Warner Robins, GA
If Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police investigated your wreck, the DMV-349 they wrote is the first document every insurer will read. Here is how to get it online, at the records desk, or as a certified copy from the state.
Charlotte is the busiest crash jurisdiction in the state, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) writes thousands of DMV-349 crash reports a year. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-166.1, the officer who investigates a reportable crash must write that report within 24 hours, and CMPD must forward it to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 10 days. In between, the report sits with CMPD’s Records Division, and that is usually the fastest place to get it.
This page of our North Carolina crash report guide covers the three ways to get a Charlotte crash report, who is allowed to request it, what to bring, how the CMPD copy differs from the certified state copy, and what to do once the report is in your hands. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law handles car accident claims across North Carolina, and pulling and reading the crash report is the first thing we do for every Charlotte client.
CMPD publishes its crash reports through LexisNexis BuyCrash. The department’s own link for Charlotte-Mecklenburg reports is the CMPD BuyCrash search, and the department explains its options on the CMPD Crime and Crash Reports page. You search with the details from the driver exchange slip the officer gave you at the scene, pay a convenience fee that the site shows before you check out, and download the PDF.
Two practical notes. Reports do not appear the moment the officer files them; the report has to be reviewed and uploaded, so allow a few business days before searching. And the online copy is a copy of CMPD’s report, not a certified copy from the state, which matters only if the report is headed to a courtroom (more on that below).
The in-person route runs through the CMPD Records Division at police headquarters, 601 E. Trade St. in Charlotte, or any CMPD division office. Bring a completed Request for Motor Vehicle Crash Report form and a valid, government-issued photo ID; the records desk will not release a report without it. The department lists a phone route as well: call the Records Division at 704-336-2848 with your complaint (report) number. Questions and requests can also go by email to [email protected].
Many Charlotte drivers use the records desk to avoid the online fee. CMPD’s page does not quote a counter fee, and firms that work these reports regularly describe the in-person copy as free; call ahead to confirm before making the trip, and ask for current hours at the same time.
| Route | Where | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online (BuyCrash) | CMPD’s LexisNexis BuyCrash link | Convenience fee shown before payment | Speed; sending a PDF to your insurer or lawyer |
| In person | 601 E. Trade St. or any CMPD division office, with photo ID and the request form | No fee quoted on CMPD’s page; confirm by phone | Avoiding the online fee; asking Records a question |
| Certified copy | NCDMV by mail (form TR-67A) or at the Raleigh or Huntersville counters | $6.50 under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-42 | Court filings; a copy admissible without further certification |
Phone: 704-336-2848. Email: [email protected].
CMPD limits crash-report requests to people with a stake in the crash. Its page names three: the vehicle operator involved in the crash, the registered owner of a vehicle involved in the crash, and a passenger in a vehicle involved in the crash. Attorneys and insurers representing those people request reports through their own channels under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-43.1 applies to North Carolina motor vehicle records.
Every crash report in North Carolina ends up at 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. That is the copy you want if the report is going to be filed or introduced in a lawsuit.
To get it, print the Crash Report Request form TR-67A (it is not fillable), complete the driver’s name, license number, date and county of the crash, sign it, and either mail it with a check or money order payable to NCDMV to the Crash Reports Unit, 3106 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27697-3106, allowing 10 business days from receipt, or take it to the Raleigh Central Services License Plate Agency at 4121 New Bern Ave. or the Huntersville License Plate Agency at 12101 Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, where five or fewer records are handed over on the spot. The Huntersville counter is the close one for Mecklenburg County. Individuals cannot order from the DMV online and receive a redacted copy with other people’s names and addresses hidden; a lawyer with a permissible use can obtain the unredacted version. For most insurance claims the CMPD copy is enough; the certified copy is a litigation document.
The DMV-349 records who was involved, where and how the crash happened, the officer’s read on contributing circumstances, any citations issued, insurance information for each driver, and a narrative and diagram. It does not decide fault. 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. Even so, adjusters treat the narrative as the first draft of the truth, and in this state that first draft matters more than almost anywhere else.
North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule bars recovery if you were even 1% at fault, so what the report says about how the crash happened can decide whether an insurer pays anything at all. If the narrative is inaccurate or the report blames you, read what to do when the crash report blames you before you speak with the other driver’s adjuster. Our contributory negligence guide explains the rule and its exceptions in full, and the field-by-field guide to the DMV-349 shows where each of those items lives on the form.
Send a copy to your own insurer, keep the original with your medical records, and note the report number, because every later request references it. Then watch the clocks. Your policy requires prompt notice of the crash; the deadline to file an injury lawsuit in North Carolina is three years under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52; and a hit-and-run or uninsured-driver claim has its own notice conditions. Our page on deadlines after a North Carolina crash lists every one of them, and the FAQ on what to do after a car accident that was not your fault walks through the first two weeks.
If the crash happened outside Charlotte city limits, on I-77, I-85 or I-485 with a Highway Patrol trooper on scene, the report is not a CMPD report; see our Highway Patrol crash report page. For crashes in Raleigh, Greensboro or Winston-Salem, each department has its own portal: Raleigh crash reports, Greensboro crash reports and Winston-Salem crash reports.
Because we read hundreds of them, we know which fields insurers weaponize, and we can request the unredacted version that shows every driver, owner and witness. Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law concentrates in personal injury law and represents people hurt in crashes across North Carolina. We obtain the report, compare it to the physical evidence, contact witnesses before they disappear, and deal with the adjusters so that nothing you say is turned into 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 Charlotte crash and want the report read by someone who knows what insurers look for? Call for a free case review. We will pull the CMPD report, explain it, and tell you 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.
One conversation 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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