How to get a car accident report in Hawaii

Where to get the report

• Honolulu Police Department (Oahu) $0.50 1st page; call first for MVC

  Honolulu’s Records Division takes requests for police reports and body-worn camera footage by email, mail or in person; for public requests the email is HPDrecPUBreq@honolulu.gov, and mail or in-person requests go to Honolulu Police Department, Attn: Records Division, Records Request, 801 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96813 (open Monday to Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed weekends and State holidays). Attach a color copy of your government-issued ID to show your involvement, and give your name, phone and email, the report number or the date, time and location, the report type (MVC), the names of those involved, whether you want the report, body camera video or both, and a self-addressed stamped envelope large enough for the report. For Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) requests, HPD asks you to call the Records Division at 808-723-3258 first to see whether the report can be released. Fees: $0.50 for the first page and $0.25 for each additional page ($0.65 a page for color copies), paid by cash, check or cashier’s check payable to the City and County of Honolulu before release; HPD does not take online, credit or debit card payments. Someone requesting for another person may need the requester’s ID and a notarized, signed request letter, and next of kin may need a birth or death certificate. HPD’s online report system cannot be used to report a motor vehicle collision; call 911.

  Official page

• Hawaii Police Department (Hawaii Island) $1 first page; cash only

  The Hawaii Police Department says approved motor vehicle accident reports are available to parties of interest as defined in HRS §291C-20. Ask in person or by calling any district station, or mail a written request to the Records and Identification Section, Hawaii Police Department, 349 Kapiʻolani Street, Hilo, HI 96720; you will be called when the report is ready and can pick it up at any district station (Hilo Records Section, 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., (808) 961-2233; the department lists hours and phone numbers for Honokaʻa, Laupāhoehoe, Pāhoa, Kaʻū, Kona, Waimea and Kapaʻau as well). Picking up for someone else requires a letter of authorization from the requesting party. The department says you will receive either a response or the report within 10 business days of your request. Fees: $1 for the first page and .10 cents for each additional page of each report, cash only.

  Official page

• Maui Police Department (Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi) No copy fee under 25 pages; portal

  Maui Police’s Police Reports page says to request a police report through the County’s public records request portal with a free account, or by fax to (808) 244-6418 or mail to MPD Records Section, 55 Mahalani Street, Wailuku, HI 96793, with your email address, phone number and a legible copy of your photo ID; the Records Section in Wailuku maintains the department’s physical and electronic records system of all police reports, and its number is (808) 244-6355. Give the report number or the date, time and location. In most cases, it says, you should receive your report within 10 business days. Fees: no fees are collected for report copies under 25 pages; fees may be charged for multiple requests or voluminous records ($0.25 per page, $5.00 per CD-R) at agency discretion, and search and segregation fees may be charged under OIP’s rules (HAR §§2-71-19, 2-71-31). It accepts cash, money orders, personal checks or cashier’s checks, not credit or debit cards.

  Official page

• Kauai Police Department (Kauaʻi) Online form; allow 48 hours to reply

  Kauai Police’s Records Section takes public requests through its online Records Request for Non-Businesses form (businesses and insurers use separate business and insurance request forms, on letterhead with authorization from the person involved). Give your full name, mailing address and phone number, the police report number, the report type, the date of the incident, and a copy of your driver’s license or state ID. It asks you to allow 48 hours for a response due to confidentiality and says staff will schedule a pickup appointment when the report is ready; status questions go to (808) 241-1929. Because of a staffing shortage, the Records window is open Monday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. We found no copy fee on its page. If a deputy sheriff of the state Department of Law Enforcement handled the crash (its Sheriff Division protects Judiciary premises and State facilities and provides law enforcement services at the Honolulu International Airport, the department says), ask that department in writing instead, through the UIPA request page on law.hawaii.gov.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Hawaii

