On Friday, the Howard County Police Department will put all of its motor vehicle collision reports online.
“I think it?s a great idea,” said Lisa Morrow, director of outreach and development for Courtesy on the Road, a nonprofit group serving teen drivers in Howard County high schools. “It will save time, and everything is moving to the Internet nowadays.”
Until now, anyone interested in obtaining an accident report has had to mail a request to the police department or fill out a form at the station. Upon receipt and approval of the request, police records department employees take two or three business days to process the request and mail the report back to the requester. With the new site, citizens can fill out information online and have immediate access to a printable report from the department?s Web site, hcpd.org.
“This is an exciting new tool for Howard County citizens,” acting police Chief William McMahon said. “It will enable drivers involved in collisions and their insurance companies to access accident reports quickly and easily.”
Most reports will be made available on the Web site within 48 hours of an accident, and in many cases sooner, police said. The fee to obtain a report will remain $5, with half of it being paid to county police, and halfgoing to the company contracting with police on the Web site PoliceReports.us.
The new system will allow the department to save money by reducing the cost of manhours needed to process the requests, police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said.
The Howard County Police Department is only the second law enforcement agency in Maryland to offer accident reports online. Frederick police are the other.
