How to get a car accident report in Ohio

Where to get the report

• ODPS Crash Retrieval (free online copy) Free, unofficial, any agency

  The Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Crash Retrieval site lets you search crash reports filed by the State Highway Patrol and local police and sheriff’s offices: search by crash number or document number, or by crash date range, county, law enforcement agency and last name. ODPS’s Public Records Center describes these as free copies of preliminary crash reports, and the City of Columbus says there is no cost for accident reports obtained through the ODPS website. The site shows the past five years plus the current year and says reports may take up to six weeks to appear; if yours is not there, contact the agency that investigated. Read its disclaimer before relying on the copy: ODPS says these reports are not official documents, were submitted to ODPS for statistical purposes only, may have been changed to clarify the data, and are not sufficient for any court proceeding, and that the investigating agency is the official record keeper and has the report with the diagram.

  Official page

• Ohio State Highway Patrol $4 online; wait 7 business days

  For a crash a trooper investigated, order the complete report through the Patrol’s Crash Ordering System. OSHP says it keeps complete crash reports, including witness statements, supplements and scale drawings, and crash photographs, for five years. Wait at least seven business days after the crash before ordering (ODPS’s records FAQ says reports and photos are available 7 to 10 business days after the crash), and some crashes need further investigation whose results may not be available until it is complete. Prices: crash report only $4.00; photos only by download $4.00; report and photos by download $4.00 total; photos on DVD $12.00 per report; certified photos (DVD only) $12.00. Card, Google Pay and PayPal payments carry a third-party service fee of 1.95% with a $1.75 minimum (3.95% for commercial cards), which the state does not keep. A purchased report can be viewed or downloaded for up to 72 hours. A crash reconstruction report must be requested separately through the ODPS Public Records Center after you buy the crash report. The investigating post can give you the crash report number. Central Records Unit: P.O. Box 182074, Columbus, OH 43218-2074, (614) 466-3536, oshpcrashreports@dps.ohio.gov.

  Official page

• City police, sheriff or township police From the agency; $4 by statute

  If a local agency investigated, request the official report and any associated documents from that agency. Ohio Rev. Code §5502.12(A) requires the agency that submitted the report to furnish a copy to any person claiming an interest arising out of the crash, or that person’s attorney, for a nonrefundable fee of $4, or a higher amount only if the State Highway Patrol becomes authorized to charge more than $4 and the county commissioners approve the same fee (§5502.12(B)); photographs and other electronic formats may cost extra. The Ohio Attorney General’s Sunshine Laws Manual reads this as allowing other agencies to charge up to $4. Each agency sets its own request process. Example, Columbus Division of Police only: the city says a hard copy costs $.05 per page (cash, money order or certified check payable to “City of Columbus Treasurer Police,” no personal checks), electronic copies are free, requests go through its online Report Request Submission Page or by fax to the Police Records Section at (614) 645-4001, and its electronic crash reports are on the ODPS website once submitted and accepted.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Ohio

Stop and exchange info; no 911 rule

Ohio law sets duties at the scene rather than a dollar threshold for calling police. On a public road or highway, a driver who knows of a crash with persons or property must immediately stop and remain at the scene until giving their name and address (and the owner’s name and address if the driver is not the owner) and the vehicle’s registration number to any injured person, to the driver, occupant, owner or attendant of any damaged vehicle, and to any police officer at the scene (Ohio Rev. Code §4549.02(A)(1)). If an injured person cannot understand and record that information, the other driver must notify the nearest police authority of the crash location and their name, address and registration number, and must stay until an officer arrives unless taken away by an ambulance or other emergency vehicle (§4549.02(A)(2)). If you hit an unoccupied or unattended vehicle, you must securely attach that same information in writing to a conspicuous place in or on the vehicle (§4549.02(A)(3)). Leaving is “failure to stop after an accident,” a first-degree misdemeanor; a fifth-degree felony if anyone suffers serious physical harm (fourth-degree if you knew it); and a third-degree felony if anyone dies (second-degree if you knew it), with a mandatory class five license suspension in every case (§4549.02(B)). On any public or private property other than a public road or highway, such as a parking lot, you must stop and, on request, give the same information and show your license if available; if you do not provide it, you must give it within 24 hours to the police of the city or village where the crash happened, or to the county sheriff outside a city or village, and the same written-note rule applies to an unattended vehicle (§4549.021(A)); the penalties match §4549.02 (§4549.021(B)). If you damage real property or fixtures legally on or next to a public road, such as a fence, sign or pole, you must stop and take reasonable steps to find and notify the owner; if the owner cannot be found after a reasonable search, you must send your name, address, registration number, the location and a description of the damage within 24 hours to the city or village police, or to the county sheriff outside a city or village (§4549.03(A)); a violation is a first-degree misdemeanor (§4549.03(B)). We found no Ohio statute requiring a driver to call police for every crash, and no statute requiring drivers to move their vehicles out of the road after a crash; §4513.66 instead lets a sheriff, police chief, trooper, fire chief or their subordinates remove or order the removal of an unoccupied vehicle, cargo or property that blocks the road or endangers public safety, with the approval of the agency investigating the crash. When a township, county, city or other local police agency investigates a crash with a death, injury or property damage over $1,000, it must send its report to the Director of Public Safety within five days (§5502.11).

