How to get a car accident report in California

Where to get the report

• California Highway Patrol (CHP-investigated crashes) Portal or CHP 190, $10 per 25 pages

  The CHP says a proper party of interest (drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, passengers, parents of minors, legal guardians, vehicle or property owners, legal representatives, manufacturer representatives, or insurers with a valid claim or policy number) may request a CHP crash report online through its Crash Portal (crashes.chp.ca.gov, account registration required), without going to the Area office where the report was filed. You can also request it in person or by mail from a CHP Area office on form CHP 190, Application for Release of Information, or with a personal letter, attaching a photocopy of your driver license or photo ID; without either ID, the form or letter must be certified by a notary. Any CHP office can get a copy of a CHP-investigated report or arrange to mail it to you, but the CHP cannot provide reports investigated by another police department. The CHP lists its fees as $10.00 for 1 to 25 pages, $20.00 for 26 to 50, $30.00 for 51 to 75, $40.00 for 76 to 100, and $10.00 for each additional 25 pages or portion over 100, with no extra charge for handling or mailing; mailed requests take a personal check or money order payable to the California Highway Patrol, no cash, and the CHP says it does not accept credit or debit cards. Because the charge depends on page count, the CHP says to contact the Area office where the report was filed for the exact amount. A person with proper interest may also review a report in its entirety without charge (CHP General Order 110.2). The CHP pages we read do not state a fee for copies bought through the Crash Portal.

  Official page

• City police and county sheriffs From the agency that responded

  A crash investigated by a city police department or county sheriff is obtained from that agency, and each local agency sets its own request process and fee, limited by Vehicle Code §20012 to a fee that does not exceed the actual cost of providing the copy. The officer’s card or the incident number tells you which agency has the report; the CHP says that if you do not know which department investigated, your local police department or a CHP office can help you identify it. Example, Los Angeles Police Department only: LAPD releases traffic collision reports online (through a LexisNexis service linked from its page) or by mail, and says to allow a minimum of 45 days from the collision before trying online. Reports involving an arrest, a fatality or a juvenile, and reports issued before February 1, 2016, cannot be released online and must be requested by mail. By mail, LAPD’s Request a Traffic Report page says to send its request form with a $19.00 check or money order payable to the LAPD (no cash) to Los Angeles Police Department, Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. An older LAPD traffic collision questions page still lists $18.00 for the same request, so confirm the current amount with LAPD at 213-486-8130 before you mail it.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in California

Injury or over $1,000: SR-1 in 10 days

California has three separate reporting duties. At the scene of a crash that damages only property, Vehicle Code §20002 requires the driver to stop at the nearest location that will not impede traffic and either locate and notify the owner or person in charge of the property, or leave a written notice in a conspicuous place on the damaged vehicle or property with the driver’s and the vehicle owner’s names and addresses and a statement of the circumstances; a driver who leaves a note must also, without unnecessary delay, notify the police department of the city where the collision happened, or the local California Highway Patrol headquarters if it happened in unincorporated territory (§20002(a)); failing to comply is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If anyone other than the driver is injured or killed, §20001 requires the driver to stop immediately at the scene and meet the duties of §§20003 and 20004; leaving the scene of an injury crash is punishable by state prison, up to one year in county jail, a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or both, with heavier terms when the crash caused death or permanent, serious injury (§20001(b)). Under §20008(a), the driver of a vehicle (other than a common carrier) involved in a crash that injures or kills anyone must, within 24 hours after the accident, make or cause to be made a written report to the California Highway Patrol or, if the crash happened inside a city, to either the CHP or that city’s police department; an agency that receives a report it is not responsible for investigating must forward it to the agency that is. Finally, §16000(a) requires the driver of a motor vehicle involved in any manner in a crash that results in damage to the property of any one person in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or in bodily injury or death, to report it to the DMV within 10 days, on a form the DMV approves (the SR-1, described below). That DMV report is required even when police took a report: the DMV says an SR-1 is required in addition to any report made to the police, the CHP or your insurer.

