How to get a car accident report in District of Columbia

Where to get the report

• Metropolitan Police Department, Public Documents Section (first-party requests) Parties free: email, mail, appointment

  MPD’s page says: “Requests for a PD 10/Traffic Crash Report may be made by a First Party ONLY (Involved Party OR Attorney/Attorney Staff/Investigators of Involved Party),” and “There is a NO Fee for 1st Party Requests.” MPD offers email and mail “for persons living outside of the District, or who are otherwise unable to come to the office in person”: email mpd.public-docs@dc.gov or mail the request, with a self-addressed stamped envelope, to Metropolitan Police Department, Public Documents Section, ATTN: Accident/Incident Reports, 441 4th Street, NW, Room 550 South, Washington, DC 20001. Include as much as you have of your full name, the date, location and time of the crash and the six-digit report number (CCN), plus two required items: “a valid government-issued photo identification” and “the completed ‘PD Form 10B – Application for PD Form 10 Accident Report,’” both of which may be scanned or photographed. “For Mail-In requests, please allow six weeks for processing.” In-person requests at MPD Headquarters are by appointment only, at (202) 671-6705, and need your name with the date, place and time, or the CCN, plus photo ID; the section’s number for questions is (202) 727-4357, and its posted hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, with a notice that the Records Division is open until 7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Under MPD’s crash report order, first-party requesters are a person involved in the crash and listed on the PD-10, that person’s spouse, a juvenile’s parent or guardian, the vehicle’s owner, a duly authorized agent, and investigators, attorneys and staff representing a party “in anticipation of or for pending litigation regarding the crash” (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.G.1.a). PD Form 10B asks a lawyer or investigator for their own photo ID and either a signed retainer agreement or a notarized authorization from the client, and an agent for a notarized authorization. If you do not know the CCN, MPD says to call the station of the police district that responded.

  Official page

• Metropolitan Police Department, FOIA Office (everyone else, including insurers) Others: FOIA Office, $3 per report

  Anyone who was not involved in the crash or listed on the PD-10 must go through MPD’s FOIA Office (MPD PD-10 page; GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.G.1.b and V.G.4.b). Under the order, a third party files PD Form 10-C (a one-time registration) and PD Form 10-D (the application); the FOIA Office decides whether the requester is entitled to an unredacted copy under the Driver Privacy Protection Amendment Act of 2012, and if not, “the FOIA Office shall redact all personal information of the drivers, passengers, and witnesses” before sending it. PD Form 10-D says: “The fee for each Accident Report (PD Form 10) is $3.00,” payable by check or money order to the DC Treasurer, and the report is not sent until payment is received. The MPD PD-10 page likewise says insurance companies pay “a fee $3 for each PD requested” for claim purposes. The law behind the redaction is D.C. Code §50-1401.01b: MPD may not disclose personal information (such as name, address, phone number, photograph and license number) from an accident report except, on “sufficient written proof,” for listed uses, which include use in an actual or contemplated court, agency or arbitration proceeding by a person involved in the crash and listed on the report or by an attorney investigating in anticipation of litigation for a person or entity involved in the crash, insurers for claims, anti-fraud, rating or underwriting, service of process, court orders, and anyone with the written consent of the person the information is about (§50-1401.01b(c)); information about crashes, driving violations and driver status is not “personal information” (§50-1401.01b(a)(3)(B)). MPD’s current FOIA page directs requests to the District’s FOIA portal, myfoia.dc.gov, or by mail to the FOIA Officer at 441 4th Street, NW, Suite 1100S, Washington, DC 20001, marked “FOIA Request.” The 2015 order and forms still show the FOIA Office at 300 Indiana Avenue NW, so use the current page’s address.

