How to get a car accident report in Wisconsin

Where to get the report

• Wisconsin Department of Transportation, online crash reports crashreports.wi.gov, $6, instant PDF

  Every law enforcement agency that investigates or receives a report of a reportable crash must forward its report to WisDOT within 10 days after the crash (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(4)(a)), so WisDOT holds reports from city police, sheriffs and the State Patrol alike. Buy them at crashreports.wi.gov (the address WisDOT prints on its crash cards is app.wi.gov/crashreports, which forwards there). Search by the WisDOT document number (the site says it has no vowels, spaces or dashes, for example 9MM99FG or B000001) or by the date or month and year of the crash plus a Wisconsin driver license number; WisDOT’s enforcement FAQ also lists the WisDOT accident or crash number. WisDOT’s DMV fee list gives the price of a crash report as $6. After payment you can print or download the PDF immediately, and buying several gives you a zip file; online purchases are not emailed, faxed or mailed, and the site says crash reports are not available by email, fax or pickup at any DMV office. Previously purchased reports can be downloaded again through the site’s Reissue Reports page with the order ID from the payment confirmation email. If a search finds reports that are not available online, the site lists them and tells you to print the list to mail to WisDOT. Technical support for the site: (608) 250-4606.

  Official page

• WisDOT Crash Records Unit (phone or mail) Crash Records Unit, 608-266-8753

  For help or a report you cannot buy online, contact WisDOT’s Crash Records Unit. Example, Madison Police Department only: its page says requestors may ask the WisDOT Crash Records Unit for a copy over the phone or through the website, and gives the phone number 608-266-8753. Example, Rhinelander Police Department only: its records page gives the mailing address as Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Accident Records Unit, PO Box 7919, Madison, WI 53707-7919, fax (608) 261-8201, and says online purchases take a credit card, debit card or ACH account. WisDOT’s own crash reporting card lists the Division of State Patrol Crash Records Unit at 4822 Madison Yards Way, 9th Floor South, Madison, WI 53705, fax 608-261-8201, email DSPTrafficCrashes@dot.wi.gov. We found no WisDOT page stating a separate price for phone or mail requests.

  Official page

• City police, sheriff or State Patrol that responded Agency holds its own; rules vary

  Any person may, with proper care during office hours and subject to the custodian’s rules, examine or copy uniform traffic accident reports, including supplemental reports, witness statements, photographs and diagrams, kept by local authorities, the State Patrol or any other investigating agency (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(4)(f)). Agencies handle this differently, so ask the one that responded. Example, Madison Police Department only: it does not keep a database of state DT4000 reports and does not give out copies; it says DT4000 reports its officers complete are available from WisDOT’s Crash Records Unit when complete, generally 7 to 10 business days after the incident. Madison does keep and provide its own forms for non-reportable crashes (608-261-8015, pdcrash@cityofmadison.com) and asks for a DPPA waiver form when the copy is for insurance. Supplemental reports, witness statements and photographs the agency keeps are covered by § 346.70(4)(f) too; ask the agency for them, along with video and other records, which fall under the public records law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 to 19.39). The Wisconsin State Patrol takes those requests through its online open records form and says fulfillment varies by post and may take 4 to 6 weeks.

  Official page

When you must report a crash in Wisconsin

Injury, or $1,000+: call police now

Immediate notice: the operator or occupant of a vehicle involved in a crash must “immediately by the quickest means of communication give notice” to the police department, sheriff or traffic department of the county or municipality where it happened, or to a state traffic patrol officer, when the crash results in injury to or death of any person, total damage to property owned by any one person (or to a state or other government-owned vehicle) to an apparent extent of $1,000 or more, or damage to other state or government-owned property to an apparent extent of $200 or more (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(1)). “Injury” means a physical injury resulting in death or the need of first aid or attention by a physician or surgeon, whether or not treatment was actually received; total damage means the cost of repair, or of replacement if repair is not practical, and jointly owned property counts as owned by one person (§ 346.70(1)). These duties apply on highways and also on premises held out to the public for vehicles, employer lots and lots of rental buildings with 4 or more units, but not private parking areas at farms or single-family homes (§ 346.66(1)). Penalty for not giving notice: a forfeiture of $200 to $500 for a first offense, for the operator and for any occupant at least 16 years old (§ 346.74(2g)), and 6 demerit points for the operator (§ 343.32(2)(bk), created by 2011 Wis. Act 256; WisDOT’s points chart, BDS108, says failure-to-report convictions on or after August 1, 2012 are assessed 6 points for the operator, although the older point rule in Wis. Adm. Code § Trans 101.02(5)(c) still lists failure to report under zero points). Stop and help: an operator who knows or has reason to know the crash injured or killed a person or damaged a vehicle that is driven or attended must stop as close to the scene as possible and remain until giving name, address and registration number, showing a license on request, and giving reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including arranging transport for treatment (§ 346.67(1)). The stop must be made “without obstructing traffic more than is necessary” (§ 346.67(2)); WisDOT describes this “Steer It, Clear It” law as requiring you, if no one is hurt and the vehicle can be driven, to move it to where it obstructs traffic as little as possible. Leaving the scene: a fine of $300 to $1,000, up to 6 months in jail or both if no one was hurt or killed; up to $10,000 and 9 months if someone was injured without great bodily harm; a Class E felony for great bodily harm and a Class D felony for a death (§ 346.74(5)). Unattended vehicle: stop and either find the owner or leave a written note in a conspicuous place with your name and address, the owner’s, and the circumstances (§ 346.68). Fixtures or other property beside the road: take reasonable steps to notify the owner, and report as § 346.70 requires (§ 346.69). Violating §§ 346.68 or 346.69 is a forfeiture of up to $200 (§ 346.74(3)).

