HLS 20RS-915 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 677
BY REPRESENTATIVE BRASS
MOTOR VEHICLES: Provides relative to motor vehicle crash reports
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact R.S. 32:398, relative to motor vehicle crash reports; to modify
3 reporting requirements; to provide relative to electronic forms for crash reports; to
4 provide relative to ownership of data and crash reports; and to provide for related
5 matters.
6Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 32:398 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
8 ยง398. Accident Crash reports; when and to whom made; information aid; fees for
9 copies; fees for accident crash photographs and videos
10 A. The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident a crash resulting in injury
11 to or death of any person or property damage in excess of five hundred dollars shall:
12 (1) Immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the
13 accident crash to the local police department if the accident crash occurs within an
14 incorporated city or town or, if the accident crash occurs outside of an incorporated
15 city or town, to the nearest sheriff's office or state police station.
16 (2) Give his name, address, and the registration number of the vehicle he was
17 driving and, upon request and if available, exhibit his license or permit to drive to
18 any person injured in such accident the crash or to the driver or occupant of or person
19 attending any vehicle or other property damaged in the accident crash.
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1 (3) Give such information and, upon request, exhibit such license or permit
2 to any police officer at the scene of the accident crash or who is investigating the
3 accident crash.
4 (4) If the accident crash occurs in a geographical area under order of
5 evacuation by a competent authority or is under a declared state of emergency, the
6 driver shall comply with the provisions of Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection
7 within seventy-two hours after the occurrence of the accident crash.
8 B. The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or
9 death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of one hundred
10 dollars or more shall, within twenty-four hours after the accident, forward a written
11 report of the accident to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Any
12 person who violates the provisions of this Subsection may be imprisoned for not
13 more than sixty days or fined not more than one hundred dollars, or both.
14 C. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections may require the driver
15 of a vehicle involved in an accident, which is required to be reported by this Section,
16 to provide a supplemental report when the original report is insufficient in the
17 opinion of the department and may require witnesses of an accident to render reports.
18 D.B. It shall be the duty of the state police or the sheriff's office to
19 investigate all accidents crashes required to be reported by this Section when the
20 accident crash occurs outside the corporate limits of a city or town, and it shall be the
21 duty of the police department of each city or town to investigate all accidents crashes
22 required to be reported by this Section when the accidents crashes occur within the
23 corporate limits of the city or town. Every law enforcement officer who investigates
24 an accident a crash, as required by this Subsection, shall instruct the driver of each
25 vehicle involved in the accident crash to report the following to all parties suffering
26 injury or property damage as an apparent result of the accident crash:
27 (1) The name and address of the owner and the driver of the vehicle.
28 (2) The license number of the vehicle.
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1 (3) The name of the liability carrier for the vehicle, the name, address, and
2 telephone number of the insurance agent who procured the liability policy providing
3 coverage for the vehicle.
4 E.(1) Every law enforcement officer who investigates an accident shall initial
5 the accident report form to show that the officer has complied with the provisions of
6 Subsection D of this Section, and shall indicate on the accident report form whether
7 the investigation is made at the scene of the accident or by subsequent investigation
8 and interviews.
9 (2)C. Within forty-eight hours after completing the investigation, the
10 investigating law enforcement officer agency shall forward a written copy of the
11 crash report of the accident to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or
12 data contained in the report to the Department of Transportation and Development.
13 However, if the accident crash occurred within the corporate limits of a city or town,
14 the enforcement office investigating law enforcement agency shall forward a written
15 copy of the crash report of the accident to the police department of the city or town
16 and a duplicate report to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
17 Transportation and Development within forty-eight hours after completing the
18 investigation.
19 F.(1)D.(1) The state police, any local police department, or any sheriff's
20 office shall provide copies of crash reports to any interested person upon request and
21 may charge a fee, not to exceed the sum of five dollars per report that does not
22 exceed two pages, and not to exceed twenty dollars, inclusive of all service fees and
23 other charges, per report that exceeds two pages.
24 (2) If the state police establishes a lesser charge for electronic copies of crash
25 reports, then a local police department or sheriff's office shall charge the amount
26 established by state police for any electronic copies of crash reports provided
27 pursuant to this Subsection.
28 (3) All data and reports shall be owned by the law enforcement agency who
29 created the report and all collective data shall be owned by the state of Louisiana.
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1 Third party vendors shall be prohibited from selling or distributing any data
2 contained in the crash reports.
3 G.E. The state police, any local police department, or any sheriff's office
4 shall provide copies of photographs of accidents crashes or other photographs
5 required of the investigating agency, video tapes recordings, audio tapes recordings,
6 and any extraordinary-sized documents, or documents stored on electronic media,
7 to any interested person upon request and may charge a reasonable fee for such
8 copies.
9 H.F. Every person holding the office of coroner in this state, or, in the event
10 of a vacancy in the office, the person performing the duties of coroner, shall report
11 to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections Transportation and Development
12 and to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission the death of any person as a result
13 of a collision involving a motor vehicle, and the circumstances of the collision within
14 sixty days following such the death. Such reports shall be made on forms supplied
15 or approved by the department as provided for in Subsection I of this Section.
