How to get a car accident report in Nebraska

Where to get the report

• NDOT Highway Safety (any agency’s officer report) $13 + tax, email, phone, mail or desk

  Every peace officer who investigates a crash that injures or kills anyone or causes estimated damage of $2,000 or more to one person’s property must submit an original report to NDOT within ten days after the crash (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-695, as amended by 2026 LB1126, section 82; $1,500 for crashes before July 18, 2026, when the change took effect), so NDOT holds reports from city police, sheriffs and the State Patrol alike. NDOT says “The officer’s report is public information” and that you may buy a certified copy of the Investigator’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report for $13 plus tax, online by email to NDOT.CrashReport@Nebraska.gov, by phone at 402-479-4645, in person at the Highway Safety Section, 1500 Nebraska Parkway, Room 14B, Lincoln, or by mail. Send the crash date, the crash location including the county, and a driver’s name. For a mailed request, call 402-479-4645 first to find out the correct tax, then mail the request and payment to NDOT Highway Safety Section, P.O. Box 94759, Lincoln, NE 68509-4759.

  Official page

• Nebraska State Patrol (trooper crashes) Refers crash reports to NDOT

  The State Patrol’s crash report page says “Accident reports for the State of Nebraska are kept by the Nebraska Department of Transportation, Department of Records” and gives NDOT’s number, 402-479-4645. Its public records page says requests for accident reports are processed by NDOT, at the Accident Records Division/Highway Safety, P.O. Box 94759, Lincoln, NE 68509-4759, and that “NSP is not the custodian of vehicle accident reports/photos.” For other State Patrol records about the crash, such as video, use its public records request form or write to the Nebraska State Patrol, Legal Division, Public Records Request, P.O. Box 94907, Lincoln, NE 68509.

  Official page

• City police or county sheriff that responded Ask the agency; its fee varies

  A crash report made by a peace officer, or filed with any law enforcement agency of the state, is open to public inspection except as provided in the public records exceptions of §84-712.05 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-699(4)). Under the public records law anyone may examine public records free of charge during office hours, and an agency that copies a record may charge no more than its actual added cost (§84-712(1), (3)(b)), so the local copy fee varies by agency. Ask the records unit of the police department or sheriff whose officer came, with the date, location and any case number. Example, Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office only: it says completed crash reports can be obtained through the CrashDocs.org website and other records through its records request form, and that active investigation reports cannot be released. If the crash met the reporting threshold, you can also buy the same report from NDOT, since the officer must file it there.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Nebraska

Stop, give your info, help the injured

Injury or death: the driver of any vehicle in a crash on a public highway, private road or private drive that injures or kills anyone must immediately stop at the scene and find out who everyone involved is, give his or her name and address and the vehicle’s license number and show his or her operator’s license to the person struck or the occupants of any vehicle collided with, and give any injured person reasonable assistance, including carrying the person to a physician or surgeon if treatment is apparently necessary or the injured person asks for it (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-697(1)). Breaking the duty to stop is a Class IIIA felony if someone was injured, or a Class III felony if the crash caused a death or serious bodily injury, and the court must order you not to drive for one to fifteen years and revoke your license for the same period (§60-698). A Class IIIA felony carries up to three years in prison and eighteen months of post-release supervision, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, and a Class III felony up to four years in prison and two years of post-release supervision, a fine of up to $25,000, or both (§28-105). Property damage: the driver in a crash on a public highway, private road or private drive that damages property must immediately stop and give his or her name, address, telephone number and operator’s license number to the owner of the property struck or to the driver or occupants of any other vehicle involved (§60-696(1)). If you hit an unattended vehicle or other unattended property, you must stop, leave a written note with that information in a conspicuous place in or on it, and also report the collision without unnecessary delay, by telephone or otherwise, to an appropriate peace officer (§60-696(2)). Violating either duty is a Class II misdemeanor (up to six months, a $1,000 fine, or both), or a Class I misdemeanor (up to one year, a $1,000 fine, or both) with a prior conviction in the past twelve years, and the court may order you not to drive for up to one year (§§60-696(4), 28-106). Calling police: in the state statutes we read, the only duty to notify an officer is the one in §60-696(2) for unattended vehicles and property; we found no statute that requires a driver to call police after every injury or damage crash. Cities and villages can have their own crash ordinances (the point system in §60-4,182(4) counts a failure to stop and report under §60-696 “or any city or village ordinance”), so check the local code, and the DMV’s Driver’s Manual tells drivers to assist the injured and notify emergency authorities. NDOT’s page says that if no officer investigates a reportable crash, every driver must file the driver report described below. A peace officer may remove a vehicle or cargo obstructing the roadway without the owner’s consent (§60-696(3)).

