It was 2:30 in the morning when my phone rang.
“Mum… I’ve crashed the car. Oh my God, it’s a mess. I’ve gotta go, the police are here.”
Click.
My heart sank. This is the call every parent dreads.
Finding Him
Thank goodness for Life360. Within seconds I could see exactly where he was. I threw on clothes and drove straight there.
The flashing red and blue lights cut through the darkness. My son’s car was crumpled against a railing. The scene looked bad.
I went straight to him — he was shaken, but thankfully unhurt. No injuries, no alcohol, just a young man who had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Talking to the Police
Once I knew he was safe, I went over to the officers. I asked if there was anything I needed to do. Any forms? Any paperwork?
They said no. They had tested him for alcohol — all clear. No drugs, no injuries, no reports required.
We waited for the tow truck they’d ordered. When it arrived, I signed the paperwork and took a copy of the tow order. In my mind, that was it. The insurance would take over from here.
The Call I Didn’t Expect
Two days later, I got a call from our insurance investigator.
Because the accident happened late at night, he explained, it automatically went into investigation. They needed to confirm with police that there was no alcohol involved before processing the claim.
“What police station attended the scene?” he asked.
I didn’t know. It could have been one of three.
He explained this happens all the time — and without that information, payment would be on hold. If I wanted to speed things up, my son and I could try tracking it down ourselves.
Wasting Everyone’s Time
So we did.
Three hours of calling and visiting police stations. Long holds, repeated explanations, hitting dead ends. We still didn’t have an answer.
Meanwhile, the investigator was also ringing around trying to confirm the details. It took more than a week and a half before the information came through and our payout was approved.
And here’s what really gets me: I had been at the scene taking photos of Michael’s car. If I’d thought to take a photo of the police car too, I would have had the registration and saved all that stress, wasted time, and frustration.
The Muddy Logic
Think about how many resources were chewed up here:
• Police officers tied up answering calls from accident victims and insurance companies.
• Insurance investigators spend hours chasing details that should already be documented.
• My time. My son’s time.
• Taxpayers’ money and insurance premiums paying for a broken process.
And for what? A detail that could be solved with one small change.
A Simple Fix
We could avoid this completely if:
• The attending officer’s name or ID number was printed on the tow truck slip.
• The breath test result had a QR code or simple printout for the driver.
• There was a standard process for handing over key details when police call a tow truck, knowing an insurance investigation is likely.
Instead, we’re left with a system that doesn’t capture what’s needed at the point of impact — and then wastes hours trying to backtrack.
Final Thoughts
That night was terrifying enough without the week and a half of admin chaos that followed.
If the process worked properly, we could save police time, insurance costs, and a lot of stress for families who’ve just been through an accident.
Whoever designed this system clearly never had to stand on the side of the road at 3 a.m., looking at their child’s wrecked car, and then spend days chasing down a basic detail.
That’s muddy logic in action. And it’s time to clean it up.