16 I.G. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall prepare and,
17 upon request, shall supply to police, coroners, sheriffs, and other suitable agencies
18 or individuals, forms for accident reports, calling for sufficient detailed information
19 to disclose, with reference to a highway accident, the cause, conditions then existing,
20 and the persons and vehicles involved. All accident reports required by this Section
21 shall be made on forms supplied or approved by the Department of Public Safety and
22 Corrections. Each accident report form supplied or approved by the department shall
23 contain directions to the investigating officer to instruct the parties to the accidents
24 to exchange information as required in Subsection D of this Section and shall contain
25 a place for the investigating officer to initial the report to indicate that he has given
26 those instructions the office of state police, a municipal police department, the
27 sheriff's office, and any other suitable agency or individual, with electronic forms of
28 crash reports that provide sufficient detailed information to disclose, with reference
29 to a highway crash, the cause, conditions then existing, and the persons and vehicles
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1 involved. All crash reports required pursuant to this Section shall be provided on
2 electronic forms approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The
3 Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall establish the format required for
4 all crash reports.
5 J.H.(1) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections Transportation and
6 Development shall receive accident crash data derived from the crash reports
7 required to be made by this Section and may tabulate and analyze such reports the
8 data and publish annually, or at more frequent intervals, statistical information based
9 thereon as to the number, cause, and location of highway accidents crashes.
10 (2) Based upon its findings after analysis, the department Department of
11 Transportation and Development may conduct further necessary detailed research
12 to determine more fully the cause and control of highway accidents crashes. It may
13 further conduct experimental field tests within areas in the state from time to time
14 occasionally to prove the practicality of various ideas advanced in traffic control and
15 accident crash prevention.
16 K.(1)(a)I.(1) The reports required by this Section, and the information
17 contained in the reports, shall be confidential, shall be exempt from the provisions
18 of R.S. 44:1 et seq., and shall be made available only: to the parties to the accident
19 crash, parents or guardians of a minor who is a party to the accident crash, and
20 insurers of any party which is the subject of the report; to the succession
21 representatives of those parties, or to the attorneys of the parties or succession
22 representatives; or to a news-gathering organization that requests documents related
23 to the accident a specific crash. Upon request, accident crash reports shall be made
24 available to the above-enumerated persons within seven working days following the
25 completion of the accident crash investigation. For the purposes of this Subsection:
26 "news-gathering organization" means any of the following:
27 (i)(a) A newspaper, or news publication, printed or electronic, of current
28 news and intelligence of varied, broad, and general public interest, having been
29 published for a minimum of one year and that can provide documentation of
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1 membership in a statewide or national press association, as represented by an
2 employee thereof who can provide documentation of his employment with the
3 newspaper, wire service, or news publication.
4 (ii)(b) A radio broadcast station, television broadcast station, cable television
5 operator, or wire service as represented by an employee thereof who can provide
6 documentation of his employment.
7 (b) In Orleans Parish, the local police department may charge a reasonable
8 fee, not to exceed the sum of twenty dollars, to provide copies of accident reports.
9 State departments and agencies shall not be required to pay such fee.
10 (2) All persons and their agents are prohibited from screening accident
11 reports if the person or his agent does not represent any of the persons involved in
12 a particular accident, the report for which could reasonably be expected to be
13 available. However, this limitation shall not prevent any person from requesting
14 particular reports regardless of whether the person represents any party in the
15 accident.
16 (3)(2) The information in the reports may be tabulated and included in the
17 statistical information published under the provisions of Subsection JH of this
18 Section.
19 (4)(3) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the sale of police accident
20 reports or other driving record information to consumers of on-line driving records
21 under written contract for purchase of records with the Department of Public Safety
22 and Corrections.
23 (5)(4) The information in the reports may be used by the office of motor
24 vehicles for the purpose of maintaining operating records.
25 L.J. Whenever any person is involved in an accident a crash resulting in
26 injury to or death of any person, or property damage in excess of five hundred dollars
27 and the law enforcement officer investigating the accident crash has reason to believe
28 that there exists a medical condition which constitutes cause for revocation or
29 suspension of a license under the provisions of R.S. 32:414(E), notification of such
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1 medical condition shall be made to the medical/conviction unit of the office of motor
2 vehicles of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor
3 vehicles, provided that the law enforcement officer first consults with his superior
4 officer as to his specific observations and such his superior officer officer's concurs
5 with the issuing officer's belief.
6 M.(1)K.(1) All police, state or local, shall immediately contact the
7 Department of Transportation and Development Development's district office or the
8 local roadway owner when called to the scene of an accident a crash where that
9 department's or local roadway owner's property has been damaged in an amount
10 which is estimated to exceed five hundred dollars.
11 (2) All Upon completion of the investigation, all police, state or local, shall
12 make available, at no cost to the Department of Transportation and Development or
13 the local roadway owner, forward copies of accident crash reports which that
14 indicate damage to property of the Department of Transportation and Development
15 or the local roadway owner. in an amount which is estimated to exceed five hundred
16 dollars to the department's headquarters maintenance division within six days of the
17 date of the accident without cost to the department.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 677 Original 2020 Regular Session Brass
Abstract: Provides relative to motor vehicle crash reports.