The driver report you may have to file

Optional BMV 3303 if other is uninsured

Ohio does not require drivers to file their own crash report with the BMV. Under Ohio Rev. Code §4509.06(A), anyone involved in a crash, including a driver, a property owner or an injured person, may, within six months after the crash, send the registrar of motor vehicles a written report on the registrar’s form alleging that a driver or owner of a vehicle involved was uninsured. The form is the BMV 3303, Uninsured Accident Report (current version 9/25). The BMV then mails the alleged uninsured driver and owner a notice, and within 30 days after that notice is mailed the driver must send proof of financial responsibility (§4509.06(B), (C)); the section does not change the scene duties in §4549.02. The form says that for the BMV to suspend the uninsured party’s driving privileges, the crash must have happened in Ohio, the report must be received within six months, damage must exceed $400 with an itemized estimate or bill (or personal injury must exceed $500 with documentation), at least three identifiers for the party must match BMV records (name, address, date of birth, Ohio driver license number, Social Security number), and you must give the license plate or VIN. It also says not to complete the form yourself if your insurance company is handling the claim, and that your contact information will be given to the other party for restitution. You must sign a certification that your own vehicle or property was covered by liability insurance or another acceptable proof of financial responsibility. Send it to Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Attn: Compliance Unit, P.O. Box 16583, Columbus, OH 43216-6583, or email BMV3303@dps.ohio.gov. We found no penalty for not filing it: §4509.06 makes the report optional, and §4509.74 makes it a minor misdemeanor to fail to report an accident only “as required under the laws of this state.” An older section, §4509.08 (in effect since 1969), still says that when the driver is physically unable to report, the owner “shall” report within 30 days; we found no source explaining how that fits the optional report, so an owner in that situation may want to ask the BMV.

What the report costs

Free online; $4 official (OSHP)

The ODPS Crash Retrieval copy costs nothing, according to ODPS and the City of Columbus, but ODPS says it is unofficial and not sufficient for court. For the official report, Ohio Rev. Code §5502.12(A) sets a nonrefundable $4 fee for a State Highway Patrol report with all related reports and statements, and $4 for a report from a local agency, unless a higher fee is authorized under §5502.12(B); photographs and other electronic formats cost extra. OSHP charges $4.00 for a report, $4.00 for downloaded photos or for a report and downloaded photos together, and $12.00 for photos on DVD, plus a card or PayPal service fee of 1.95% with a $1.75 minimum. Local agencies may charge less than $4: Columbus, as an example, charges $.05 per page for a hard copy and nothing for an electronic copy. Filing the optional BMV 3303 costs nothing.

When the report is ready

OSHP 7 business days; ODPS up to 6 wks

Local agencies must send their report to ODPS within five days for any crash involving a death, injury or property damage over $1,000 (Ohio Rev. Code §5502.11; Ohio Adm. Code 4501-31-01(A)). OSHP asks you to wait at least seven business days after the crash before ordering its report, and ODPS’s records FAQ says OSHP reports and photos are available 7 to 10 business days after the crash; additional investigation results may come later. The ODPS Crash Retrieval site says a report may take up to six weeks to appear there, and Columbus says its hard-copy reports will not be on the ODPS site for several weeks after submission. OSHP keeps crash reports and photographs for five years, and Crash Retrieval shows the past five years plus the current year; for a local agency, ask for its records retention schedule, which every public office must keep available to the public (Ohio Rev. Code §149.43(B)(2)). The Patrol may withhold its reports, statements and photographs until all criminal prosecution has concluded (§5502.12(A)).

Who can get a copy

Anyone with an interest; redacted

Ohio Rev. Code §5502.12(A) directs the agency to furnish the report to any person claiming an interest arising out of the crash, or that person’s attorney, and lets the Director of Public Safety require proof of a right to Highway Patrol reports. Crash reports are also public records under Ohio’s Public Records Act, which generally bars an office from conditioning access on your identity or purpose (Ohio Rev. Code §149.43(B)(4)), and the ODPS online search is open to anyone with the crash details. Some information is redacted: OSHP lists driver’s license numbers, information of designated public service workers, confidential law enforcement investigatory information, phone numbers of the parties, and personal information of a minor in a school vehicle crash (§149.43(A)(1)(gg)). Since September 30, 2021, parties’ phone numbers on a crash report have been non-public only until the 30th day after the crash (§149.43(A)(1)(oo)); OSHP’s notice still cites the division that covered them before then, (A)(1)(mm). A parent or guardian of a minor in a school vehicle crash can get the child’s information from ODPS with form OHP 0413 after buying the report.

What to do now

1. 1

   Stop, exchange information, leave a note

   Give your name, address and plate number to the other driver, anyone injured and any officer. For an unattended car, attach a written note. In a parking lot or after hitting a fence or pole, report to police within 24 hours if you could not give the information.

2. 2

   Get the crash number from the officer

   The crash or document number lets you find the report fast on the ODPS site and on the Patrol’s ordering system.

3. 3

   Pull the free ODPS copy, then the official one

   Search ODPS Crash Retrieval for the free unofficial copy. For an insurance claim or court, buy the official report from the agency that investigated: $4 from the Highway Patrol after seven business days.

4. 4

   File the BMV 3303 if the other driver was uninsured

   The BMV must receive it within six months. Skip it if your insurer is handling the claim.

5. 5

   Ask for video within days

   ODOT keeps traffic camera footage for 72 hours on a rolling basis, and Highway Patrol body camera and in-car video is kept 180 days. The crash report does not include video.

Frequently asked questions