How do I get the crash report, and what does it tell me?

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) prepares the accident report forms and supplies them, on request, to police departments, sheriffs and other agencies.

The officer’s standard form is the CHP 555, which the CHP manual calls the Traffic Crash Report. The officer’s narrative goes on a companion form, the CHP 556.

Drivers have their own duty to report. When a crash injures or kills anyone, the driver must make a written report within 24 hours. The report goes to the CHP or, if the crash was in a city, to the CHP or that city’s police department.

A driver must also report the crash to the DMV within 10 days if anyone was hurt or killed, or if damage to any one person’s property was over $1,000.

The DMV calls its form the SR-1. It says the SR-1 is required in addition to any report made to the police, the CHP or your insurance company.

An officer who investigates a crash must write a report if the crash caused an injury, a death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to any one person’s property. The officer files it electronically with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) no later than the 10th day after the crash.

The form is the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report, Form CR-3. The current version is for crashes on or after April 1, 2023. Its numbered boxes are explained on a separate code sheet, Form CR-3CS, and each version of the form has its own code sheet.

Texas no longer has a state crash report for drivers to file. TxDOT says that since September 1, 2017 it no longer keeps the Driver’s Crash Report, Form CR-2, and no longer provides the form.

An officer who investigates a crash that has to be reported must submit an investigator’s report.

Unless an officer is submitting a report, the driver must make a written report within four days when anyone is injured or killed, or when damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more.

The officer’s form is the Police Traffic Collision Report (PTCR). The driver’s form is the Motor Vehicle Collision Report (MVCR), which can be filed online or on paper. The State Patrol says a driver does not need to complete an MVCR if an officer at the scene says he or she will complete a PTCR.

The CHP can only provide reports of crashes the CHP investigated. A report written by another police department has to be requested from that department. The CHP says it or a local department can help identify which agency investigated.

For a crash the CHP investigated, a proper party of interest can ask for the report online through the CHP Crash Portal. The other way is in person or by mail at any CHP Area office, with form CHP 190, Application for Release of Information.

Form CHP 190 asks for the crash date, the location, the driver’s or owner’s name, which kind of party of interest you are, and your name and address. It is signed under penalty of perjury.

For a request by mail, the CHP says to attach a photocopy of your driver license or picture identification card. If you have neither, the form must be notarized. The CHP also says to include a copy of the CHP 418 card handed out at the scene. The CHP says it mails the report after it verifies the requester and receives payment.

The CHP’s Collision Report page posts this fee for a copy: $10 for 1 to 25 pages, and $10 more for each further 25 pages or part of 25. By mail the CHP takes a personal check or money order made out to the California Highway Patrol, and no cash. The CHP’s newer Request a Crash Report page gives no amount and says to contact the Area office for the exact fee.

CHP policy says a report on a routine crash is normally available to the public within eight business days, a complex one within 15 business days, and one with a fatal injury within 30 business days. These are the CHP’s own targets, not deadlines, and they count from a “notification date” that this part of the manual does not define. The CHP’s public pages give no number of days and say to call the CHP office first to see if the report is ready.

TxDOT keeps the crash records for the whole state. A copy of the officer’s report is bought through TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System, called CRIS Purchase.

TxDOT’s user guide describes a search by the first and last name of a person involved, or by a driver’s license or ID card number. The buyer chooses a certified or uncertified copy, and a full or a redacted copy. For a full copy the buyer completes an affidavit certifying involvement in the crash. TxDOT says the report arrives by download and by email.

TxDOT says a person who cannot use the online system can mail form CR-91, Request for Peace Officer’s Crash Report, with the payment, to the address shown on the form. It says a mail request may take up to 30 days to process.

The fee for a copy of the report is $6. A certified copy costs $2 more, so $8.

TxDOT says additional processing fees may apply to card payments. The pages this site read do not give the amount.

TxDOT says that once it receives the report, it may take up to 4 business days to process it. It says a report can take up to 14 days from the crash date to show up in a search. Its user guide says to contact the investigating agency if the report is still missing after two weeks.

TxDOT says a full copy bought by card can be downloaded right away, and that a payment by electronic check is held for about ten business days. It says a redacted copy goes through TxDOT review first, within ten business days for purchases of fewer than 100 reports. It says a purchased report can be downloaded for 10 days.

Collision reports are requested from the Washington State Patrol through its online system, called WRECR, or by mail. The State Patrol says it does not give out collision information over the phone.

Searching WRECR is free. The search screen takes a collision report number, or a case number, or a collision date range with an optional last name, first name, city and county.

By mail, the requester fills out the Request for Copy of Collision Report form and sends it with a check or money order to the Collision Records Section, P.O. Box 42628, Olympia, WA 98504-2628. The form asks for the date of the collision, the county, the roadway, the name of a driver or other involved party, and how the requester was involved. The State Patrol does not take cash.

The State Patrol charges $10.50 per report, online or by mail.

Washington law allows a fee that meets, but does not exceed, the costs incurred.

The State Patrol says it may take two to four weeks before a report is available to request. It says officers have that long to finish the investigation and have the report approved by a supervisor. It also says reports are typically available much sooner. If no record is found weeks later, it says the officer may have decided the $1,000 threshold was not met. In that case it says to contact the officer or department that came to the scene.

California law makes required accident reports confidential. But the CHP, or the law enforcement agency the crash was reported to, must disclose the entire contents of the reports to any person with a proper interest. The statute names the drivers involved, a driver’s guardian or conservator, the parent of a minor driver, and a driver’s authorized representative. It also names any named person who was injured, the owners of damaged vehicles or property, and people who may incur civil liability. An attorney who declares under penalty of perjury that he or she represents one of those people is included. The statute says its list is not a complete one. The fee for a copy may not be more than the actual cost of providing it.

