How to Get Your North Carolina Crash Report (DMV-349)

What Is A North Carolina Crash Report?

A North Carolina crash report is the written report a law enforcement officer must prepare after investigating a reportable crash, on the form the Division of Motor Vehicles prescribes: the DMV-349. People call it the accident report, the police report, or the wreck report. It is the same document, and on it the officer records the date, time and location, every vehicle and person involved, the insurance information, the estimated damage, a diagram, a narrative of what the officer concluded happened, and any citations issued.

Not every fender-bender produces one. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-4.01(33b), a “reportable crash” is one involving a motor vehicle that results in death or injury to a person, or total property damage of $1,000 or more (or any damage to a vehicle seized under the impaired-driving forfeiture law). Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-166.1(a), the driver in a reportable crash must “immediately, by the quickest means of communication” notify the appropriate law enforcement agency, and under subsection (e) that agency “must investigate a reportable accident.” That investigation is where the DMV-349 comes from.

The form carries its own warning in the header, and it is worth quoting in full: “THIS REPORT IS FOR THE USE OF THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES. THE DATA IS COLLECTED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND SUBSEQUENT HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMMING. DETERMINATIONS OF ‘FAULT’ ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INSURERS OR OF THE STATE’S COURTS.” The officer’s report is evidence of what the officer observed and concluded. It is not a ruling on who caused the crash, a point our page on what to do when the crash report blames you explains in depth.

Who Writes The Crash Report, And Where Does It Go?

The investigating officer writes it. Section 20-166.1(e) requires the officer who investigates a reportable crash, “whether at the scene of the accident or by subsequent investigations and interviews,” to “make a written report of the accident within 24 hours” and to include information on the insurance (financial responsibility) of the driver the officer identified as at fault. Where the report goes next depends on the uniform. A State Highway Patrol trooper forwards the report directly to the Division of Motor Vehicles. A city or county officer forwards it to the local agency for the area where the crash happened, and that agency “must forward it to the Division within 10 days after receiving the report.”

That routing explains where your copy lives. For a few days the only copy is at the investigating agency, which is why the fastest source is always the police department, sheriff’s office, or the Patrol’s own search system. Once the report reaches Raleigh, NCDMV can issue the certified copy. If the crash happened inside a city or town, the appropriate agency under § 20-166.1(a) is that city’s police department; if it happened outside a city or town, it is the State Highway Patrol or the county sheriff’s office. Our Highway Patrol crash report page covers the Patrol’s system, which holds every crash the Patrol has investigated since May 16, 2013.

One more report can follow the first: if a person injured in the crash dies within 12 months and the death was not in the original report, the officer must file a supplemental report. Families dealing with a fatal wreck can start with our North Carolina wrongful death lawyer page.

How Do You Get A Copy Of Your North Carolina Crash Report?

There are two routes, and the right one depends on what you need the copy for.

• Route 1: the investigating agency. City police departments and the Highway Patrol post reports to online search systems or hand them over at a records counter, usually within a few business days of the crash. Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston-Salem each have their own procedure, and each has its own page in this guide. This copy is what your insurer and your lawyer will use for the claim.
• Route 2: the certified NCDMV copy. The Division issues a certified copy of any crash report it holds for a fee set by statute. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-42(b), “The fee for an accident report is six dollars and fifty cents ($6.50),” and a certified copy “shall be admissible in any proceeding in any court in like manner as the original thereof, without further certification.” This is the copy for a lawsuit, a DMV hearing, or any setting where the document has to prove itself.

Which Agency Has Your Crash Report?

Start with where the crash happened. Inside a city or town, the police department of that city or town investigates and holds the report; outside city limits, it is the State Highway Patrol or the county sheriff’s office. The table below covers the agencies with dedicated pages in this guide. For any other city or county, call that department’s records division, or order the certified NCDMV copy described next.

How Do You Order A Certified Copy From NCDMV With The TR-67A?

The Division of Motor Vehicles issues certified crash reports through its Order a Crash Report service. The NCDMV page is explicit that “Individuals cannot order a crash report online”; if you were personally involved in the crash you order “in person or by mail” using the Crash Report Request form, the TR-67A. The form is not fillable, so print it. Here is the process, step by step.