The driver report you may have to file

SR-1 to DMV within 10 days

The driver’s own report is form SR 1, Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (rev. 6/2025). The DMV says you, or your insurance agent, broker or legal representative, must complete it and send it to the DMV within 10 days if someone is injured (no matter how minor the injury) or killed, or property damage is over $1000, and that it is required in addition to any report made to the police, the CHP or your insurance company; the form adds that you must file it regardless of fault and that law enforcement reports do not satisfy the requirement. File online through the DMV’s SR-1 page, or mail the printed form to Department of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Unit, Mail Station J237, P.O. Box 942884, Sacramento, CA 94284-0884 (the DMV says paper submissions are likely to take longer to process). The form says accidents involving vehicles not required to be registered (such as an off-road vehicle, an implement of husbandry or a snowmobile), on a military base, or on the driver’s own property involving only the driver’s personal property with no injury or death are not reportable. Section 16000(b) also exempts a vehicle owned or leased by, or under the direction of, the United States, California, another state or a local agency. The penalty is to your license: under §16004(a) the DMV shall suspend the driving privilege of a person who fails to make the required report, and the form warns that untimely reporting could result in suspension and that failing to complete the insurance section means the DMV will assume you were uninsured. If no one files within one year of the crash, the DMV is not required to file a report and the §16004 suspension provisions do not apply (§16000(c)); the form says the DMV does not accept reports or take action unless an SR-1 is received within one calendar year of the accident.

What the report costs

$10 per 25 pages at CHP; local varies

No single statewide fee applies. Vehicle Code §20012 says a request for a copy must be accompanied by a fee that shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the copy. The CHP charges $10.00 per 25 pages (so $10.00 for most reports of 1 to 25 pages, $20.00 for 26 to 50 pages, and so on), with no charge for handling or mailing, and reviewing a report without taking a copy is free for a person with proper interest. Fees charged by city police and sheriffs vary by agency; the Los Angeles Police Department, for example, lists $19.00 for a mailed request on its Request a Traffic Report page, while an older LAPD page lists $18.00.

When the report is ready

Varies by agency; LAPD 45 days

We found no official statewide timeline. The CHP pages we read give no figure for when a report becomes available through the Crash Portal or by mail; if the portal cannot find your report yet, request it from the Area office on form CHP 190. Local agencies set their own timing. Example, Los Angeles Police Department only: it asks you to allow a minimum of 45 days from the collision before trying to get the report online, so it can be reviewed and approved for release. We found no official statement of how long the CHP or local agencies keep crash reports.

Who can get a copy

Parties with a proper interest only

California crash reports are not open to the general public. Vehicle Code §20012 says accident reports are for the confidential use of the DMV and the CHP, and that the CHP or the law enforcement agency to whom the accident was reported shall disclose the entire contents of the report to any person who may have a proper interest in it, including, but not limited to: a driver involved, or the driver’s guardian or conservator; the parent of a minor driver; an authorized representative of a driver; any named person injured in the accident; the owners of vehicles or property damaged; persons who may incur civil liability, including liability based upon a breach of warranty arising out of the accident; and an attorney who declares under penalty of perjury that he or she represents any of those persons. The disclosure covers names and addresses of the people involved, injured or witnessing, vehicle registration numbers and descriptions, the date, time and location, diagrams, and statements. The CHP’s General Order 110.2 adds its own reading: passengers are included, parents of adult children are not unless they have the adult child’s signed authorization, in a fatal crash proper interest lies with the surviving spouse, minor children (through their guardians) or a court-appointed family member, and an insurer must supply the policy or claim number in effect at the time. Your SR-1 to the DMV is treated separately: §16005 makes those reports confidential and lets the DMV give only specified items (names and addresses, vehicles, date, time and location, insurers, and any suspension action) to persons with a proper interest.

What to do now

1. 1

   File your SR-1 within 10 days

   If anyone was hurt or killed, or any one person’s property damage was over $1,000, file the SR-1 with the DMV online or by mail within 10 days, even if police made a report. Missing it can cost you your license.

2. 2

   Find out which agency worked the crash

   Your 24-hour injury report goes to the CHP, or inside a city to either the CHP or the city police (Vehicle Code §20008). The officer’s card or report number tells you which agency has your report.

3. 3

   Order the police report

   For a CHP report, use the Crash Portal or send form CHP 190 with a copy of your ID and $10 per 25 pages. For a local report, follow that department’s process and fee.

4. 4

   Ask for video and photos now, separately

   The crash report does not include video. Police dashcam and body camera recordings are requested under the California Public Records Act, and Caltrans says its traffic camera video is not kept at all, so send those requests right away.

Frequently asked questions