Injury, death, $3,000+: call police now

Immediate notice: the driver of a vehicle in a collision resulting in injury or death of any person, or total damage to all property to an apparent extent of $3,000 or more, must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the collision to the nearest police officer; if the driver is physically incapable and another occupant can, the occupant must give the notice (HRS §291C-16(a), (b)). An officer sent to the scene must file a written report if it appears the collision caused injury, death or total property damage of $3,000 or more (§291C-16(a)). Stopping: the driver in any collision that injures or kills anyone, or that damages a vehicle or other property that is driven or attended by a person, must immediately stop at or as close as possible to the scene, without obstructing traffic more than necessary, and remain until the duties in §291C-14 are met (§§291C-12, 291C-12.5, 291C-12.6, 291C-13). Information and aid: give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, show your license on request and if available to anyone injured, to the driver or occupant of a damaged vehicle or to the person attending damaged property, and to any officer at the scene or investigating it, and give any injured person reasonable assistance, including carrying or arranging to carry the person to a physician, surgeon or hospital if treatment is apparently necessary or the person asks (§291C-14(a)). If none of those people can receive the information and no officer is present, you must, after doing what you can at the scene, report the collision forthwith to the nearest police officer (§291C-14(b)). Unattended vehicle or property: if you hit an unattended vehicle or other property and cause any damage, you must immediately stop and either find and notify the operator or owner of your name, address and registration number or securely attach a written notice with that information in a conspicuous place, and in either case notify the nearest police officer without unnecessary delay (§291C-15). Penalties for leaving: a collision with death or serious bodily injury is a class B felony (up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000) and your license is revoked; substantial bodily injury, a class C felony (up to five years and $10,000); bodily injury, a misdemeanor (a fine of up to $2,000 and a jail term of up to one year, or up to 364 days under 2026 Act 143 if the offense is not a crime of violence as defined in §134-1, a definition that covers offenses with injury to another person as an element; we found no ruling on whether this one qualifies) (§§291C-12, 291C-12.5, 291C-12.6, 706-640, 706-660, 706-663). Each of those sections also adds a neurotrauma surcharge ($500, $250 or $100). Leaving a property-damage collision with an attended vehicle (§291C-13) carries a fine of up to $250 or up to ten days in jail for a first conviction, rising to up to $500 or six months for a third within a year (§291C-161(d)). Sections 291C-14, 291C-15 and 291C-16 each add a surcharge of up to $100 for the trauma system special fund.

The driver report you may have to file

Injury, over $3,000: 24h unless reported

Who must report: the driver of every motor vehicle involved in an accident in Hawaii in which any person is killed or injured, or in which damage to the property of any one person, including the driver, to an apparent extent in excess of $3,000 is sustained, must at the earliest practical time, and in any event within twenty-four hours after the accident, report the matter in writing or in person to the chief of police (HRS §287-4). Note the two different thresholds: the immediate-notice duty in §291C-16 counts total damage to all property of $3,000 or more, while this report counts damage to one person’s property in excess of $3,000. The form is prescribed by the chief of police and the administrator of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act (each county’s chief of police or director of finance, §287-1), and it asks for the information needed to decide whether you must post security because no insurance or other exception applies. If the driver is physically incapable, another capable occupant must report, and the registered owner must report within ten days after learning of the accident unless the report has been filed. Section 287-4 also says that if the reports it requires are made under any ordinance or other provision or requirement of law, no additional report is required by it; we found no official county page that explains how this works when an officer has already filed a report, so ask the police department that responded whether you still need to file. Penalty: a violation is subject to a fine of up to $1,000, and the administrator may suspend the license of anyone who fails to make a required report until it is filed and for up to thirty more days (§287-44(a), (b)). Knowingly giving false information in the report can bring a fine of up to $1,000, jail, or both (§287-44(c)); the section says up to one year, and since 2026 Act 143 a non-violent offense punishable by up to one year carries no more than 364 days. The report cannot be referred to as evidence of negligence or due care at the trial of a damages action (§287-14). Security: if, twenty days after receiving a report of an injury, death or over-$3,000 accident, the administrator has no evidence of a release, a judgment of non-liability or an installment agreement, it sets the security each driver or owner not covered by an exception must deposit, and it must suspend licenses unless security is deposited, with notice at least ten days before suspension (§§287-5, 287-6); a liability policy in effect at the time is one of the exceptions (§287-7).

