How to get a car accident report in Kentucky

Where to get the report

• Kentucky State Police (KSP crashes) BuyCrash online, or written request

  An officer’s crash report goes to the officer’s own agency, and every agency whose officers investigate a reportable crash must file it with Kentucky State Police within 10 days after the investigation (KRS 189.635(3)(d), (4)(a)); officers file through the E-CRASH system, and the agency whose officer made the report remains responsible for providing copies to authorized parties (502 KAR 15:010 Sections 2 and 3). Officers’ reports are made on the form the Attorney General calls the Kentucky Uniform Police Traffic Collision Report (23-ORD-087, 2023). For a crash a trooper worked, KSP’s open records page says accident reports can be obtained from BuyCrash (www.buycrash.com, which KSP’s site menu also links), or by a written request to KSP’s Official Custodian of Records by mail, email, fax or hand delivery: Kentucky State Police, Public Records Branch, Attn: Records Custodian, 1266 Louisville Road, Frankfort, KY 40601, 502-782-1873; email ksp.openrecords@ky.gov (requests only, no status answers); fax 855-592-7656; or its online request portal, which KSP says to use for an immediate response. Sign the request, print your name, and describe the crash by name, date and location. Fees under 502 KAR 15:010 Section 4: $5 for a paper copy and $10 for a report obtained through the KSP website. KSP’s pages do not state BuyCrash’s checkout price, so check it before you pay.

  Official page

• City or county police (example: Lexington) Varies by agency; Lexington $5 to $10

  Most crashes are worked by city police and sheriffs, and each agency may keep a copy of the reports it files with KSP; those copies are confidential and released only as KRS 189.635 allows (KRS 189.635(4)(b)). Ask the agency that responded. Example, from the Lexington Police Department’s own page: collision reports on open cases may be received five days after the report is filed, and only individuals involved in a collision may obtain the report. Online through BuyCrash, $10 per report, using “Lexington Police Department” as the jurisdiction and the owner’s or driver’s last name, the report date, and the 10-digit case number, the officer’s five-digit badge number or an involved person’s license number. In person at Police Headquarters, 150 E. Main St., Lexington, KY 40507, $10 per report, with the case number, driver or owner name, location, date and photo ID. By mail to Lexington Police Department, Central Records, at the same address, with the $5 fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Central Records: (859) 258-3568, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  Official page

• Your own Civilian Collision Report (KSP) Download it, or open records request

  If no officer investigated and you filed online, KSP’s system gives you a report number and the option to download the report; save it then. If you did not, KSP says to submit an open records request to its Custodian of Records, and that civilian reports are kept for up to two years and may be accessible only through a valid open records request by an involved party. Questions go to kspciviliancollision@ky.gov.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Kentucky

Injury, death or disabled car: call 911

At the scene (KRS 189.580(1)(a)): the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that injures or kills anyone, or that damages only a vehicle or other property that someone is driving or attending, must immediately stop, find out how bad the injury or damage is, and give reasonable assistance, including carrying or arranging to carry an injured person to a doctor or hospital if treatment is apparently necessary or the person asks. On request, the driver (or whoever has the driver’s authority or owns the vehicle) must give the occupant of the other vehicle or the person struck the vehicle’s registration number and the names and addresses of the owner, the occupants and the driver, up to five names. Leaving without doing this is punishable by a fine of $20 to $2,000, up to one year in the county jail, or both, and is a Class D felony if the crash involved death or serious physical injury and the driver knew or should have known it (KRS 189.990(1)(b)). Interstates and parkways (KRS 189.580(1)(b)): if there is no death, no known or visible injury and no hazardous material, move the vehicle off the roadway, as close to the scene as practicable without obstructing traffic, as soon as it can be moved without risk of more injury or damage, and on request give the other people involved the registration number, the owner’s, occupants’ and driver’s names and addresses, and the vehicle’s insurance information; no penalty applies to this subsection (KRS 189.993(12)). Unattended vehicle or property (KRS 189.580(2)): stop as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic and either find and tell the driver or owner your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, securely attach a written notice with the same information in a conspicuous place on the vehicle or property, or file a report with the local police department. Calling police: the driver of a vehicle in a crash on a Kentucky highway that kills anyone, causes a known or visible injury, or damages a vehicle so that it cannot be driven must immediately notify a public safety answering point (911), a law enforcement agency or an officer with jurisdiction, if physically able and holding a working phone or other communications device; if the driver does not or cannot, the duty passes to the owner or any occupant who is able, has a device and, for the owner, knows of the crash, and the officer must investigate and file a written report (KRS 189.580(6)). KRS 189.635(3) separately requires the operator to notify a law enforcement officer having jurisdiction immediately after a crash causing fatal or nonfatal injury or damage that makes a vehicle inoperable, without the phone condition, with the duty passing to the owner or an occupant if the operator does not or cannot (and to the owner, or someone on the owner’s behalf, for a fully autonomous vehicle). Violations of KRS 189.580 other than subsections (1)(a), (1)(b) and (6)(b) are punishable by a fine of $20 to $100 (KRS 189.990(1)(a)). We found no statute that requires a call to police when no one is hurt and every vehicle can still be driven, but in that case the written report below may be due, and cities can have their own ordinances, so check the local rules.

