House Study Bill 297 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON JONES) A BILL FOR An Act relating to motor vehicle accident reports, including 1 the amount of property damage necessary for a report and the 2 period in which a law enforcement officer must forward a 3 report to the department of transportation. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2921YC (2) 91 th/ns
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.266, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025, 1 are amended to read as follows: 2 2. The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting 3 in injury to or death of any person, or total property damage 4 to an apparent extent of one seven thousand five hundred 5 dollars or more , shall , within seventy-two hours after the 6 accident, forward a written report of the accident to the 7 department within seventy-two hours after the accident . 8 However, such report is not required when if the accident is 9 investigated by a law enforcement agency. 10 3. Every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course 11 of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident of which report 12 must be made as required in subsections 1 and 2 , either at 13 the time of and at the scene of the accident or thereafter 14 by interviewing participants or witnesses shall , within 15 twenty-four hours after completing such investigation, forward 16 a written report of such accident to the department. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 Under current law, the driver of a vehicle involved in 21 an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, 22 or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,500 or 23 more, must forward a written report of the accident to the 24 department of transportation (DOT) within 72 hours after the 25 accident. However, such report is not required when the 26 accident is investigated by a law enforcement agency. Every 27 law enforcement officer who investigates a motor vehicle 28 accident for which a report must be made is required to, within 29 24 hours after completing such investigation, forward a written 30 report of such accident to the DOT. 31 This bill increases the minimum amount of total property 32 damage necessary before an accident report is required from 33 $1,500 to $7,500. The bill strikes the 24-hour requirement 34 for a law enforcement officer who investigated an accident to 35 -1- LSB 2921YC (2) 91 th/ns 1/ 2
H.F. _____ forward a written report to the DOT. 1 By operation of law, a driver of a vehicle who strikes 2 fixtures upon a highway is not required to report the accident 3 to the DOT unless the apparent total property damage is $7,500 4 or more. A driver involved in such an accident is required 5 to take reasonable steps to locate and notify the owner, a 6 peace officer, or person in charge of the damaged property and 7 provide the drivers name and address, the registration number 8 of the vehicle causing the damage, and, upon request and if 9 available, exhibit the persons drivers license. 10 The bill does not amend similar reporting requirements when 11 a person is in an accident involving a snowmobile (Code section 12 321G.10) or all-terrain vehicle (Code section 321I.11) that 13 causes total property damage of $1,500 or more. Such reports 14 must be filed with the DOT or the natural resource commission 15 (NRC) if the accident occurred on public land, ice, or a 16 designated riding trail under the jurisdiction of the NRC. 17 By operation of law, a person who fails to forward a written 18 accident report to the DOT, as required under Code section 19 321.266(2) or (3), commits a simple misdemeanor punishable by 20 confinement for no more than 30 days and a fine of at least $105 21 but not more than $855. 22 -2- LSB 2921YC (2) 91 th/ns 2/ 2