How to get a car accident report in New Mexico

Where to get the report

• Department of Public Safety, Law Enforcement Records Bureau (New Mexico State Police crashes) No fee if delivered via GovQA portal

  The Law Enforcement Records Bureau keeps “all NMSP or MTPD uniform crash reports throughout the state” (State Police and Motor Transportation Police) and says it will release them “upon a written or oral request (written is preferred) by any civilian, law enforcement agency or officer, and any other agency”; photos, dashcam video, diagrams and other information can also be requested if available. Request through the Department’s GovQA public records portal (nmdps.govqa.us), which the page says is how to search for a report or request a copy. “A fee is not charged for records provided electronically through the GovQA request portal.” If you cannot use the portal, mail, email or fax the IPRA written request form to P.O. Box 1628, Santa Fe, NM 87504, fax 505-827-3388; the page lists (505) 476-2400 for public records questions. Physical copies provided in person, by mail or by fax cost $1.00 for the first page, $0.25 for each subsequent page and $6.75 for discs, and all invoices must be paid before records are released. By statute, a State Police member who investigates a crash files the original report in the State Police office, and it “shall be furnished to any person upon written application accompanied by a fee as set by the secretary” (NMSA 1978, 29-2-25). A Department policy posted on its website (OPR:37, effective May 23, 2016) also says district offices may release crash reports free of charge to parties involved in the crash, such as a driver or owner; we could not confirm that the 2016 policy is still current, so ask your local State Police district office.

  Official page

• City police department or county sheriff that worked the crash Ask the agency; APD online $7.50

  Most crashes in New Mexico are worked by city police or county sheriffs, which the notice statute routes by place: the police department inside a municipality, otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest State Police office (NMSA 1978, 66-7-206). Request the report from the agency that responded. Officers’ crash reports are public records open to inspection under the Inspection of Public Records Act (14-2-1, 14-2-1.2(A); 29-10-7(A)(5)), so a written request to the agency’s records custodian works even where the agency also sells reports online; the custodian may charge reasonable copy fees unless a different fee is set by law, and may not charge more than $1.00 per printed page for documents up to 11 by 17 inches (14-2-9(C)). Example, Albuquerque Police Department, from its own page: APD contracts with Carfax for Police to distribute reports online at crashdocs.org, “Online traffic accident reports cost $7.50 per report,” and reports can also be obtained in person 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Law Enforcement Center, 400 Roma NW, Albuquerque. The page does not state an in-person price; the City Clerk’s 2026 IPRA fee schedule says requests for Albuquerque Police reports that result in 10 pages or less are provided free of charge, and paper copies otherwise cost $1.00 per page. Other agencies set their own channels and fees, so ask the agency that worked your crash.

  Official page

• New Mexico Department of Transportation, Traffic Records Section (statewide crash database) Online form; allow 15 business days

  Every investigating officer must forward the crash report to the Department of Transportation (NMSA 1978, 66-7-207(C)), and NMDOT’s Traffic Records Section “is responsible for processing of motor vehicle crash reports received from New Mexico law enforcement agencies for crashes occurring on public roadways” and keeps a statewide database of reportable crashes. Its online Crash Data / Crash Report Request Form has a “Copy of Uniform Crash/Accident Report” option asking for the people involved, the crash date, roadway, city or county, case number, Uniform Crash Report number and the agency that handled the crash (for 2008 to 2013 reports, the UCR number is the only searchable field). The form says “Up to 15 business days are normally required to fulfill data requests” and asks you to allow 15 business days, says there “may be a charge for the information requested if the request requires that information contained in the database be retrieved or manipulated or a copy of a database is made for private or nonpublic use,” with notice of any charge before processing, and says NMDOT reserves its right under 23 U.S.C. § 409 to object to the use of its crash data in an action for damages against NMDOT or the State. Contact: crash.records@dot.nm.gov, (505) 690-0324. The agency that worked the crash is usually the faster source.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in New Mexico