The driver report you may have to file

No officer, $500+/injury: KSP in 10 days

Two statutes require a driver’s written report to Kentucky State Police when no law enforcement officer investigated the crash, and they word the trigger differently. KRS 189.635(5)(a): anyone operating a vehicle on Kentucky highways who is involved in a crash with property damage exceeding $500 that no officer investigated must file a written report with the Department of Kentucky State Police within 10 days of the crash on the department’s forms. KRS 189.580(7): the operator of a vehicle in a crash on a Kentucky highway that injures or kills anyone, or in which total property damage is $500 or more, and that no officer investigated, must file a written report with Kentucky State Police within 10 days of the crash on the department’s forms. If a fully autonomous vehicle is involved, its owner or someone on the owner’s behalf files (KRS 189.635(5)(b)). The form is KSP’s online Civilian Collision Report (502 KAR 15:010 Section 2(2)); KSP’s page links to the reporting portal, says that when no officer investigated at the scene it is the involved people’s responsibility to file, that you do not need to file one if an officer told you he or she will complete the report, that you can enter “UNK” for an unknown other driver, and that the system issues a report number and lets you download a copy. KSP says it does not investigate civilian-reported crashes and does not collect or verify insurance information. A missed report under KRS 189.580(7) is punishable by a fine of $20 to $100 (KRS 189.990(1)(a)); KRS 189.993(12) sets the same $20 to $100 range for any Chapter 189 violation with no other penalty. Driver reports are not open records and stay confidential, except that KSP may disclose the identity of a person involved whose identity is not otherwise known or who denies being at the crash, and may release the reports to the people listed in KRS 189.635(6)(c) and to qualifying news organizations (KRS 189.635(6)(a)). KSP says submitted civilian reports are kept for up to two years and may be obtained only through an open records request by an involved party. No fee is stated for filing.

What the report costs

KSP $5 paper, $10 online; locals vary

KRS 189.635(8) requires Kentucky State Police to set a fee schedule for crash reports by regulation, in addition to any fees charged under the Open Records Act. Its regulation, 502 KAR 15:010 Section 4, sets $5 for paper copies and $10 for reports obtained through the KSP website. KSP’s pages link to BuyCrash for online copies but do not state BuyCrash’s price, so confirm the total at checkout. Local agencies set their own fees; for example, Lexington Police charges $10 online through BuyCrash, $10 in person and $5 by mail. Filing a Civilian Collision Report has no stated fee. For other KSP records, its open records page lists 10 cents per page and $2 to $3 each for photos, compact discs, videotapes and diskettes.

When the report is ready

Agency files with KSP within 10 days

An agency whose officer investigated must file the report with Kentucky State Police within 10 days after the investigation (KRS 189.635(4)(a)), and an agency that fails or refuses to forward reports is subject to the penalties of KRS 17.157 (KRS 189.990(20)). KSP’s civilian report page tells people whose crash an officer is reporting to allow 10 days for the report to be completed and made available in its system. Lexington Police says reports on open cases may be received five days after the report is filed. A driver who must file a Civilian Collision Report has 10 days from the crash. KSP keeps civilian reports for up to two years; we found no official statement of how long officers’ reports are kept.

Who can get a copy

Parties, insurers, lawyers, litigants

Officers’ crash reports and the information in them are confidential and exempt from the Open Records Act, except under a properly executed subpoena or court order or as KRS 189.635 provides (KRS 189.635(6)(b)). Reports must be made available to: the parties to the crash; the parents or guardians of a minor who is a party; insurers, or their written designee, for insurance business purposes of any party who is the subject of the report; the parties’ attorneys; any party to litigation who files with KSP a request with a copy of the first page of a District or Circuit Court clerk-stamped complaint naming all parties; the Department of Workplace Standards for a related occupational safety investigation; and law enforcement agencies (KRS 189.635(6)(c)). A news-gathering organization that meets the statute’s definition may get reports solely for publishing or broadcasting the news, on KSP’s certification form (KSP-29), and some must receive them with addresses, license numbers, phone numbers, birth dates, other contact information and VINs redacted (KRS 189.635(9)). KSP and other law enforcement agencies may not release reports for a commercial purpose, except vehicle damage data for vehicle-history services and contracts for electronic access by entitled requesters (KRS 189.635(7)). The insurer of a train engineer or crew member in a railroad crash needs that person’s written consent (KRS 189.635(10)). Agencies may be stricter in practice: Lexington Police says only individuals involved in a collision may obtain its report.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call 911 if anyone is hurt

   Call immediately if anyone is hurt or killed or a vehicle cannot be driven. On an interstate or parkway with no injuries, move the car off the road.

2. 2

   Get the agency and case number

   Ask which agency is writing the report and for the case number. Lexington Police and its BuyCrash search use it with the date and a driver’s name.

3. 3

   No officer came? File within 10 days

   If no officer investigated and anyone was hurt or damage is $500 or more, file KSP’s online Civilian Collision Report within 10 days and save your copy.

4. 4

   Order the report after 10 days

   Agencies have 10 days to file with KSP. KSP sets $10 through its website and $5 for paper; local police set their own fees.

5. 5

   Ask for video now, in writing

   Send open records requests for body camera and dashcam video right away. If you were in the crash, you can ask to view body camera video at the agency.

Frequently asked questions