  Official page

• U.S. Park Police (crashes it handled on federal parkland) Federal parkland: Park Police records

  Some crashes in the District are handled by a federal agency instead of MPD, for example the U.S. Park Police on park roads and parkland it patrols. A federal agency’s report is not an MPD PD-10 and is not covered by MPD’s process. The Park Police say: “To request electronic documents for a law enforcement incident you were involved in within the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California, or New York City metropolitan areas, email us at USPP_Records@nps.gov.” A formal request goes through the Interior Department’s FOIA portal, and if you are unsure where to send it, the Park Police say to email OPT_FOIA@nps.gov. If another agency’s officer responded, ask that agency.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in District of Columbia

Injury: 911, stay; damage: give your ID

The District’s duty is D.C. Code §50-2201.05c(a): “Any person who operates or who is in physical control of a vehicle within the District who knows or has reason to believe that his or her vehicle has been in a collision shall immediately stop and”: (1) “Where another person is injured, call or cause another to call 911 or call or cause another to call for an ambulance or other emergency assistance if necessary, remain on the scene until law enforcement arrives, and provide identifying information to law enforcement and to the injured person”; (2) where property belonging to another is damaged or a domestic animal is injured, “provide identifying information to the owner or operator of the property or the owner of the domestic animal or, where the owner or operator of the property or the owner of the domestic animal is not present, provide or cause another to provide identifying information and the location of the collision, to law enforcement or 911”; or (3) where property or an animal “poses a risk to others,” call 911 with your identifying information, the location and a description of the risk. There is no dollar threshold and no separate written report: the old accident report sections of the Safety Responsibility Act (§§50-1301.10 to 50-1301.15) were repealed by the Compulsory/No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act of 1982 (D.C. Law 4-155, §14(e), effective September 18, 1982). It is an affirmative defense that you did not stop or stay because of a reasonable belief that your safety or someone else’s was at risk and that you called 911 or otherwise notified police as soon as it was safe, gave your information and a description and location of the collision, and followed the operator’s or officer’s instructions (§50-2201.05c(b)); being intoxicated, distracted or not at fault is no defense (§50-2201.05c(c)). Penalties: leaving an injury collision, up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for a first offense, and up to 1 year and $2,500 for a repeat offense; leaving after damaging property or an animal, or failing to report a hazard, up to 30 days and $250, and up to 90 days and $500 for a repeat offense (§50-2201.05c(d), with the fine amounts set by §22-3571.01(b) for those jail terms). After a collision you “shall activate the emergency flashing lights and shall move the vehicle from the roadway as soon as it is safe to do so and only as far as is necessary to prevent obstructing the regular flow of traffic,” and moving it does not affect responsibility for the collision or count as interfering with a police investigation (18 DCMR §2225.2 to 2225.4). When MPD responds, the officer must demand proof of insurance from each driver unless safety, law enforcement or emergency care makes it impracticable (D.C. Code §5-114.02(a)). MPD’s order on crash reports says MPD shall investigate and report a crash on a highway or public space when anyone is killed or reports an injury, or a vehicle is damaged so that it must be towed, and must write a PD-10 regardless of damage when, among other cases, an owner of damaged property is not at the scene, a government or public transportation vehicle is involved, a driver committed a crime or serious traffic violation such as leaving the scene or impaired driving, or the officer issues a ticket (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.A). For minor damage MPD is not required to write a PD-10 and gives the drivers the “Government of the District of Columbia Motor Vehicle Crash Report for PROPERTY DAMAGE ONLY” instead (Part V.A.3). On private property, MPD writes a PD-10 only for a death or injury, a diplomat driver, an MPD vehicle when an official directs it, or a charge of unlicensed driving, impaired driving or leaving the scene; otherwise it writes an Incident-Based Event Report (PD Form 251) classified “Damage to Property” (Part V.B). The Property Damage Only form is headed “Use only if NO police report was taken. Complete and return form within 5 DAYS of crash,” says the District uses it “to collect information to help us implement safety programs,” asks you to call 911 for any crash with an injury, a complaint of injury, District or federal property, a public transportation vehicle, or a vehicle that cannot be driven, and can be returned by its business reply envelope, by fax or online. We found no statute or regulation that requires the form or sets a penalty for not returning it, so we report only what the form itself says. DDOT’s non-injury crash page says to call 9-1-1 immediately if medical or police help is needed or the vehicles cannot be driven.