Proposed law modifies accident reports to crash reports.
Present law requires that the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury
to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of $100 or more
forward a written report to the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections within 24 hours of the
accident. Proposed law specifies that any person who violates the provisions of present law
may be imprisoned for not more than 60 days or fined not more than $100, or both.
Proposed law deletes present law.
Present law requires that every law enforcement officer who investigates an accident initial
the accident report form to show that he has complied with present law and requires that the
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officer indicate on the report whether the investigation is made at the scene of the accident
or by subsequent investigation and interview.
Proposed law deletes present law.
Present law requires the investigating law enforcement officer forward a written report of
the accident to the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections within 48 hours after completing
the investigation. Proposed law further specifies that if the accident occurred within the
corporate limits of a city or a town, the investigating officer must forward a written copy of
the report to the police dept. of the city or town and duplicate a report for the Dept. of Public
Safety and Corrections within 48 hours.
Proposed law requires the investigating law enforcement agency forward a copy of the crash
report to the Dept. of Transportation and Development within 48 hours after completing the
investigation. Proposed law further specifies that if the crash occurred within the corporate
limits of a city or a town, the investigating agency must forward a copy of the crash report
to the police dept. of the city or town and duplicate a report for the Dept. of Transportation
and Development within 48 hours.
Present law authorizes any interested person to obtain a copy of a crash report from state
police, any local police department, or any sheriff's office upon request.
Proposed law deletes present law.
Proposed law specifies that all data and reports are owned by the law enforcement agency
who created the report and all collective data is owned by the state of La. Proposed law
prohibits third party vendors from selling or distributing any data contained in crash reports.
Present law requires that the coroner or the person performing the duties of the coroner
report the death of any person as a result of a collision involving a motor vehicle, and the
circumstances of the collision within 60 days following the death, to the Dept. of Public
Safety and Corrections and the La. Hwy. Safety Commission.
Proposed law requires that the coroner or the person performing the duties of the coroner
report the death of any person as a result of a collision involving a motor vehicle, and the
circumstances of the collision within 60 days following the death, to the Dept. of
Transportation and Development.
Present law requires that the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections prepare and, upon
request, supply to police, coroners, sheriffs, and other suitable agencies or individuals, forms
for accident reports, calling for sufficient detailed information to disclose, with reference to
a highway accident, the cause, conditions then existing, and the persons and vehicles
involved.
Present law specifies that all accident reports required by present law be made on forms
supplied or approved by the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections. Each accident report
form supplied or approved by the department must contain directions to the investigating
officer to instruct the parties to the accidents to exchange information as required in present
law and must contain a place for the investigating officer to initial the report which indicates
that he has given those instructions.
Proposed law modifies present law to require that the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections
prepare and, upon request, supply the office of state police, a municipal police department,
the sheriff's office, and any other suitable agency or individual, with electronic forms for
crash reports that provide sufficient detailed information to disclose, with reference to a
highway crash, the cause, conditions then existing, and the persons and vehicles involved.
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Proposed law specifies that all crash reports required by present law be provided on
electronic forms approved by the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections. The Dept. of
Public Safety and Corrections must establish the format required for all crash reports.
Present law requires that Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections receive accident reports and
authorizes the department to tabulate and analyze the reports for annual publishing.
Proposed law requires that Dept. of Transportation and Development receive accident
reports and authorizes the department to tabulate and analyze the reports for annual
publishing.
Present law authorizes the local police department in Orleans Parish to charge a reasonable
fee, not to exceed $20, to provide copies of accident reports and exempts state departments
from having to pay the fee.
Proposed law deletes present law.
Present law prohibits all persons and their agents from screening accident reports if the
person or his agent does not represent any of the persons involved in a particular accident
but specifies that the limitation must not prevent ay person from requesting particular reports
regardless of whether the person represents any party in the accident.
Proposed law deletes present law.
Present law authorizes the sale of police accident reports or other driving record information
to consumers of on-line driving records under written contract for purchase of records with
the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections.
Proposed law removes the sale of police accident reports from present law and only
authorizes the sale of driving record information to consumers of on-line driving records
under written contract for purchase of records with the Dept. of Public Safety and
Corrections.
Present law requires all police, state or local, to immediately contact the Dept. of
Transportation and Development district office when called to the scene of an accident
where that departments property has been damaged in an amount which is estimated to
exceed $500.
Proposed law requires all police, state or local, to immediately contact the Dept. of
Transportation and Development district office or the local roadway owner when called to
the scene of an accident where that department's or local roadway owner's property has been
damaged.
Present law requires that all police, state or local, forward copies of the accident report
which indicates damage to property of the department to the department's headquarters
maintenance division within six days of the accident without cost to the department.
Proposed law requires that all police, state or local, make available, at no cost, copies of the
crash report that indicates damage to property of the department or the local roadway owner
upon completion of the investigation.
(Amends R.S. 32:398)
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