Accident report requirements modification

A bill for an act

relating to motor vehicles; modifying accident report requirements; authorizing

local law enforcement to provide certain data to contracted service providers for

purposes of accident reporting; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections

169.011, by adding a subdivision; 169.09, subdivisions 8, 9, 13, 19.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, is amended by adding a subdivision

to read:

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Subd. 18a.

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Contracted service provider.

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"Contracted service provider" means a

contracted entity authorized by a governmental agency to provide services that support or

enable the permissible generation, collection, management, and dissemination of crash

reports or data under the requirements of this chapter.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective July 1, 2026.

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Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Officer to report accident to commissioner.

(a) A peace officer who

investigates in the regular course of duty an accident that is required to be reported under

this section must submit an electronic or written report of the accident to the commissioner

of public safety within ten days after the date of the accident
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and may retain an unofficial

copy of the report locally
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. Within two business days after identification of a fatality that

resulted from an accident, the reporting agency must notify the commissioner of the basic

circumstances of the accident. A report or notification under this subdivision must be in the

format as prescribed in subdivision 9.

(b) Accidents on streets, highways, roadways, sidewalks, shoulders, shared use paths,

or any other portion of a public right-of-way must be reported under the requirements of

this section if the accident results in:

(1) a fatality;

(2) bodily injury to a person who, because of the injury, immediately receives medical

treatment away from or at the scene of the accident;

(3) one or more of the motor vehicles incurring disabling damage that requires a vehicle

to be transported away from the scene of the accident by tow truck or other vehicle; or

(4) damage to fixtures, infrastructure, or any other property alongside or on a highway.

(c) An accident involving a school bus, as defined in section
169.011, subdivision 71
,

must be reported under the requirements of this section and section
169.4511
.

(d) An accident involving a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section
169.781
,

subdivision 1, paragraph (a), must be reported under the requirements of this section and

section
169.783
.

(e) Accidents occurring on public lands or trail systems that result in the circumstances

specified in paragraph (b) must be reported under the requirements of this section.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective July 1, 2026, for reports submitted on

or after that date.

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Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 9, is amended to read:

Subd. 9.

Accident report format.

The commissioner of public safety
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shall
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must
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prescribe

the format for the
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official
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accident reports required under this section. Upon request
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,
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the

commissioner
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shall
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must
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make
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the format
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available
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the format
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to police departments,

coroners, sheriffs, garages, and other suitable agencies or individuals. The electronic or

written report to be completed by individuals involved in accidents and by investigating

peace officers must disclose the causes, existing conditions, and the individuals and vehicles

involved.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 13, is amended to read:

Subd. 13.

Reports confidential; evidence, fee, penalty, appropriation.

(a) All reports

and supplemental information required under this section must be for the use of the

commissioner of public safety and other appropriate state, federal, county, and municipal

governmental agencies for accident analysis
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or law enforcement investigatory
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purposes,

except:

(1) upon written request, the commissioner of public safety
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,
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;
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a full-service provider as

defined in section
171.01, subdivision 33a
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, or any
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; a
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law enforcement agency
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; or a law

enforcement agency's contracted service provider
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must disclose the report required under

subdivision 8 to:

(i) any individual involved in the accident, the representative of the individual's estate,

or the surviving spouse, or one or more surviving next of kin, or a trustee appointed under

section
573.02
;

(ii) any other person injured in person, property, or means of support, or who incurs

other pecuniary loss by virtue of the accident;

(iii) legal counsel of a person described in item (i) or (ii);

(iv) a representative of the insurer of any person described in item (i) or (ii); or

(v) a city or county attorney or an attorney representing the state in an implied consent

action who is charged with the prosecution of a traffic or criminal offense that is the result

of a traffic crash investigation conducted by law enforcement;

(2) the commissioner of public safety may verify with insurance companies vehicle

insurance information to enforce sections
65B.48
,
169.792
,
169.793
,
169.796
, and
169.797
;

(3) the commissioner of public safety must provide the commissioner of transportation

the information obtained for each traffic accident involving a commercial motor vehicle,

for purposes of administering commercial vehicle safety regulations;

(4) upon specific request, the commissioner of public safety must provide the

commissioner of transportation the information obtained regarding each traffic accident

involving damage to identified state-owned infrastructure, for purposes of debt collection

under section
161.20, subdivision 4
; and

(5) the commissioner of public safety may give to the United States Department of

Transportation commercial vehicle accident information in connection with federal grant

programs relating to safety.