The driver report you may have to file

No officer, injury/$2,000+: NDOT 10 days

Who must file: the operator of any vehicle in a crash resulting in injury to or death of anyone, or damage to the property of any one person, including the operator, to an apparent extent that equals or exceeds $2,000, must within ten days forward a report of the crash to NDOT, but the report is not required if the crash is investigated by a peace officer (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-699(1), as amended by 2026 LB1126, section 83). The figure was $1,500 before LB1126; the DMV says $1,500 or more to any one vehicle or other property applies to crashes before July 18, 2026 and $2,000 or more to crashes on or after July 18, 2026. If the operator is physically incapable of reporting, the vehicle’s owner must report in writing within ten days of learning of the crash, and NDOT or the DMV may require supplemental reports (§60-699(1)). The form: the Driver’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report, NDOT Form 41 (Oct. 2020), which tells you to mail it within 10 days of the accident to Highway Safety, Nebraska Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 94759, Lincoln, NE 68509-4759, and to sign it if physically able. NDOT also takes it on its Driver Crash Reporting website, its preferred method; when we checked on October 29, 2026 its crash reporting page said the online report was undergoing system maintenance and not available, although the Driver Crash Reporting website itself loaded and gave 402-479-4645 for help. The report has two parts, the second for the DMV to check whether your liability insurance meets the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act (§60-699(2), (3)). Penalty: failing to report, or to give the required information correctly, is a Class V misdemeanor (§60-699(5)), which carries no jail and a fine of up to $100 (§28-106). License suspension: within ninety days after NDOT receives a report of a crash with bodily injury, death or damage to one person’s property of $2,000 or more, the DMV must suspend the license of each operator involved unless the operator deposits the security it sets and gives proof of financial responsibility; it may not suspend if it finds no reasonable possibility of a judgment against you, and it must mail notice at least twenty days before the suspension takes effect (§60-507, as amended by LB1126, section 77; the figure was $1,500, and the DMV applies it to crashes before July 18, 2026). The DMV’s page says that if you had liability insurance, your insurer can send it a letter of verification, and that release forms, an installment agreement or a judgment of non-liability can also satisfy it. Your driver report is not open to public inspection, cannot be used as evidence in a civil or criminal trial arising from the crash except to prove you filed it, and NDOT says no one can get a copy of the other driver’s report (§60-699(4)).

What the report costs

NDOT $13 + tax; local fees vary

NDOT: a certified copy of an officer’s crash report costs $13 plus tax, and NDOT asks you to call 402-479-4645 for the correct tax before mailing a request. We found no statute that sets the $13; it is NDOT’s own published price. City police and county sheriffs: the public records law lets anyone examine a public record free of charge, and a copy fee may not exceed the actual added cost of making the copy; for Nebraska residents the cost may not include staff salary for the first eight cumulative hours of searching, identifying, redacting or copying (Neb. Rev. Stat. §84-712(1), (3)(b), (3)(c)), so each agency sets its own copy charge and you should ask before you pay. The driver report: we found no fee for filing NDOT Form 41.

When the report is ready

Officer files with NDOT within 10 days

An investigating officer must submit the report to NDOT within ten days after the crash (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-695); NDOT’s July 2026 Investigator’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report Manual tells officers the same and says that once an officer arrives and takes even a minimal investigatory act, such as viewing the damage, the officer must file a report if the crash meets the threshold. We found no official statement of how soon after that NDOT can sell a copy, or how long NDOT keeps officer reports. Driver reports are kept for the period the State Records Administrator sets under the Records Management Act (§60-699(1)). The same manual is not yet consistent: its introduction gives the new $2,000 threshold, but its damage-estimate instructions still describe $1,500 as the reportable level and its statement of the §60-695 reportability threshold still says $1,500.

Who can get a copy

Officer report public, with exceptions

Officer reports: a crash report made by a peace officer, made to or filed with a peace officer, or filed with or made by any other law enforcement agency of the state “shall be open to public inspection,” except as provided in §84-712.05 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §60-699(4)); NDOT puts it as “The officer’s report is public information.” The exception in §84-712.05(5) lets a law enforcement agency withhold records that are part of an examination or investigation, and the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office, for example, says active investigation reports cannot be released. Driver reports: a report filed by a driver or owner is not open to public inspection, and NDOT says you cannot get a copy of the other driver’s report. Personal details: 2026 LB1126 (section 83) deleted the sentence of §60-699(4) that made the date of birth (other than the year) and operator’s license number in these reports confidential, and now says age information of an operator or owner is not confidential and may be separately disclosed under the public records law.

What to do now

1. 1

   Stop, exchange information, help anyone hurt

   Give your name, address, phone, license and plate details as the law requires, and call police without delay if you hit an unattended vehicle or property.

2. 2

   File NDOT Form 41 if no officer investigated

   With injury, death or $2,000 or more in damage to one person’s property and no officer investigation, send NDOT the Driver’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report within 10 days.

3. 3

   Order the officer report from NDOT

   Email NDOT.CrashReport@Nebraska.gov or call 402-479-4645 with the crash date, location and county, and a driver’s name; a certified copy is $13 plus tax.

4. 4

   Ask the responding agency for video now

   Body camera and dashcam video are separate records. Send a written public records request quickly; state law requires agency body camera policies to keep recordings at least 90 days.

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