FLOWERY BRANCH – The Flowery Branch Police Department has a new way of filing automobile accident reports.
City Council members voted at a Thursday meeting to approve the use of the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System (GEARS).
GEARS allows officers to file more accurate and efficient collision reports, according to discussion at the council meeting. The system allows officers to draw out exactly what happened in an accident and then file the information electronically online so that drivers can access accident reports more quickly.
“That does not preclude them [drivers involved in crashes] from coming by the police department and picking up a copy if they want to,” said Police Chief David Spillers. "But some people, they do everything on computers.”
In the past, an officer had to complete an accident report on paper, submit it to a supervisor for approval, and then the supervisor had to scan and send the report to the DOT for the involved driver to pick up.
Accident reports will be accessible through the web site www.buycrash.com. The city will receive $5 for each accident report submitted to the site within 24 hours of the accident.
Drivers will pay a fee to www.buycrash.com to receive their reports.
“This will also help with individuals who are out of state or not from Flowery Branch,” said City Clerk Melissa McCain, “If they need a copy of the accident report, they can go online and purchase that instead of having to come to the police department to get that.”
McCain said it is unknown how soon the service will be available.