Injury, death or $500+: call police now

The reporting duty is NMSA 1978, 66-7-206: the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident “resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person or property damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars ($500) or more shall immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the accident to the police department if the accident occurs within a municipality; otherwise to the office of the county sheriff or the nearest office of the New Mexico state police.” The threshold has been $500 since 1991. Since July 1, 2022, the duty also binds an autonomous vehicle operator, and for an autonomous vehicle operating without a human driver, the owner or a person working on the owner’s behalf must give the notice (Laws 2021, ch. 114). If the driver is physically incapable of giving the notice, another occupant who is capable must give it (66-7-208(A)). At the scene: in a crash that injures or kills anyone, you must stop immediately at or as close as possible to the scene, without obstructing traffic more than necessary, and remain until you have met the duties in 66-7-203 (66-7-201(A)); a crash that damages only a vehicle that is driven or attended by a person carries the same duty to stop and remain (66-7-202). Those duties: give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, show your driver’s license on request to the person struck or the driver, occupant or attendant of the other vehicle, and give reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including carrying or arranging to carry them to a physician, surgeon or hospital if treatment is apparently necessary or they ask (66-7-203). Failing to stop or to meet those duties is a fourth degree felony when the crash results in great bodily harm or death, a third degree felony if done knowingly, and a misdemeanor when it does not, sentenced under the general criminal misdemeanor section (up to less than one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, 31-19-1(A)), and the license of a person convicted must be revoked (66-7-201(B) to (E)); for a damage-only crash with an attended vehicle it is a misdemeanor (66-7-202). Unattended vehicle: stop immediately and either locate and notify the operator or owner of your name and address and the owner’s, or leave a written notice in a conspicuous place in the struck vehicle with those names and addresses and a statement of the circumstances (66-7-204). Fixtures or other property on or next to a highway: take reasonable steps to notify the owner or person in charge with your name, address and registration number, show your license on request, and make the report 66-7-207 requires (66-7-205). These accident sections apply “upon highways and elsewhere throughout the state” (66-7-2(B)), so they reach parking lots too. Failing to perform any act Article 7 requires is a misdemeanor unless the Motor Vehicle Code declares otherwise (66-7-3), and a Motor Vehicle Code misdemeanor is punishable, unless another penalty is specified, by a fine of not more than $300, up to 90 days in jail, or both (66-8-7). The officer’s side: every law enforcement officer who investigates a reportable crash must forward a written report to the Department of Transportation within twenty-four hours after completing the investigation, and also to the Department of Public Safety’s motor transportation division for certain commercial vehicle crashes (66-7-207(C)); a State Police officer files the original with the State Police (29-2-25). A city may also, by ordinance, require drivers to file a crash report with a city department (66-7-215); we did not survey city ordinances.

The driver report you may have to file

Injury/$500+: report to NMDOT in 5 days

New Mexico’s statute puts a second duty on the driver, separate from calling police: “The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars ($500) or more shall, within five days after the accident, forward a written report of the accident to the department of transportation” (NMSA 1978, 66-7-207(A)). The Department of Transportation may require supplemental reports from drivers and reports from witnesses (66-7-207(B)). If the driver is physically incapable of making the report and is not the owner of the vehicle, the owner must make it within five days after learning of the crash (66-7-208(B)). The statute does not excuse the driver when police investigate, and it names no form for drivers: the form section speaks of reports “made by persons involved in accidents and by investigating officers” on forms the Department approves (66-7-209), but the Department’s Traffic Records pages offer the Uniform Crash Report form only “for law enforcement use,” and we found no driver report form or filing instructions on any NMDOT page. Ask the Traffic Records Section how to file: Crash Records Supervisor, (505) 690-0324, crash.records@dot.nm.gov (NMDOT’s Traffic Records page). A driver’s report is confidential: reports made by persons involved in accidents are “without prejudice to the individual so reporting” and for the confidential use of the Department and other state agencies that use them for accident prevention or financial responsibility purposes; the Department may disclose only the identity of a person involved when it is not otherwise known or the person denies being there, and whether a vehicle’s owner or operator was insured and by whom (66-7-213(A)). The section sets no penalty of its own (the former penalty section, 66-7-210, was repealed in 1989); failing to perform an act Article 7 requires is a misdemeanor (66-7-3), so a failure to report would fall under the general Motor Vehicle Code misdemeanor penalty of up to $300, up to 90 days, or both (66-8-7). We found no official statement of how often this is enforced.