The CHP’s request page lists who it treats as a proper party of interest: drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, passengers, parents of minors, legal guardians, vehicle or property owners, legal representatives, manufacturer representatives, and insurance companies with a valid claim or policy number.

A crash report held by TxDOT or another government agency is privileged and confidential. On a written request and payment of any required fee, it must be released to any person directly concerned in the crash or with a proper interest in it. The statute’s list includes any person involved, that person’s authorized representative, a driver, and a driver’s employer, parent or legal guardian. It also includes the owner of a damaged vehicle or property, an insurer of a vehicle or person involved, and any person who may sue because of a death caused by the crash. The list has other entries too.

Any person may ask for a redacted report. It leaves out, among other things, the names of the people listed, addresses other than the zip code, phone numbers, driver’s license and plate numbers, and the insurer’s name and policy number.

Washington law makes required accident reports confidential. But some facts must be disclosed to any person with a proper interest: the names and addresses of the people involved and of witnesses, the plate numbers and descriptions of the vehicles, and the date, time and place. The statute names the drivers involved or their legal guardian, the parent of a minor driver, and any person injured. It also names the owner of damaged vehicles or property, an authorized representative of any of them, and their attorney or insurer.

The factual data that officers submit in report form, and the signed statements of witnesses, must be made available on request to those same interested parties. Reports signed by the drivers are excepted.

The State Patrol says entitled parties receive a full copy, and that people or agencies who are not entitled parties receive a redacted copy.

Page 1 of the CHP 555 covers the crash location, the drivers and vehicles, and other basic facts. Each driver, pedestrian, bicyclist or parked vehicle is listed as a party. The fields the manual lists include each party’s name and address, insurance carrier, direction of travel and vehicle damage.

Page 2 holds the coding, including the Primary Crash Factor (PCF). The manual tells the officer to pick the one driving action that, in the officer’s opinion, best describes the main cause of the crash. The officer also enters the number of the party most at fault. Party numbers on Page 2 match those on Page 1. Page 2 can also carry a sketch, which the manual says reflects the officer’s opinion of how the crash occurred.

Page 3 is used only when someone was injured, there was a passenger, or there is a witness. The extent of an injury is marked as Fatal Injury, Suspected Serious Injury, Suspected Minor Injury or Possible Injury.

Page 4 is the Factual Diagram. The manual says it is used to diagram the crash scene as found when the officer arrived.

The narrative is on form CHP 556. In the investigation format its headings are Facts, Statements, Opinions and Conclusions, and Recommendations. The manual tells officers to put only factual information under Facts.

The CR-3 is a two page form. Near the top are the crash date, time and place. Then comes a block for each vehicle or other unit, with the driver, each occupant, the owner, the insurer’s name and policy number, and the vehicle damage. Later parts list where injured people were taken, any charges and citation numbers, the factors and conditions, the narrative and the diagram.

The factors box is headed “Contributing Factors (Investigator’s Opinion)”. TxDOT’s instructions say the officer may give an opinion on contributing factors without enough evidence to file a traffic charge, and that not all contributing factors are law violations.

The narrative box is headed “Investigator’s Narrative Opinion of What Happened”, and the diagram is marked as not to scale. TxDOT tells officers to refer to units by number in the narrative, not by name.

Numbered boxes are read with the code sheet for the same version of the form. On the 2023 code sheet, injury severity is a letter: A for suspected serious injury, B for suspected minor injury, C for possible injury, K for fatal injury and N for not injured.

The State Patrol’s manual for officers follows the form. Its chapters cover report and case numbers, and the place, date and time. They cover each driver, pedestrian or other unit, the injury coding, and each vehicle with its owner, insurance, and any citation number and charge. They also cover numbered code boxes down both sides, passengers and witnesses, a diagram and a narrative.

Boxes 27 and 28 hold number codes for the circumstances that contributed to the collision, listed in order of severity. Injury class is a number from 1 to 7.

The State Patrol posts overlay sheets that explain what each box means: one for collisions before December 31, 2021 and one for collisions after January 1, 2022. The one cited here is the newer sheet.

The manual tells officers to draw the collision as they observed it at the scene. It says the narrative should describe the events and the facts observed. It tells officers to refer to people in the narrative by unit number or witness number, not by name.

The CHP says a person involved in the crash who disagrees with any part of a CHP report may write a supplemental statement. The statement gives the report number, your name, and the specific items you disagree with, and it can be brought or mailed to any CHP office. The CHP says it will respond by mail, and it advises against phoning the investigating officer directly.

The CHP’s manual tells officers to prepare a supplemental report on form CHP 556 to respond to statements or information sent in by involved parties, passengers or witnesses. It also says a supplemental report may not necessarily include a change in the officer’s opinions and conclusions.

A change that alters a material fact in an officer’s crash report may be made only by the officer who prepared the report. A change by anyone else must be made by a written supplement to the report that clearly shows the name of the person who originated the change.

TxDOT’s instructions tell an officer who needs to amend or add to a filed report to submit a new report marked as a supplement. They list when an officer must supplement: a death within 30 days of the crash, information received later, and later blood alcohol or drug results.

The State Patrol says only the officer who completed the report has the authority to change it. A collision that shows on your driving record is a separate matter: the State Patrol says to contact the Department of Licensing about a mistake on a driving record.