The driver report you may have to file

DT4002 in 10 days if police don’t file

Unless a law enforcement agency makes a report, the operator of a vehicle in a crash that meets the § 346.70(1) thresholds must send a written report to WisDOT within 10 days after the crash, and WisDOT may accept or require it from an occupant or the owner instead (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(2)); if the operator is physically unable, the owner must report, and if the owner cannot, a capable occupant must (§ 346.70(3)). WisDOT’s rule says the same: if police do not investigate and report the crash within 10 days, the operators must report it (Wis. Adm. Code § Trans 100.03(1m)). WisDOT’s crash reporting page says that if law enforcement does not file a report you must complete the Wisconsin Driver Report of Crash, DT4002, online, and that if you get a WisDOT letter saying you were in a reportable crash and asking for a report, you must complete one. Have your driver license number, the VIN, your Social Security number and your insurance information ready; the form times out after 30 minutes of inactivity. Some police departments do not take self-reports at all: the Madison Police Department, for example, sends drivers to the WisDOT form. WisDOT also requires liability insurance information from everyone in a reportable crash, regardless of fault, when it sends you a letter asking for it, through its Insurance Reporting of Crash page. Penalty for not filing the written report: a forfeiture of $40 to $200 for a first offense and $100 to $500 for a second within a year (§ 346.74(2)). WisDOT may also suspend the license or registration of a person who fails to report as § 346.70 requires, unless there was excusable cause or no one else was hurt or had property damaged (§ 344.08(1)), but it may not suspend for a missing report if it needs no further information from that person (Trans 100.03(4)). If another driver was uninsured, the Safety Responsibility law applies to crashes with injury, death or $1,000 or more damage to another person’s property (§ 344.12): WisDOT says you may submit its damage and injury evaluation forms (MV3656, MV3657, MV3658), which its Uninsured Motorists team reviews within 180 days.

What the report costs

$6 from WisDOT; local fees vary

WisDOT’s DMV fees page lists “Crash report $6” under its other fees, and that is the price for a copy bought from WisDOT. We found no statute that fixes that per-report price. The Court of Appeals held that Wis. Stat. § 343.24(2m), which lets WisDOT charge for files of motor vehicle accident records, grants WisDOT authority to charge for inspecting accident reports (Media Placement Services, Inc. v. DOT, 2018 WI App 34, as annotated under § 343.24 on the Legislature’s site). A copy from the local agency is a public records request, and an agency may charge no more than the actual, necessary and direct cost of reproduction unless another law sets a fee, may charge for locating a record only if that cost is $50 or more, and may require prepayment if the total is over $5 (Wis. Stat. § 19.35(3)(a), (c), (f)). Example, Rhinelander Police Department only: it lists 25 cents per copied page. Check the price with the agency that worked your crash.

When the report is ready

10 business days or more; kept 4 yrs

Police must forward the report to WisDOT within 10 days after the crash (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(4)(a)). WisDOT’s purchase site says reports are available once they are completed and received from the reporting agency, which, depending on the complexity of the crash and the investigation, “can take 10 business days or more.” Madison Police say their officers’ reports are generally available from WisDOT 7 to 10 business days after the incident (that agency only). Online availability: the purchase site says crash reports are available for four years from the date of the crash. WisDOT’s enforcement FAQ, by contrast, says you may buy online crash reports from the last 90 days; the purchase site’s four-year statement is the more specific one, and if your report does not appear, call the Crash Records Unit. Separately, a crash shows on the driver record of every driver in a reportable crash regardless of fault (only the date, severity and county), and WisDOT may purge it from the driver record after 4 years (Wis. Adm. Code § Trans 100.19(2)).

Who can get a copy

Anyone may examine or copy

Wisconsin law opens police crash reports to everyone: “any person may” examine or copy uniform traffic accident reports and their supplements, witness statements, photographs and diagrams held by the investigating agency (Wis. Stat. § 346.70(4)(f)). We found no Wisconsin statute that limits crash reports to the people involved or delays access for a period after the crash, and WisDOT’s site sells reports to anyone who has the search details. The Court of Appeals held that because § 346.70(4)(f) mandates public access, a police department could release accident reports unredacted under the state-law exception to the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (New Richmond News v. City of New Richmond, 2016 WI App 43); the Department of Justice’s Public Records Law Compliance Guide (June 2025) describes the same holding, and says other incident reports with DMV personal information are treated differently. Items open under § 346.70(4)(f) also may not be withheld from a criminal defendant under the common-law rule for investigative material (State ex rel. Young v. Shaw, 165 Wis. 2d 276 (Ct. App. 1991)). One limit matters later: accident reports required to be filed with WisDOT or a county or municipal authority may not be used as evidence in any civil or criminal trial arising out of the crash, except in WisDOT administrative proceedings (§ 346.73); ask a lawyer how that affects a claim.

What to do now

1. 1

   Call police right away if it is reportable

   Any injury, any death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to one person’s property means you must call police or the sheriff immediately. If no one is hurt and the car can be driven, move it out of traffic first.

2. 2

   Get the document number from the officer

   The WisDOT document number is the quickest search key. Without it you need the crash date and a Wisconsin driver license number.

3. 3

   Buy the report at crashreports.wi.gov

   Check after about 10 business days. WisDOT lists the price as $6, and the PDF downloads right after payment.

4. 4

   File a DT4002 if no officer reported it

   If police did not come or did not file, file the Driver Report of Crash online with WisDOT within 10 days, and answer any WisDOT insurance letter.

5. 5

   Request video and photos separately

   Body camera video and photos are not part of the DT4000 you buy online. Send a written public records request to the agency now, and post the crash on the bounty board for dashcam footage.

Frequently asked questions