What the report costs

DPS: free via GovQA; others vary

No statute sets one statewide crash report fee. For State Police reports the fee is “as set by the secretary” of Public Safety (NMSA 1978, 29-2-25), and the Department’s Law Enforcement Records Bureau says no fee is charged for records provided electronically through its GovQA portal, while physical copies cost $1.00 for the first page, $0.25 for each subsequent page and $6.75 for discs, paid before release. Local agencies set their own fees within the Inspection of Public Records Act, which allows reasonable copy fees unless a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law, but not more than $1.00 per printed page for documents 11 by 17 inches or smaller, plus the actual cost of a storage device and of mailing or transmitting copies, with advance payment allowed and no charge for deciding whether a record is subject to disclosure (14-2-9(C)). Examples from official pages: Albuquerque Police sells reports online for $7.50 each through Carfax for Police, and the Albuquerque City Clerk’s 2026 fee schedule provides Albuquerque Police reports of 10 pages or less free of charge. NMDOT’s request form says there may be a charge when database information must be retrieved or manipulated or a database copy is made for private or nonpublic use, and its public records page lists $.25 per page for documents 11 by 17 inches or smaller.

When the report is ready

Officer files 24h after investigation

The investigating officer must forward the written report to the Department of Transportation within twenty-four hours after completing the investigation (NMSA 1978, 66-7-207(C)); the statute sets no deadline for finishing the investigation itself. No statewide rule says when a copy becomes available to you. NMDOT’s request form says up to 15 business days are normally required to fulfill requests. If you make a written request under the Inspection of Public Records Act, the custodian must permit inspection immediately or as soon as practicable, but not later than fifteen days after receiving it, and must explain in writing when the records will be available if inspection is not permitted within three business days (14-2-8(D)); an excessively burdensome or broad request gets a reasonable additional period, with written notice within fifteen days (14-2-10). We found no official statement from DPS or Albuquerque Police of how soon reports are usually ready. Retention: the Department of Public Safety says that under 1.21.2.927 NMAC crash reports involving fatalities are retained for 25 years and others for 10 years, and the State Records Center rule sets those periods from the date the file is closed (1.21.2.926 and 1.21.2.927 NMAC).

Who can get a copy

Public record; some details redacted

Officers’ crash reports are public. The Arrest Record Information Act lists “records of traffic offenses and accident reports” among the documents whose information “shall be available for public inspection” (NMSA 1978, 29-10-7(A)(5)); a State Police report is furnished “to any person upon written application” (29-2-25); and under the Inspection of Public Records Act every person may inspect public records, law enforcement records included, and need not state a reason (14-2-1, 14-2-1.2(A), 14-2-8(C)). The compiler’s annotations to 66-7-213 note Attorney General opinions that officers’ crash reports are not confidential under that section (1953 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 53-5840) and that an insurance adjuster has a lawful purpose and reports may not be limited to the parties or their attorneys (1959 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 59-213). What may be withheld or redacted: protected personal identifier information, which includes all but the last four digits of a driver’s license, taxpayer identification, financial account or card number, all but the year of a date of birth, and a Social Security number (14-2-1.1, 14-2-6(F)); and, before charges are filed, the names, addresses and contact information of individuals accused but not charged with a crime (14-2-1.2(A)(2)). The driver’s own report to NMDOT under 66-7-207 is confidential (66-7-213(A)). Use in court: 66-7-213(B) says “Except as otherwise provided in this section, no accident report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident,” while 66-7-213(D) lets a certified copy of the investigating officer’s report prove whether the other vehicle was insured in an uninsured motorist arbitration or suit. We found no official guidance on how far subsection (B) reaches an officer’s report, so you may want to ask a lawyer before relying on one in court. We found no waiting period before release.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police from the scene

   If anyone is hurt or killed, or damage looks like $500 or more, notify police immediately: the city police inside a city, otherwise the sheriff or nearest State Police office (66-7-206).

2. 2

   Get the agency and report number

   Ask the officer which agency is writing the Uniform Crash Report and for the case or report number. Every request channel searches by it.

3. 3

   Send the driver report within five days

   If anyone was hurt or killed or total damage is apparently $500 or more, the statute requires a written report to NMDOT within five days. Ask Traffic Records how to file.

4. 4

   Request the report in writing

   For State Police crashes use the DPS GovQA portal, where electronic copies are free. For city or county crashes, ask that agency; Albuquerque sells reports online for $7.50.

Frequently asked questions