How to get a car accident report in North Dakota

Where to get the report

• NDDOT online portal (statewide) $7 online; reportable crashes only

  NDDOT says reports for crashes that are reportable to it are available for purchase online, that you receive the report immediately if it is available, and that “There is a $7 fee to locate and provide the crash report.” You must be able to give at least two of: the date of the crash, a last name, and the county of the crash; if you do not have them, NDDOT says to contact the law enforcement agency that investigated the crash. The portal opens with an acknowledgment that you must answer: whether you are a party to the crash (drivers, passengers, vehicle owners, property owners, pedestrians or bicyclists involved), a party’s legal representative, an insurer of a party, or not a party, and it warns that anyone who makes a false statement on the request is guilty of a class A misdemeanor under N.D.C.C. chapter 12.1-11. It says a report is available once the investigating agency submits it and it is accepted into the North Dakota Crash Record Database. NDDOT says you may not find a report if it has been less than 10 days since the crash, if the crash did not involve injury, death or at least $4,000 in property damage, or if it involved an undomesticated animal with no injury or death. For problems buying a report, use NDDOT’s contact form linked from the page.

  Official page

• North Dakota Highway Patrol crashes (through NDDOT) Highway Patrol sends you to NDDOT

  The Highway Patrol’s Request a Crash Report page says a state reportable crash is one involving an injury, a fatality or at least $4,000 in total damage, and that you access a crash report through the online request on the NDDOT website, where “A report costs $7.00.” Its FAQ says crash reports are available from NDDOT. For other Highway Patrol records, its FAQ says to send an open records request to NDHPRecordRequest@nd.gov and to give as much information as possible (date, location, etc.).

  Official page

• City police and county sheriffs (example: Fargo and Minot) Often referred to NDDOT; ask the agency

  Under NDCC 39-08-13(4), “Crash reports held by a public entity other than the department of transportation and a law enforcement agency that contracts with service providers are exempt records,” so a city police department, sheriff or other public entity (other than NDDOT and a law enforcement agency that contracts with service providers) has discretion to withhold its copy, and several send people to NDDOT. Examples from each city’s own page: the Fargo Police Department says it no longer processes requests for accident reports and that an official copy of a crash report comes from NDDOT; Minot says that since January 1, 2022 its police department no longer releases state crash reports to the public, that reports may not be available right after the crash because agencies have up to 10 days to submit them to the state, and that it will still provide Incident Reports pertaining to crashes. Fargo sells incident crime reports for $0.25 per page, plus $25 per hour if a report takes more than one hour to produce, takes major credit and debit cards with a minimum charge of $2.00, and says it will not provide a report if the case has not cleared the court process. For any other city or county, ask the agency that responded which report it can release and how.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in North Dakota

Injury/death/$4,000+: tell police now

Immediate notice (NDCC 39-08-09(1)): the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any individual, or “property damage to an apparent extent of at least four thousand dollars,” must immediately give notice of the accident to the local police department if it happened within a municipality, and otherwise to the county sheriff’s office or the state Highway Patrol. A driver who violates this section “must be assessed a fine of fifty dollars” ($50). The Highway Patrol and NDDOT describe the same threshold as $4,000 in total or combined property damage. Exception: a driver in a crash with an undomesticated animal (a deer, for example) that causes property damage only to the driver’s own vehicle is exempt from the notice requirement, whatever the damage (39-08-09(3)); if anyone is hurt, the duty applies. You must also give the investigating officer the name of your vehicle insurance carrier and your policy number (or the owner’s, if you do not own the vehicle) (39-08-09(1)). If the driver is physically unable to give notice, another occupant who can must do so (39-08-11(2)); no notice is required from a person during physical incapacity (39-08-11(1)). Stop and remain: the driver of any vehicle in an accident that injures or kills anyone must immediately stop at or as close as possible to the scene and remain until the duties in 39-08-06 are met (39-08-04(1)); in a crash that damages only vehicles, the driver must stop and remain until the duties in 39-08-06 and 39-08-09 are met (39-08-05). Those duties (39-08-06), in a crash with injury, death or damage to a vehicle that is driven or attended by someone: give your name and address, the name of the insurance carrier of the driver and owner, and the vehicle’s registration number; on request and if available show your license; and give any injured person reasonable assistance, including carrying or arranging to carry them for medical treatment if it is apparently needed or they ask. Unattended vehicle (39-08-07): stop and either find and tell the owner or operator your name, address and insurance carrier (and the owner’s), or leave a written notice with that information and a statement of the circumstances in a conspicuous place in the vehicle struck. Fixtures or other property (39-08-08): take reasonable steps to find and notify the owner, give your name, address, registration number and insurance carrier and policy number, and report the crash as 39-08-09 requires. Penalties: failing to stop and remain in an injury crash is a class A misdemeanor, negligently failing to comply when there is serious personal injury is a class C felony, and when there is death a class B felony, and the license of anyone convicted must be revoked (39-08-04(2), (3)); failing to stop in a property-damage crash is a class B misdemeanor (39-08-05); violating the unattended-vehicle rule is a class A misdemeanor (39-08-07). The director may suspend the license of anyone who fails to meet the duties in 39-08-06 through 39-08-09 until they are fulfilled, and may extend the suspension by up to 30 days (39-08-09(2)).

