1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to motor vehicles; modifying accident report requirements; authorizing
1.3 local law enforcement to provide certain data to contracted service providers for
1.4 purposes of accident reporting; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections
1.5 169.011, by adding a subdivision; 169.09, subdivisions 8, 13.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, is amended by adding a subdivision
1.8to read:
1.9 Subd. 18a.Contracted service provider."Contracted service provider" means a
1.10contracted entity authorized by a governmental agency to provide services that support or
1.11enable the permissible generation, collection, management, and dissemination of crash
1.12reports or data under the requirements of this chapter.
1.13 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2025.
1.14 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 8, is amended to read:
1.15 Subd. 8.Officer to report accident to commissioner.(a) A peace officer who
1.16investigates in the regular course of duty an accident that is required to be reported under
1.17this section must submit an electronic or written report of the accident to the commissioner
1.18of public safety within ten days after the date of the accident and may retain a local copy.
1.19Within two business days after identification of a fatality that resulted from an accident, the
1.20reporting agency must notify the commissioner of the basic circumstances of the accident.
1.21A report or notification under this subdivision must be in the format as prescribed in
1.22subdivision 9.
1Sec. 2.
REVISOR KRB/ES 25-0457303/04/25
State of Minnesota
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. F. No. 2382
NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
Authored by Engen and Koegel03/17/2025
The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy 2.1 (b) Accidents on streets, highways, roadways, sidewalks, shoulders, shared use paths,
2.2or any other portion of a public right-of-way must be reported under the requirements of
2.3this section if the accident results in:
2.4 (1) a fatality;
2.5 (2) bodily injury to a person who, because of the injury, immediately receives medical
2.6treatment away from or at the scene of the accident;
2.7 (3) one or more of the motor vehicles incurring disabling damage that requires a vehicle
2.8to be transported away from the scene of the accident by tow truck or other vehicle; or
2.9 (4) damage to fixtures, infrastructure, or any other property alongside or on a highway.
2.10 (c) An accident involving a school bus, as defined in section 169.011, subdivision 71,
2.11must be reported under the requirements of this section and section 169.4511.
2.12 (d) An accident involving a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 169.781,
2.13subdivision 1, paragraph (a), must be reported under the requirements of this section and
2.14section 169.783.
2.15 (e) Accidents occurring on public lands or trail systems that result in the circumstances
2.16specified in paragraph (b) must be reported under the requirements of this section.
2.17 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2025, for reports submitted on
2.18or after that date.
2.19 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 13, is amended to read:
2.20 Subd. 13.Reports confidential; evidence, fee, penalty, appropriation.(a) All reports
2.21and supplemental information required under this section must be for the use of the
2.22commissioner of public safety and other appropriate state, federal, county, and municipal
2.23governmental agencies for accident analysis or law enforcement investigatory purposes,
2.24except:
2.25 (1) upon written request, the commissioner of public safety, a full-service provider as
2.26defined in section 171.01, subdivision 33a, or any law enforcement agency or a law
2.27enforcement agency's contracted service provider must disclose the report required under
2.28subdivision 8 to:
2.29 (i) any individual involved in the accident, the representative of the individual's estate,
2.30or the surviving spouse, or one or more surviving next of kin, or a trustee appointed under
2.31section 573.02;
2Sec. 3.
REVISOR KRB/ES 25-0457303/04/25 3.1 (ii) any other person injured in person, property, or means of support, or who incurs
3.2other pecuniary loss by virtue of the accident;
3.3 (iii) legal counsel of a person described in item (i) or (ii);
3.4 (iv) a representative of the insurer of any person described in item (i) or (ii); or
3.5 (v) a city or county attorney or an attorney representing the state in an implied consent
3.6action who is charged with the prosecution of a traffic or criminal offense that is the result
3.7of a traffic crash investigation conducted by law enforcement;
3.8 (2) the commissioner of public safety may verify with insurance companies vehicle
3.9insurance information to enforce sections 65B.48, 169.792, 169.793, 169.796, and 169.797;
3.10 (3) the commissioner of public safety must provide the commissioner of transportation
3.11the information obtained for each traffic accident involving a commercial motor vehicle,
3.12for purposes of administering commercial vehicle safety regulations;
3.13 (4) upon specific request, the commissioner of public safety must provide the
3.14commissioner of transportation the information obtained regarding each traffic accident
3.15involving damage to identified state-owned infrastructure, for purposes of debt collection
3.16under section 161.20, subdivision 4; and
3.17 (5) the commissioner of public safety may give to the United States Department of
3.18Transportation commercial vehicle accident information in connection with federal grant
3.19programs relating to safety.