What the report costs

Set by each county; Oahu from $0.50

We found no statute that sets a statewide fee for a police crash report. The general copy law says the cost of reproducing a government record may not be less than 5 cents per page (HRS §92-21), and each county police department publishes its own price. Honolulu Police Department: $0.50 for the first page and $0.25 for each additional page, $0.65 per page for color copies, cash, check or cashier’s check only. Hawaii Police Department: $1 for the first page and .10 cents for each additional page of each report, cash only. Maui Police Department: no fees for report copies under 25 pages, with $0.25 per page or $5.00 per CD-R possible for multiple or voluminous requests at the department’s discretion. Kauai Police Department: its records page lists no copy fee, so ask when it calls you. Maui also says search and segregation fees may be charged for public records requests under OIP’s rules. Any department may also ask for a deposit on a large request.

When the report is ready

Varies by county; often 10 business days

No statute sets a deadline for releasing a crash report, and the county pages differ. Hawaii Police Department: a response or the report within 10 business days of the request. Maui Police Department: in most cases within 10 business days. Kauai Police Department: allow 48 hours for a response, and staff schedule a pickup when the report is ready. Honolulu Police Department: it gives no time for crash reports; it says reports longer than 10 pages may not be available the same day, that it may contact you with the status and when the case may be available, and that for MVC reports you should call 808-723-3258 to see whether the report can be released. When the crash is under criminal investigation, county pages say complete reports wait: Honolulu releases reports when the investigative processes are complete and the case is closed; Hawaii County says complete criminal reports wait until the case is closed, adjudicated or the statute of limitations has passed, though a victim needing a report for insurance may get a partial report first; Maui says qualified requesters may receive a preliminary or a complete report depending on the severity and prosecution status of the criminal matter. We found no official statement of how long county police keep crash reports. If someone died, each surviving immediate family member (grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, child or legal guardian) is entitled on request to the investigating department’s closing report after the criminal proceedings end, five years after the report was completed, or seven years after the incident, whichever comes first, with information about minors and confidential personal information redacted; if the investigation was reopened in the six months before the request, the department may wait until the reopened investigation ends (HRS §52D-18, added in 2025).

Who can get a copy

Directly concerned or proper interest

State law: any traffic collision report required under chapter 291C is for the confidential use of the police department, except that the department shall, upon request, disclose it to any person directly concerned in the collision or having a proper interest in it, including the drivers (or their employer, parent or legal guardian), the authorized representative of any person involved, any person injured, the owners of vehicles or property damaged, any law enforcement agency and any court of competent jurisdiction; anyone who may sue because of a death resulting from the collision is deemed directly concerned, and this section controls over any conflicting law, including the public records law in chapter 92F (HRS §291C-20). County practice: Hawaii County releases approved motor vehicle accident reports to parties of interest as defined in §291C-20. Honolulu says it releases reports under the public records law, HRS §92F-13, with names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and phone numbers redacted, and asks for a color copy of your ID to show involvement. Maui says a qualified requester is a person involved as a victim, offender, driver, vehicle owner, involved pedestrian or owner of damaged or stolen property, that a signed authorization with that person’s photo ID lets it release a report to a representative, and that uninvolved third parties may receive reports in redacted form only. Kauai says most reports are releasable once investigative processes are complete and the case is closed, with personal information redacted. A lawyer or insurer usually needs your written authorization. The driver report you file under §287-4 cannot be used as evidence of negligence at a damages trial (§287-14).

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police from the scene

   With injury, death or apparent damage of $3,000 or more, notify the nearest police officer immediately; stop, exchange name, address and registration, and help anyone hurt.

2. 2

   Ask whether you still owe a 24-hour report

   For injury, death or over $3,000 to one person’s property, state law requires a report to the chief of police within 24 hours unless it was made under another law; ask the responding department.

3. 3

   Request the report from the county police

   Send the report number or date, time and place, and a copy of your ID, to the records section of the department that came: Honolulu, Hawaii County, Maui or Kauai.

4. 4

   Ask for body camera video in the same request

   Honolulu takes report and body-worn camera requests together; video is a separate record that may be redacted or held while an investigation is open.

5. 5

   Post the crash on the bounty board

   Dashcam and business camera footage is not in any police file and is often overwritten within days.

Frequently asked questions