(b) Accident reports and data contained in the reports are not discoverable under any

provision of law or rule of court. A report must not be used as evidence in any trial, civil

or criminal, or any action for damages or criminal proceedings arising out of an accident.

However, the commissioner of public safety must furnish, upon the demand of any person

who has or claims to have made a report or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing

that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the commissioner solely to prove

compliance or failure to comply with the requirements that the report be made to the

commissioner.

(c) Nothing in this subdivision prevents any individual who has made a report under

this section from providing information to any individuals involved in an accident or their

representatives or from testifying in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident,

as to facts within the individual's knowledge. It is intended by this subdivision to render

privileged the reports required, but it is not intended to prohibit proof of the facts to which

the reports relate.

(d) Disclosing any information contained in any accident report, except as provided in

this subdivision, section
13.82
, subdivision 3 or 6, or other statutes, is a misdemeanor.

(e) The commissioner of public safety or full-service provider as defined in section

171.01, subdivision 33a
, must charge authorized persons as described in paragraph (a) a $5

fee for a copy of an accident report. Of the $5 fee collected by the commissioner under this

paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited in the driver and vehicle services operating account

under section
299A.705
and ten percent must be deposited in the general fund. Of the $5

fee collected by a full-service provider, the provider must transmit 50 cents to the

commissioner for deposit in the general fund, and the provider must retain the remainder.

The commissioner may also furnish an electronic copy of the database of accident records,

which must not contain personal or private data on an individual, to private agencies as

provided in paragraph (g), for not less than the cost of preparing the copies on a bulk basis

as provided in section
13.03, subdivision 3
.

(f) The fees specified in paragraph (e) notwithstanding, the commissioner and law

enforcement agencies must charge commercial users who request access to response or

incident data relating to accidents a fee not to exceed 50 cents per record. "Commercial

user" is a user who in one location requests access to data in more than five accident reports

per month, unless the user establishes that access is not for a commercial purpose. Of the

money collected by the commissioner under this paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited

in the driver and vehicle services operating account under section
299A.705
and ten percent

must be deposited in the general fund.

(g) The fees in paragraphs (e) and (f) notwithstanding, the commissioner must provide

an electronic copy of the accident records database to the public on a case-by-case basis

using the cost-recovery charges provided for under section
13.03, subdivision 3
. The database

provided must not contain personal or private data on an individual. However, unless the

accident records database includes the vehicle identification number, the commissioner

must include the vehicle registration plate number if a private agency certifies and agrees

that the agency:

(1) is in the business of collecting accident and damage information on vehicles;

(2) will use the vehicle registration plate number only for identifying vehicles that have

been involved in accidents or damaged, to provide this information to persons seeking access

to a vehicle's history and not for identifying individuals or for any other purpose; and

(3) will be subject to the penalties and remedies under sections
13.08
and
13.09
.

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(h) A reporting agency that retains unofficial copies of reports locally may provide

nonpersonal data contained in the reports to a contracted service provider subject to the

requirements and limitations of paragraph (g), clauses (1) to (3), and section 13.055.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective July 1, 2026, for reports submitted on

or after that date.

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Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 19, is amended to read:

Subd. 19.

Terminology.

(a) The provisions of this section apply equally whether the

term "accident" or "collision" is used. The term "accident" or "collision" does not include:

(1) an occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle;

(2) an occurrence involving only the loading or unloading of cargo; or

(3) intentional vehicle-to-vehicle contact when initiated by a peace officer:

(i) to stop a perpetrator from fleeing in a motor vehicle, as defined in section
609.487
,

subdivision 3; or

(ii) as an authorized use of force, as defined in section
609.06, subdivision 1
;
609.065
;

or
609.066
.

(b) For purposes of this section, "disabling damage" means damage that prevents a motor

vehicle from departing the scene of the accident in its usual manner in daylight after simple

repairs. Disabling damage includes damage to a motor vehicle that could be driven from

the scene of the accident but would be further damaged if so driven. Disabling damage does

not include:

(1) damage that can be remedied temporarily at the scene of the accident without special

tools or parts;

(2) tire disablement without other damage, even if no spare tire is available;

(3) headlamp or taillight damage; or

(4) damage that makes the turn signals, horn, or windshield wipers inoperable.

(c) For purposes of this section, motor vehicle includes off-highway vehicles, as defined

in section
84.771
, and snowmobiles, as defined in section
84.81
.

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(d) For purposes of this section, "official accident report" means an original copy of an

accident report that meets the requirements of subdivision 9 and is held by the commissioner

of public safety.

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