3.20 (b) Accident reports and data contained in the reports are not discoverable under any
3.21provision of law or rule of court. A report must not be used as evidence in any trial, civil
3.22or criminal, or any action for damages or criminal proceedings arising out of an accident.
3.23However, the commissioner of public safety must furnish, upon the demand of any person
3.24who has or claims to have made a report or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing
3.25that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the commissioner solely to prove
3.26compliance or failure to comply with the requirements that the report be made to the
3.27commissioner.
3.28 (c) Nothing in this subdivision prevents any individual who has made a report under
3.29this section from providing information to any individuals involved in an accident or their
3.30representatives or from testifying in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident,
3.31as to facts within the individual's knowledge. It is intended by this subdivision to render
3.32privileged the reports required, but it is not intended to prohibit proof of the facts to which
3.33the reports relate.
3Sec. 3.
REVISOR KRB/ES 25-0457303/04/25 4.1 (d) Disclosing any information contained in any accident report, except as provided in
4.2this subdivision, section 13.82, subdivision 3 or 6, or other statutes, is a misdemeanor.
4.3 (e) The commissioner of public safety or full-service provider as defined in section
4.4171.01, subdivision 33a, must charge authorized persons as described in paragraph (a) a $5
4.5fee for a copy of an accident report. Of the $5 fee collected by the commissioner under this
4.6paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited in the driver and vehicle services operating account
4.7under section 299A.705 and ten percent must be deposited in the general fund. Of the $5
4.8fee collected by a full-service provider, the provider must transmit 50 cents to the
4.9commissioner for deposit in the general fund, and the provider must retain the remainder.
4.10The commissioner may also furnish an electronic copy of the database of accident records,
4.11which must not contain personal or private data on an individual, to private agencies as
4.12provided in paragraph (g), for not less than the cost of preparing the copies on a bulk basis
4.13as provided in section 13.03, subdivision 3.
4.14 (f) The fees specified in paragraph (e) notwithstanding, the commissioner and law
4.15enforcement agencies must charge commercial users who request access to response or
4.16incident data relating to accidents a fee not to exceed 50 cents per record. "Commercial
4.17user" is a user who in one location requests access to data in more than five accident reports
4.18per month, unless the user establishes that access is not for a commercial purpose. Of the
4.19money collected by the commissioner under this paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited
4.20in the driver and vehicle services operating account under section 299A.705 and ten percent
4.21must be deposited in the general fund.
4.22 (g) The fees in paragraphs (e) and (f) notwithstanding, the commissioner must provide
4.23an electronic copy of the accident records database to the public on a case-by-case basis
4.24using the cost-recovery charges provided for under section 13.03, subdivision 3. The database
4.25provided must not contain personal or private data on an individual. However, unless the
4.26accident records database includes the vehicle identification number, the commissioner
4.27must include the vehicle registration plate number if a private agency certifies and agrees
4.28that the agency:
4.29 (1) is in the business of collecting accident and damage information on vehicles;
4.30 (2) will use the vehicle registration plate number only for identifying vehicles that have
4.31been involved in accidents or damaged, to provide this information to persons seeking access
4.32to a vehicle's history and not for identifying individuals or for any other purpose; and
4.33 (3) will be subject to the penalties and remedies under sections 13.08 and 13.09.
4Sec. 3.
REVISOR KRB/ES 25-0457303/04/25 5.1 (h) A reporting agency that retains reports locally under subdivision 8 may provide
5.2nonpersonal data contained in an accident report to a contracted service provider subject to
5.3the limitations of paragraph (g), clauses (1) to (3).
5.4 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2025, for reports submitted on
5.5or after that date.
5Sec. 3.
REVISOR KRB/ES 25-0457303/04/25