Car Accident Reporting Requirements by State

Contributory negligence — any fault can bar recovery entirely. Five jurisdictions still follow this harsh rule: Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. — though D.C. applies a modified rule for pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-motorized users, who may still recover if their negligence was less than the drivers’ combined. If you live in one of these, an adjuster arguing you were even slightly at fault is arguing you get nothing. North Carolina’s page makes the practical point: the citations section of the crash report is often the first thing an adjuster reads, because one ticket against you can end a claim that would merely be discounted elsewhere.

Slight versus gross — unique to one state. South Dakota asks whether your contributory negligence was slight in comparison with the other driver’s, rather than applying a percentage bar. Its courts have come to treat roughly 30% as more than slight, at which point recovery is barred.

Pure comparative fault — recover even when mostly to blame. Missouri and Alaska reduce your damages by your share without any cutoff.

Modified comparative — the common rule. Most states bar recovery once you reach 50% or 51% of the fault. Louisiana moved from pure comparative fault to a 51% bar for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, and also extended its prescription period from one year to two — most published guidance is wrong on both.

In a no-fault state your own policy pays your medical bills first, regardless of who caused the crash, and you can only pursue the at-fault driver once you cross a threshold. The mandatory minimums vary more than thirteenfold.

Utah requires just $3,000 — the lowest in the country, and the same figure is its threshold for suing. Kansas requires $4,500. Massachusetts requires $8,000, but only the first $2,000 is paid directly before your health insurer takes over. Florida, Hawaiʻi, and Kentucky require $10,000. Delaware requires $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident. North Dakota requires $30,000, and Minnesota $40,000 — split $20,000 medical and $20,000 wage loss, the most generous minimum covered here.

Two states carry PIP without the no-fault trade-off. Oregon includes PIP of at least $15,000 per injured person on every private passenger policy, and Delaware mandates $15,000/$30,000 — but neither imposes a threshold on your right to sue. PIP pays first and you keep full tort rights. Delaware’s does carry a hard limit: expenses must be incurred within two years of the crash.

The deadlines to notify your own insurer are the trap. They are far shorter than the deadline to sue. New York gives you 30 days for written notice, then 45 days to submit medical bills and 90 for lost wages. Minnesota is commonly cited at six months. Michigan allows one year under MCL 500.3145 — which sounds generous and is exactly why people miss it. And Florida requires initial medical treatment within 14 days under Fla. Stat. §627.736, or the insurer can deny PIP entirely.

Kansas has a trap worth checking today. It permits a PIP deductible — commonly $500, $1,000, or $2,000 — in exchange for a lower premium. Take the $2,000 deductible on a $4,500 benefit and your PIP only actually pays about $2,500. Its threshold for stepping outside no-fault is $2,000 in medical expenses. Minnesota’s is $4,000 excluding diagnostic imaging, or 60 days of disability. Massachusetts’ is $2,000, or a fracture or serious disfigurement.

Michigan splits one crash into two claims. No-fault covers injuries; your vehicle runs through the separate mini tort provision, which recovers up to $3,000 from the at-fault driver’s insurer. People routinely pursue one and never learn about the other.

Three jurisdictions let the policy decide — and D.C.’s is the sharpest. Washington, D.C. gives an injured person 60 days to elect PIP benefits under D.C. Code §31-2405 — but a timely election generally forecloses suing the at-fault driver, while an untimely one forecloses PIP. Miss the window and you lose PIP; take PIP and you usually lose the lawsuit. Kentucky lets you reject no-fault limitations entirely, and under KRS 304.39-060 that rejection is effective until revoked, possibly for a lifetime. New Jersey drivers chose at purchase between the Limitation on Lawsuit option — the verbal threshold — and no limitation. Check your declarations page.

Several states give crash victims an administrative route against an uninsured at-fault driver — no lawsuit required, and most people never hear about them.

