Car accident reports are a very useful source of information if you want to be kept up to date on accidents and incidents in your area. This knowledge can help you to plan your journey more effectively, so that you can avoid roads that have become congested due to an incident. It will also help you to pinpoint which stretches of road are the most dangerous ones for driving on, so that you can take extra care when driving along them.
Car accidents near to you will almost always be reported on the local news, if they have been reported to the police or to the newspapers and other media outlets. Major accidents will often appear on the national news. Radio traffic news, reputable online news sites and print newspapers are all reliable sources of car accident reports. Often, it can be worthwhile looking at the website or social media accounts of your local Police Department as the police very frequently use these media to alert the public to traffic accidents that have yet to be reported in the media. Word of mouth is another way of finding out about traffic accidents near to you - perhaps a neighbor or a friend has driven past an accident on their way to work and has phoned to tell you about it. Make sure to take any such word of mouth reports with a pinch of salt, and to verify them where possible with official news reports.
There are a wide variety of traffic and accident news related apps available for free download. Downloading one of these apps to your smartphone or another touch screen device will enable you to benefit from automatic alerts relating to accidents in your area. If you want to use this app in your car, remember that it is against the law (and very dangerous) to drive whilst using a cellphone or other electronic device. Purchasing a specialized smartphone or tablet holder for your vehicle and turn on spoken rather than visual alerts. This will enable you to drive safely whilst also getting the advantage of traffic and accident related news in real time.
You can glean several key pieces of information from these reports. The date, time and location of the accident will usually be included as will information about injuries or fatalities. The types of vehicles involved will usually be mentioned, too, as will the numers (and, if ascertained, ages and genders) of the people involved. Once it has been determined, the cause of the accident will often be included in reports. The way in which the accident has affected traffic in the area is another important piece of information that will be included in an accident report. In sum, you should be able to build up a clear picture of an accident near to you yesterday by reading or listening to one of these reports from an official source.