Warner Robins, GA
Raleigh is one of the few big North Carolina cities that gives crash reports away for free, online and at the counter. Here is how to get yours, who qualifies, and what to do with it.
When a Raleigh Police officer investigates a crash inside the city limits, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-166.1 requires a written report within 24 hours and requires the department to forward it to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 10 days. The Raleigh Police Department (RPD) also makes that report available directly, and unlike most large departments it charges nothing for it.
This page of our North Carolina crash report guide explains how to use RPD’s online portal, how to get the report at the records counter, who is allowed to request it, when you need the certified state copy instead, and what the report means for an injury claim in a state where being even 1% at fault can bar recovery. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law handles car accident claims across North Carolina, and the Raleigh report is the first document we pull for a Wake County client.
The Raleigh Police Department runs its own crash-report portal at crash.raleighpd.org. The department’s page on how to obtain a police report says crash reports are free of charge through the online system, and free at the records counter as well. Search with the details on the driver exchange form the officer handed you at the scene, then download the report as a PDF.
Access is restricted. RPD releases crash reports to people who were involved in the crash and to the legal representatives and insurance companies representing them. If you were not involved, expect the portal to turn you away; a lawyer representing you can obtain the report on your behalf.
The Police Records Division sits at Raleigh Police Headquarters, 6716 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC 27615. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on all holidays and weekends. There is no charge for a crash report at the counter. Bring a photo ID and, if you have it, the report number and the date of the crash. Records can be reached at 919-996-3325 or by email at [email protected], which is the right route if you are out of the area or need help finding the report.
| Route | Where | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online | crash.raleighpd.org | Free | Speed; sending a PDF to your insurer or lawyer |
| In person | Police Records Division, 6716 Six Forks Road, Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Free | Help locating the report; questions for Records |
| Certified copy | NCDMV by mail (form TR-67A) or the Raleigh Central Services counter, 4121 New Bern Ave. | $6.50 under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-42 | Court filings; a copy admissible without further certification |
Phone: 919-996-3325. Email: [email protected].
RPD’s rule is that you must be involved in the crash, or be the legal representative or insurance company of someone who was. That mirrors the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-43.1 applies to North Carolina motor vehicle records, and it protects the drivers, passengers and witnesses whose names and addresses appear on the form.
Every crash report reaches the Division of Motor Vehicles, and since January 1, 2013 the DMV issues only certified copies. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-42, a certified crash report costs $6.50 and is admissible in any court in the same manner as the original, without further certification. If your report is going to be filed in a lawsuit, that is the version you need; for an insurance claim, the free RPD copy is almost always enough.
Raleigh residents have the easy version of this errand. Print form TR-67A (it is not fillable), fill in the driver’s name, license number, date and county of the crash, sign it, and take it with $6.50 to the Raleigh Central Services License Plate Agency at 4121 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, NC 27616, using the door marked Vehicle Registration. Five or fewer records are handed over immediately. By mail, send the form with a check or money order payable to NCDMV to the Crash Reports Unit, 3106 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27697-3106, and allow 10 business days from receipt. Individuals cannot order online and receive a redacted copy with other parties’ personal details hidden; attorneys and insurers with a permissible use can obtain the unredacted version. The Crash Reports Unit answers questions at 919-861-3068.
The DMV-349 records the drivers, owners and passengers, the location, the officer’s description of how the crash happened and what contributed to it, any citations, each driver’s insurance, a narrative and a diagram. It is not a fault ruling. The form itself says determinations of fault belong to insurers and the courts, and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-166.1 makes an officer’s report usable as evidence only as the rules of evidence allow. Adjusters nonetheless read the narrative first and price the claim from it.
That matters because North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule bars recovery if you were even 1% at fault. A narrative that puts any share of the crash on you is an invitation for the other driver’s insurer to deny the claim outright. If the report is wrong or blames you, our page on what to do when the crash report blames you explains how to respond, and the guide to reading a DMV-349 shows where each field lives. The rule and its exceptions are covered in our contributory negligence guide.
Send a copy to your own insurer, keep the original with your medical records and note the report number. Then mind the deadlines: your policy requires prompt notice of the crash, an injury lawsuit must be filed within three years under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52, and uninsured-motorist and hit-and-run claims carry their own notice conditions. Our page on deadlines after a North Carolina crash collects every clock, and the FAQ on what to do after a car accident that was not your fault covers the first two weeks step by step.
If the crash happened on I-40, I-440, I-540 or US-1 with a State Highway Patrol trooper on scene, the report is not an RPD report; use our Highway Patrol crash report page. For the state’s other large cities, see Charlotte crash reports, Greensboro crash reports and Winston-Salem crash reports.
Getting the report is the easy part in Raleigh; reading it the way an insurer reads it is not. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law concentrates in personal injury law and represents people hurt in crashes across North Carolina. We obtain the report and the unredacted version when the claim needs it, compare the narrative to the physical evidence, reach witnesses while they still remember, and handle the adjusters so that nothing you say becomes a contributory negligence defense. The consultation is free and there is no fee unless we win.
Joshua E. Palmer
Managing Partner · Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
Attorney Palmer concentrates in personal injury law and trained in North Carolina law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. Contributory negligence is the defense he prepares every North Carolina case to defeat, from the first call with an adjuster to the courtroom.
Hurt in a Raleigh crash? Call for a free case review. We will pull the report, explain what it says under North Carolina law, and tell you honestly where the claim stands.
Responsible attorney: Joshua E. Palmer, Managing Partner · 106 Moran Dr #5106, Bonaire, GA 31005 · (478) 887-3734. Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about North Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation; contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
We will tell you what the report says, what it means under North Carolina law, and whether the insurer can use it against you. Free case review, and no fee unless we win.
Each case is different. Any results, settlement figures, or benefit amounts described on this page depend on the specific facts of that case and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in yours. Statutes and benefit rates cited are current as of November 2026; confirm current law with an attorney before relying on it.
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