• 1. Print and complete the TR-67A. It asks for the name of the driver, the driver’s license number, the date of the crash and the county of the crash, then your own name, phone, address, the identification you are providing, and your signature.
• 2. Check the right privacy box. Crash reports are covered by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-43.1 applies to the Division’s records. A person involved in the crash who has no DPPA permissible use checks the box for a redacted copy; “some personal details (like names or addresses) will be hidden.” Insurers, attorneys’ offices and other businesses licensed in North Carolina can request an unredacted copy by stating a permissible use and showing professional identification.
• 3. Pay $6.50 per certified copy. The fee is set by § 20-42(b). By mail, send a check or money order made payable to NCDMV, signed, with the form.
• 4a. Mail it. Send the form and payment to the Crash Reports Unit, 3106 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27697-3106. The Division asks you to “allow 10 business days from the time of receipt for the request to be processed,” and an incomplete form or unsigned check will be returned.
• 4b. Or hand it in. Two counters accept walk-in requests: Raleigh Central Services/License Plate Agency, 4121 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, NC 27616 (use the door marked Vehicle Registration, not Driver License), and the Huntersville License Plate Agency, 12101 Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, Huntersville, NC 28078. Requests for five records or fewer are filled while you wait; larger requests go by mail.
• 5. Questions. The Crash Reports Unit can be reached at 919-861-3068; NCDMV customer service is (919) 715-7000.

What Does The Crash Report Say, And Why Does It Matter In North Carolina?

The DMV-349 runs two pages plus continuation sheets. Page one identifies the crash and everyone in it: location, each unit and driver, the vehicle and its estimated damage, insurance company and policy number, injuries and where the injured were taken. Page two is the officer’s reconstruction: points of initial contact, the sequence of events for each unit, estimated speeds, road and traffic-control conditions, a diagram, the narrative, witnesses, and any traffic violations charged. Our field-by-field guide to how to read a DMV-349 walks through every block.

Insurers read the narrative, the diagram and the violation block first, and here North Carolina is different from almost every other state. Under North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule, a person who was even 1% at fault for a crash can be barred from recovering anything from the other driver. An officer’s note that you were “following too close” or a diagram that puts you slightly over the center line is not a legal finding, but it is exactly what an adjuster will use to deny the claim. Our North Carolina contributory negligence guide explains the rule and its exceptions; the short version is that what the report says about how the crash happened matters more here than anywhere else.

That is also why a report you disagree with should not be left alone. The officer can correct or supplement a report when shown evidence, and the adjuster’s file should contain your version, your photos and your witnesses, not just the officer’s. The page on what to do when the crash report blames you covers how to approach the agency, what evidence to gather, and what to say to the insurer in the meantime.

What Deadlines Start The Day Of The Crash?

Several clocks start running the moment the vehicles stop, and the crash report is tied to most of them. The driver must notify law enforcement immediately under § 20-166.1(a). A driver who hits a parked or unattended vehicle must report the collision to its owner within 48 hours under § 20-166.1(c), whether or not the crash was reportable. The officer’s written report is due within 24 hours, the local agency forwards it to the Division within 10 days, and the Division needs 10 business days to fill a mailed certified-copy request. Your own auto policy requires prompt notice of the crash, a duty that comes from the policy’s conditions rather than a statute. And under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16), a lawsuit for injury must be filed within three years of the crash.

Our page on the deadlines after a North Carolina crash puts every one of them in a single table, including the DMV forms and the insurance-points periods. Note that “failure to report accident where such report is required” carries three driver license points under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-16(c).

Will A Crash Add Points To Your North Carolina License Or Your Insurance?

A crash by itself adds no driver license points. Points under § 20-16(c) are assessed on convictions, so a citation written in the violation block of the DMV-349 is what leads to points, not the crash or the report. An at-fault crash can, however, add insurance points under the Safe Driver Incentive Plan, which is a separate system with its own tiers based on the damage and injuries involved. Our North Carolina DMV points guide lays out both schedules, the 12-points-in-three-years suspension threshold, and the difference between DMV points and insurance points.

Why Work With Joshua E. Palmer After A North Carolina Crash?

Because the crash report is the first exhibit in the case, and the claim is won or lost on the evidence that surrounds it. We obtain the agency copy and, when the case needs it, the certified NCDMV copy; we compare the officer’s narrative with the physical evidence, the vehicle damage and the witnesses; we approach the investigating agency about corrections when the report is wrong; and we handle the adjuster’s questions so that nothing you say is turned into a contributory negligence argument. When an insurer will not pay what a case is worth, we file suit within the deadline and let the evidence decide.

The consultation is free and there is no fee unless we win. For the practice-specific picture, see our pages for a North Carolina car accident lawyer, a North Carolina truck accident lawyer and a North Carolina motorcycle accident lawyer.

• Free review of your crash report by a lawyer trained in North Carolina law.
• Contingency fee: no fee unless we win, and we advance case costs.
• Statewide representation for crashes anywhere in North Carolina.
• Direct access to your attorney throughout the claim.