What the report costs

Free to parties; $3 for others

No D.C. statute sets a price for a crash report. MPD sets it: “There is a NO Fee for 1st Party Requests,” and MPD’s page says “Copies of the PD-10 are usually available to first party requestors at no charge and insurance companies for claim purposes at a fee $3 for each PD requested.” MPD’s crash report order says obtaining the report is free for first-party requesters and “A fee shall be collected from all third-party requesters requesting a copy of a PD Form 10” (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.G.2.a and V.G.4.b(8)); its PD Form 10-D sets “The fee for each Accident Report (PD Form 10) is $3.00,” by check or money order to the DC Treasurer (the order’s own text says cash or money order), and the report is not sent until payment is received. A related record: if you need the insurer of record for a D.C. tag number for a claim, DC DMV sells an Insurance Record for $7.00, online, by mail or at a service center; it contains insurance information only, no owner’s personal information, and DMV adds a 2.5% service fee to card payments.

When the report is ready

No law sets a time; mail: allow 6 weeks

No statute or regulation sets a deadline for MPD to finish or release a crash report. MPD’s order requires the officer to submit the report, and the supervisor to approve or reject it, before the end of the officer’s shift; once approved it becomes a “Preliminary Public MPD Document,” and a supervisor must reject a report until every party has been interviewed (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.H.2). For a crash with serious injury where the person may die, or a death, the responding officers must notify MPD’s Major Crash Section, which then handles the scene (Part V.E). For mail-in requests MPD says “please allow six weeks for processing from the date the request is made.” MPD keeps the PD Form 10B applications for four years (Part V.G.2.e), but we found no published retention period for the PD-10 itself; MPD’s records retention general order (GO-205.03, 1978) sets none. Separately, the District must publish basic data about each crash online at least monthly, without names or other personal information (D.C. Code §50-1951.02); that data is not the report.

Who can get a copy

Parties; others by FOIA, may be redacted

Free copies go to first-party requesters: “A person involved in a crash and listed on the PD Form 10; their spouse; or if a juvenile, their parent or guardian; the owner of the vehicle; (i.e., first-party requesters) or his or her duly authorized agent,” and “Investigators, attorneys, and/or their staff representing a party involved in a crash, including the owner of a vehicle involved in a crash, in anticipation of or for pending litigation regarding the crash” (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.G.1.a). MPD requires government-issued photo identification, “No other form of identification shall be accepted,” and checks that your name, or your client’s, appears on the report; parents must show a birth certificate and guardians a certificate of guardianship. Everyone else must register with the FOIA Office and apply (Part V.G.1.b). D.C. Code §50-1401.01b limits release of personal information from the report to listed uses, including, for an actual or contemplated proceeding, people involved in the crash and listed on the report and their attorneys investigating in anticipation of litigation, as well as insurers for claims and underwriting, and anyone with the written consent of the person the information is about; MPD decides whether the documentation is sufficient (§50-1401.01b(c), (e)(4)). A third party who does not qualify gets a copy with the personal information of drivers, passengers and witnesses redacted (GO-SPT-401.03, Part V.G.4.b(7)). The officer must note on the report the insurer for each driver and each vehicle (D.C. Code §5-114.03(a)), and MPD sends a copy of each accident report to the District Department of Transportation (§50-1731.07(b)).

What to do now

1. 1

   Call 911 from the scene if anyone is hurt

   Stay until police arrive and give your information to them and to the injured person (D.C. Code §50-2201.05c). If you damage unattended property, give your information to police or 911.

2. 2

   Write down the CCN

   The officer’s six-digit report number (CCN) finds the report. If no PD-10 was written, MPD gives you a Property Damage Only form, which asks you to complete and return it within 5 days.

3. 3

   Request it from the Public Documents Section

   Book an appointment, or if you live outside D.C. or cannot come in, send mpd.public-docs@dc.gov your name, the date, time, place and CCN, a photo of your government ID and a completed PD Form 10B. It is free for parties.

4. 4

   Send your insurer to MPD’s FOIA Office

   Insurers and other third parties apply through the FOIA Office; MPD lists a $3 fee per report.

Frequently asked questions