifications after next of kin are notified, reclassify a cause once an investigation closes, and occasionally correct their own releases.
When new information arrives, we update the report rather than publishing a second one. Updated reports carry a visible update date, and when the change alters a material fact the earlier version stated, we note what changed at the foot of the report. A report that has been updated is not the same thing as a report that has been corrected, and we label the two differently.
Corrections Policy
We correct factual errors in our own reporting and mark them on the page. We recognize three categories.
Corrections address a factual error in what we published: a wrong street, a misspelled name, an incorrect date, a wrong count, a misidentified responding agency. Corrected reports carry a dated correction note at the foot of the page describing what was wrong and what is now accurate. We do not quietly overwrite a factual error.
Clarifications address wording that was accurate but open to misreading. These carry a dated note in the same position.
Updates address facts that changed after publication because the underlying situation or the official record changed. These carry an update date. An update is not an admission of error.
Typographical and grammatical fixes that do not change meaning are made without a note.
Our timelines. We acknowledge every correction request within two business days. Where the request is supported by a source record, we resolve it within five business days of confirming it. Where confirming it requires a response from an agency, we tell you that, and we tell you when we expect to hear back. No request is closed without a reply.
How to Request a Correction
Anyone can request a correction, including people named in a report, their families, attorneys, insurers, and the responding agencies themselves. You do not need to be involved in the incident.
Email [email protected] with “Correction” in the subject line, or use our contact form and select “Correction or removal request.” Include:
- The full URL of the report
- The specific sentence or detail you believe is wrong, quoted
- What the accurate information is
- Any document or source that supports it, such as a crash report number, an agency release, a court record, or the name and contact of the agency that can confirm it
- Your name and a way to reach you
The supporting source is what moves a request quickly. A request without one still gets reviewed, and we will contact the agency ourselves, but that takes longer.
You can also reach us at 888-657-1460. Requests made by phone are logged and answered in writing.
Requesting Removal or Anonymization
Correcting a report and removing one are different requests, and we treat them differently. Our default is that accurate reporting drawn from public records stays published, because incomplete public information on road safety is the problem this site exists to address.
We do review removal and anonymization requests individually, and we act on them where the circumstances warrant it. Circumstances we weigh include:
- A person was named as a suspect and charges were later declined, dropped, or dismissed
- A minor was identified in a source record that should not have carried the identification
- A victim was identified before next of kin were notified
- The report contains personal information beyond what the public record supports, such as a home address
- A documented safety risk to a named individual
Where a report is accurate and the request is a preference rather than one of the above, we will usually decline, and we will tell you why rather than leaving the request unanswered. Where the underlying public record has been sealed, expunged, or corrected by the issuing agency, tell us and provide the documentation, and we will act on it.
Send removal requests the same way as corrections, with “Removal” in the subject line. We acknowledge within two business days and give a decision, with reasoning, within five business days.
No advertiser, attorney, insurer, or third party can purchase the removal or alteration of a report. Removal decisions are editorial and are made by the Managing Editor.
Naming Victims, Minors, and People Not Yet Charged
We name people only where a responding agency, court record, or medical examiner has already released the name publicly. We do not identify minors, and we remove an identification if a source record released one in error. We do not name fatality victims before an agency confirms next of kin were notified.
Where a person has been arrested or charged but not convicted, we say so in those terms. An arrest is not a conviction, and our reports state which one the record describes.
Use of Automation and Artificial Intelligence
Automated tools monitor agency feeds and assemble initial drafts from the source records those agencies publish. Nothing reaches this site on that basis alone. A writer verifies every fact in the draft against the source document before publication, and an editor reviews the published report within 24 hours. A named person is accountable for every report we publish.
Automation is used to structure information an agency has already released. It is not used to generate facts, quotes, causes, or any detail a source record does not contain. Where the record is silent, the report is silent.
Editorial Independence and Advertising
Local Accident Reports carries advertising and offers services, including help obtaining an official accident report. That side of the business has no influence over editorial coverage.
Specifically: no one can pay to have an incident covered, to have an incident excluded, to change what a report says, or to have a report removed. Advertisers receive no advance notice of coverage. The presence or absence of an advertiser in a market has no bearing on what we publish there. Where a commercial relationship is relevant to a piece of content, we disclose it on that content.
The site is funded by advertising and by its accident report request service. We have no other revenue source, ownership stake, or affiliation to disclose.
Attribution and Original Work
We do not republish another outlet’s copy. Where a local news organization obtained a detail that no public record carries, we attribute the outlet by name and link to the original. Our reports are written from source records in our own words.
Unnamed Sources
Our reporting is built on public records, so unnamed sources are rare. Where one is used, an editor must know the identity and approve the use before publication, and the report states why the source is not named.
What This Site Is Not
Local Accident Reports is a road safety news and reference publication. It is not an official record and not advice of any kind.
- Our reports are not official police reports. To obtain the official report for an incident, request it from the responding agency or through our report request service.
- Nothing on this site is legal advice, medical advice, or an insurance determination.
- Our reports do not assign fault. Fault and liability are determined by investigators, insurers, and courts, and our reports describe what agencies stated, not who was responsible.
Policy Review
This policy is reviewed at least annually and updated whenever our sourcing, verification, or correction practices change. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I request a correction to an accident report?
Email [email protected] with “Correction” in the subject line, or use our contact form. Include the report URL, the specific detail you believe is wrong, the accurate information, and any supporting source such as a crash report number or agency release. We acknowledge within two business days and resolve verified errors within five.
Can I have my name removed from an accident report?
Sometimes. We review every removal request individually and act where circumstances warrant it, including charges that were dropped or dismissed, a minor identified in error, or personal information beyond what the public record supports. We acknowledge within two business days and decide within five.
Where does Local Accident Reports get its information?
From records issued by the agencies that responded to or investigated the incident: agency dispatch feeds such as the California Highway Patrol Traffic Incident Information Page and state 511 systems, highway patrol and police releases, official agency accounts on social platforms, sheriff’s offices, fire and EMS, state departments of transportation, coroners and medical examiners, federal agencies, and court records. Verified incident-monitoring and scanner-derived services bring incidents to our attention, and we work from the agency dispatch record behind them. Anonymous tips, unverified bystander posts, and aggregation sites with no identifiable agency source are never used.
How is each report fact-checked?
In three passes handled by different people. The research team confirms the source record, the writer independently checks every detail against that record before publication, and an editor reviews every report within 24 hours of publication.
Does Local Accident Reports use AI to write its reports?
Automated tools assemble initial drafts from source records that agencies have already released. Every report is then verified against the source document by a writer and reviewed by an editor before it stands. Automation never generates a fact the source record does not contain.
Why did the details in a report change after it was published?
Because the official record changed. Agencies revise injury counts, release identifications after next of kin are notified, and reclassify causes when investigations close. We update the existing report and date the update rather than publishing a second version.
Is a Local Accident Reports page the same as an official police report?
No. Our reports summarize information from official sources but are not the official record. The official report must be obtained from the responding agency.
Related
Our reporting exists in part because many serious incidents never reach public view at all. Why many serious accidents go unreported explains the gap in official crash data and why we document what we do.