The driver report you may have to file

No form; 5-day insurance info if owed

North Dakota does not require drivers to file their own written crash report with NDDOT; the reporting duty is the immediate notice to police in NDCC 39-08-09, and the officer who investigates then reports to NDDOT (39-08-10, 39-08-13(3)). One follow-up filing can apply: if you did not have your insurance information to give the investigating officer, then “within five days of the accident” you must supply it to the driver’s license division “in the form the division requires” (39-08-09(1)); the state records retention database lists the Drivers License divisions under NDDOT. We found no NDDOT page describing that form, so call NDDOT at 701-328-2500 to ask how to submit it. If the driver is physically unable to give notice and is not the owner, the owner must give the notice and insurance information within five days after learning of the crash (39-08-11(3)). The director may suspend the license of a person who willfully fails, refuses or neglects to make a report of a traffic accident as the law requires (39-16-04), and within 90 days after receiving a report of a crash that had to be reported under 39-08-09, the director must suspend the license of each driver involved unless the driver deposits security, with exceptions for drivers covered by a liability policy or bond (39-16-05). Any report you or a garage does make is for the confidential use of the department and other state agencies (39-08-14(1)). A city may also require by ordinance that drivers file a crash report, or a copy of a report filed with the director, with a city department (39-08-16); ask the police department where you crashed.

What the report costs

NDDOT $7; local records fees vary

The statute lets the director charge “a fee of up to seven dollars” for a completed copy to a party, a party’s legal representative or insurer (NDCC 39-08-13(6)), and the same maximum for a copy without exempt information to anyone else (39-08-13(7)). NDDOT charges $7 to locate and provide the report, and the Highway Patrol page states “A report costs $7.00.” A local agency’s own records (an incident report, for example) fall under the open records fee rules: up to $0.25 per impression of a paper copy (a two-sided page is two impressions), the actual cost of making a non-paper copy, and up to $25 per hour after the first hour for locating records and, separately, for excising confidential or closed material (NDCC 44-04-18(2)). Example from its own page: Fargo charges $0.25 per page for an incident crime report, plus $25 per hour if it takes more than one hour to produce, with a $2.00 minimum for card payments. Ask the agency for its current fee before you pay.

When the report is ready

Officer files within 10 days

Every officer who investigates a crash that must be reported has to forward a report to NDDOT “within ten days after the crash” (NDCC 39-08-13(3)); 39-08-10 also says the officer must “promptly forward” it, transmitted electronically using the software the director prescribes. NDDOT says you may not be able to find a report if it has been less than 10 days since the crash, and that once a report is available for purchase you receive it immediately. Minot says agencies are allowed up to 10 days to submit reports to the state. Retention: the state records retention database run by North Dakota Information Technology lists NDDOT’s CRASH REPORTS series (800345) at 10 years and the Highway Patrol’s CRASH INVESTIGATIONS case envelopes (190101) at 7 years. The same database lists 6 years for ACCIDENT REPORTS under City Government, Police (190111), and the current calendar or fiscal year plus 3 years for ACCIDENT REPORT FILES under County Government, Sheriff (190105); the Attorney General says political subdivisions set their own retention schedules, so ask the agency.

Who can get a copy

Parties full; others may get redacted

Crash reports forwarded by officers, and the information in them, are “not privileged or confidential” (NDCC 39-08-13(4)), but some details are exempt unless the requester is a party to the crash, a party’s legal representative, the insurer of any party, that insurer’s agent, or the legal representative or insurer of someone defending or investigating a prior or subsequent claim or crash involving a party. For other requesters these items are withheld: a party’s driver identification number, telephone number, insurance company name and policy number, and day and month of birth (39-08-13(4)), and the name, driver identification number and uniquely owned telephone number of a minor party (39-08-13(5)). On request from one of those listed requesters, on NDDOT’s form and with the fee, the director “shall release a completed copy” (39-08-13(6)). Anyone else may be given a copy of an investigating officer’s report without the exempt information if the crash is one that had to be reported under 39-08-09: the statute says the director “may furnish” it (39-08-13(7)), and NDDOT’s portal offers a “Not a Party to the Crash” choice. The director may also send a copy to the registered owner of each vehicle involved without a request (39-08-13(9)). Reports made by people involved in crashes or by garages are for confidential use (39-08-14(1)). Copies of crash reports are not admissible as evidence in any action for damages or criminal proceeding arising out of the crash (39-08-13(8)). The Attorney General’s Open Records Manual summarizes the same rules.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police if the law requires it

   If anyone is hurt or killed, or damage appears to be at least $4,000, notify city police, or outside a city the sheriff or Highway Patrol, right away. A deer strike that damages only your own car is exempt.

2. 2

   Get the agency, date and county

   Ask the officer which agency is writing the report. NDDOT needs at least two of the crash date, a last name and the county to find it.

3. 3

   Buy it from NDDOT online

   Use the NDDOT online portal and pay $7; the report may not be there until 10 days after the crash. Choose whether you are a party, a party’s lawyer, an insurer or not a party; only the first three get the complete report.

4. 4

   Ask the agency for anything else

   If the crash was below the reporting threshold or the report is not online, ask the responding agency what it can release, such as an incident report.

5. 5

   Send insurance details if you owe them

   If you could not give the officer your insurance information, supply it to NDDOT’s driver’s license division within 5 days of the crash.

Frequently asked questions