A police crash report is one of the first documents an insurer asks for after a collision, and in Virginia the report for a reportable crash goes to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The answers below explain who can request a report, what happens when it isn’t on file yet, and what the report should contain.
Who Can Get a Crash Report After a Richmond Collision?
The DMV releases a complete report to drivers, passengers, and injured persons, to owners of the vehicles or property involved, and to personal representatives of anyone involved, injured, or killed. Attorneys, authorized insurance company representatives, and parents or legal guardians of an injured or killed minor are on the list as well.
Attorneys can make the request on a client’s behalf, so an injured driver can hand this task to an Alexandria personal injury lawyer and focus on recovery. That spares them paperwork.
The DMV explains these eligibility rules on its crash report request page. The page also states that the DMV keeps crash data in its records system for at least 36 months.
How Do You Request the Report?
A request needs either a written letter or the DMV’s Information Request Form, plus $8 per report. The DMV accepts requests by mail, by fax, or in person at a customer service center. Mailed requests need a check or money order.
A written request should include:
- Your role in the crash, such as driver, passenger, injured person, or vehicle owner.
- The date and time of the crash.
- The street and the city, town, or county where it happened.
- The driver’s name, if you were not the driver.
- Your driver’s license number, if you were involved in the crash.
Keep a copy of whatever you send, because the request becomes part of the evidence after an accident you assemble. Photographs, medical records, and witness names fill in the rest.
What if the Report Isn’t on File Yet?
A report reaches the DMV only after the investigating officer finishes, so a request made the day after a crash may find nothing. The DMV refunds the fee when it finds no report, and it keeps watching for a late filing before it does.
The DMV’s request procedure guide says it monitors its records for 30 days from the crash date and mails the report if one arrives. The same guide notes that drivers, injured passengers, and owners of damaged property can receive an on-file report at the counter, while other requesters get theirs by mail.
Section 46.2-373 of the Virginia Code gives the officer 24 hours after finishing the investigation to send the report. The duty applies to crashes with an injury, a death, or apparent property damage of $3,000 or more.
What Should an Injured Driver Do While Waiting?
Keep a written timeline of symptoms, appointments, and missed work, and save every bill and receipt. Those records matter whether or not the report has arrived.
Medical care should not wait for paperwork. Back and neck injuries can surface slowly, which is why a gap in treatment becomes an issue in Alexandria back injury claims.
Serious injuries that need long-term treatment raise questions about future costs, which are central to Alexandria catastrophic injury claims. Early treatment records help show what those needs will be.
What Should the Report Say, and What if It’s Wrong?
State law requires each report to list the liability insurance carrier or agent for every vehicle involved, along with each vehicle’s speed. Check those entries first.
A report records the officer’s observations, and it can contain errors in names, insurance details, or the description of events. Ask the investigating agency about correcting factual mistakes, and keep your own photographs, notes, and treatment records so your account stands on its own.
Reviewing the report early belongs on any list of steps that help avoid common car accident mistakes. A small error is easier to fix soon after the crash than months later.
What Happens After You Have the Report?
Compare the report with your own notes and photographs, check each driver’s insurance entry, and share the copy with the people handling your claim. Differences deserve a closer review.
Drivers can also ask an Alexandria car accident lawyer to compare the report’s description of fault with the physical evidence. That comparison can reveal gaps worth correcting early.
At Blaszkow Legal, PLLC, we represent injured people only, and Joseph Blaszkow, who leads the firm, is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The crash report is one of the first records we gather in a collision claim.
Waiting for paperwork should not delay treatment or good record-keeping. Anyone hurt in a Richmond crash can reach out to an Alexandria personal injury lawyer to request the report and go over what it shows.
