Pursuant to CPLR 4518(a), a police accident report is admissible as a business record as long as the report is made based on the officer's personal observations, and while carrying out police duties. Where information is not based on the officer's personal observations, it may be admissible as a business record if the person giving the information to the officer was under a business duty to relate the facts to the officer, or if the statement qualifies under another hearsay exception, such as an admission. Each person in the chain producing the record, from the initial declarant to the final entrant, must be acting within the course of regular business conduct, or the declaration must meet the test of some other hearsay exception.
Country-Wide Ins. Co. v. Lobello, NY Slip Op 04836 (2d Dep't September 2, 2020)