Ohio’s is the most concrete: BMV form 3303 asks the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to suspend an uninsured driver’s license. It must reach the BMV within six months, needs property damage over $400 with an itemized estimate or injury over $500 with documentation, plus at least three identifiers matching BMV records. Two warnings from the form itself: do not file it if your insurance company is handling the claim, and your contact details go to the other party.

Virginia’s is the easiest — tick the box on the DMV crash report indicating you believe the other vehicle was uninsured, and the DMV demands insurance information from that owner, issuing an order of suspension if none exists. New Hampshire does it automatically: an uninsured at-fault driver’s licence and registration stay suspended until they deposit security equal to the damages or every claimant signs a release. Missouri suspends for a year under RSMo 303.030, lifted by $20 and proof of settlement. Alabama’s SR-31 carries a claims section for crashes caused by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver. And South Carolina runs the reverse: its FR-10 green form must be returned by your insurer within 15 days or the DMV can treat your own vehicle as uninsured.

Free, or free for injury cases. Rhode Island’s bar provides a free half-hour and lets you request another referral if the first lawyer cannot help. Idaho waives its $35 referral fee for personal injury and its panel attorneys provide the first half hour at no fee. New York’s state bar waives its $35 consultation fee for personal-injury cases, as does Maryland’s Baltimore City bar and some Ohio local bars. Hawaiʻi, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wyoming charge nothing for the referral itself.

$20 to $30. Texas is the cheapest capped consultation at $20. Vermont, Iowa ($0–$25), New Hampshire, West Virginia, Florida, and Illinois cap at $25; Michigan at $25 for 25 minutes, Minnesota at $30 or less, Ohio around $30, and Pennsylvania at $30.

$35 to $50. Maine charges $35, online only; Arizona’s Pima County service, New Mexico, and Virginia the same. New Jersey’s county bars run $35–$50. Nevada caps at $45, or $25 if you prequalify. Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oregon cap at $50. Alaska gives a free referral to up to three lawyers with a $125 cap.

Reduced-fee programs with real numbers. Wyoming’s Modest Means Program caps participating attorneys at a $1,000 retainer and $100 an hour for households between roughly 200% and 300% of the poverty guidelines — the most concrete published caps on this site. Nevada’s reduced rate caps later work at $75 an hour. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Massachusetts run similar programs without published figures — ask by name.

No service at all. Mississippi’s bar states plainly that it does not maintain a lawyer referral service, and the ABA lists none — the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project makes referrals instead. Many states run referral through county or regional bars rather than one statewide line, including Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Louisiana, New Jersey, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, and Washington. Montana, South Dakota, and Utah publish no fixed consultation fee.

Nearly all crash-injury work is handled on contingency in every state — no fee up front, a percentage only if you recover — so a consultation fee is usually the only money that changes hands early.

Several states make the report inadmissible, which surprises people who assume it settles the argument. Iowa (§321.271), Nebraska (60-699, plus case law), North Dakota (39-08-13(8)), Minnesota, and Nevada — whose SR-1 is confidential by statute and cannot be used against you at trial — all bar the report from evidence in a case arising from the crash. In those states your own photographs and dashcam footage carry the weight the report cannot.

Access varies just as much. Idaho treats collision records as public information — anyone can buy one for $7. South Dakota reports are open records kept 15 years. Connecticut publishes a queryable statewide crash database. At the other end, Oklahoma keeps reports confidential for 60 days with a misdemeanor penalty of up to $2,500 for improperly obtaining one, Tennessee makes solicitation using a crash report a Class B misdemeanor at $2,500 per occurrence, Florida restricts them for 60 days after filing, Alabama limits what news organizations get for 30 days, Arizona restricts them against commercial solicitation, Utah treats department reports as protected and confidential, and Montana will not release a driver’s own written report without that driver’s signature.

Two redaction wrinkles. Washington gives entitled parties an unredacted copy while everyone else gets a redacted version — so request yours yourself. And Ohio’s state portal gives you an uncertified copy; if you may end up in court, request a certified version from the investigating agency.

Three states send people to the wrong agency, and it costs a phone call or a week. In Nebraska, the State Patrol says directly that it is not the custodian — crash reports are kept by NDOT’s records office. In North Dakota, reports come from NDDOT rather than the Highway Patrol, which the Patrol states on its own site. And in Oklahoma, the Department of Public Safety’s own form directs all collision report requests to Service Oklahoma instead.

Four more are jurisdictional. Colorado’s State Patrol does not hold self-filed online reports — those go to the Department of Revenue. Ohio’s Highway Patrol keeps reports only for crashes it investigated. In Washington, D.C., crashes on federal park land — the Mall, Rock Creek Park, the parkways — are handled by the U.S. Park Police, not MPD. And Delaware searchers routinely land on the “Delaware County Bar Association,” which is in Pennsylvania.

One more that costs money rather than time: Texas stopped retaining the CR-2 driver’s report in 2017. If someone hands you one, fill it in for your insurer — but do not mail it to TxDOT, where it will be destroyed.

The hardest problem in the first week is usually finding out who insures the person who hit you. Several states have shortcuts.

West Virginia is the strongest by a distance: under §17C-4-7(b), within 24 hours the investigating officer must provide owner, operator, and insurance information to all involved parties and their insurance agents, at no cost, whether or not the report is complete. You have to ask. Connecticut publishes an Accident Information Summary including insurance details, available to involved parties online for 30 days. Iowa’s DOT must disclose the other parties’ identity and address and may disclose their insurer under §321.271. North Carolina requires the officer’s report, due in 24 hours, to include financial-responsibility information for whoever the officer identified as at fault.

Three states put it in your hands at the scene or on the form instead. Kansas requires drivers under K.S.A. 8-1604 to give the other driver the name of their insurance company and the policy number, not just proof of coverage. Maryland requires evidence of liability insurance filed with the 15-day MVA report. And Vermont’s 72-hour form requires you to name your insurer and confirm coverage of at least $25,000/$50,000/$10,000 was in effect.

Published guidance lags legislation badly. Arkansas tripled its threshold from $1,000 to $3,000 effective August 1, 2023. Indiana raised its police investigation threshold from $1,000 to $2,500 in 2024. Minnesota repealed its driver report requirement effective July 1, 2021 — guides published this year still tell people to file it — and Illinois eliminated the SR1B Illinois Motorist Report to IDOT under Public Act 102-0560. Texas stopped retaining the CR-2 driver’s report on September 1, 2017. Wyoming amended W.S. 31-5-1105 effective July 1, 2025, so most published descriptions of its threshold predate the current text. Louisiana extended its prescription period from one year to two and adopted a 51% fault bar effective January 1, 2026. Utah raised minimum liability limits to 30/65/25 for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. Delaware’s police investigation threshold rises by $100 every January 1, capped at $1,500.

How to send dashcam footage to your insurance company →

This matters more in some states than others. Where the crash report is inadmissible — Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nevada — and in the five contributory-negligence jurisdictions where a small share of blame ends a claim entirely, your own footage is often the only durable evidence. That page covers saving the original before the camera loops over it, why you should never edit the file, how to submit it, and the honest part most dashcam companies leave out: footage can be used against you too.

Every figure here was traced to a state statute, DMV or DOT, state police, bar association, or insurance department. Law-firm articles were used as leads and never as citations. Where sources conflicted — which happened often — we went with the codified statute or the agency that actually receives the filing, and said so on the state page.

Where we could not verify something, we left it out rather than guessing. That is why 31 of the 255 cells in the table above read see state page: the state either publishes no comparable figure, sets the fee locally, or — in Kansas’s case — has statutory text we could not confirm. A blank we can explain is worth more than a number we cannot.

Rules change and phone numbers drift. Each state page carries its own last verified date, and if you find something wrong, tell us at team@dashwatcher.com with the state name in the subject and we will check it.