The Florida Senate

A Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form is required to be completed and submitted to the department within 10 days after completing an investigation by every law enforcement officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle crash:

In every crash for which a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form is not required by this section, the law enforcement officer may complete a short-form crash report or provide a short-form crash report to be completed by each party involved in the crash. The short-form report must include:

Each party to the crash shall provide the law enforcement officer with proof of insurance to be included in the crash report. If a law enforcement officer submits a report on the accident, proof of insurance must be provided to the officer by each party involved in the crash. Any party who fails to provide the required information commits a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318, unless the officer determines that due to injuries or other special circumstances such insurance information cannot be provided immediately. If the person provides the law enforcement agency, within 24 hours after the crash, proof of insurance that was valid at the time of the crash, the law enforcement agency may void the citation.

The driver of a vehicle that was in any manner involved in a crash resulting in damage to any vehicle or other property in an amount of $500 or more, which crash was not investigated by a law enforcement agency, shall, within 10 days after the crash, submit a written report of the crash to the department or traffic records center. The entity receiving the report may require witnesses of crashes to render reports and may require any driver of a vehicle involved in a crash of which a written report must be made as provided in this section to file supplemental written reports whenever the original report is deemed insufficient by the receiving entity.

Short-form crash reports prepared by law enforcement shall be maintained by the law enforcement officer’s agency.

One or more counties may enter into an agreement with the appropriate state agency to be certified by the agency to have a traffic records center for the purpose of tabulating and analyzing countywide traffic crash reports. The agreement must include: certification by the agency that the center has adequate auditing and monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data; the time period in which the traffic records center must report crash data to the agency; and the medium in which the traffic records must be submitted to the agency.

In the case of a county or multicounty area that has a certified central traffic records center, a law enforcement agency or driver must submit to the center within the time limit prescribed in this section a written report of the crash. A driver who is required to file a crash report must be notified of the proper place to submit the completed report.

Fees for copies of public records provided by a certified traffic records center shall be charged and collected as follows:

For a crash report..........$10 per copy.

For a homicide report..........$25 per copy.

For a uniform traffic citation..........$0.50 per copy.

The fees collected for copies of the public records provided by a certified traffic records center shall be used to fund the center or otherwise as designated by the county or counties participating in the center.

Crash reports that reveal the identity, home or employment telephone number or home or employment address of, or other personal information concerning the parties involved in the crash and that are held by any agency that regularly receives or prepares information from or concerning the parties to motor vehicle crashes are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution for a period of 60 days after the date the report is filed.

Crash reports held by an agency under paragraph (a) may be made immediately available to the parties involved in the crash, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents, their insurers or insurers to which they have applied for coverage, persons under contract with such insurers to provide claims or underwriting information, prosecutorial authorities, law enforcement agencies, county traffic operations, victim services programs, radio and television stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, newspapers qualified to publish legal notices under ss. 50.011 and 50.031, and free newspapers of general circulation, published once a week or more often, available and of interest to the public generally for the dissemination of news. For the purposes of this section, the following products or publications are not newspapers as referred to in this section: those intended primarily for members of a particular profession or occupational group; those with the primary purpose of distributing advertising; and those with the primary purpose of publishing names and other personal identifying information concerning parties to motor vehicle crashes.

Any local, state, or federal agency that is authorized to have access to crash reports by any provision of law shall be granted such access in the furtherance of the agency’s statutory duties.

As a condition precedent to accessing a crash report within 60 days after the date the report is filed, a person must present a valid driver’s license or other photographic identification, proof of status, or identification that demonstrates his or her qualifications to access that information, and file a written sworn statement with the state or local agency in possession of the information stating that information from a crash report made confidential and exempt by this section will not be used for any commercial solicitation of accident victims, or knowingly disclosed to any third party for the purpose of such solicitation, during the period of time that the information remains confidential and exempt. In lieu of requiring the written sworn statement, an agency may provide crash reports by electronic means to third-party vendors under contract with one or more insurers, but only when such contract states that information from a crash report made confidential and exempt by this section will not be used for any commercial solicitation of accident victims by the vendors, or knowingly disclosed by the vendors to any third party for the purpose of such solicitation, during the period of time that the information remains confidential and exempt, and only when a copy of such contract is furnished to the agency as proof of the vendor’s claimed status.

This subsection does not prevent the dissemination or publication of news to the general public by any legitimate media entitled to access confidential and exempt information pursuant to this section.

Any driver failing to file the written report required under subsection (1) or subsection (2) commits a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318.

Any employee of a state or local agency in possession of information made confidential and exempt by this section who knowingly discloses such confidential and exempt information to a person not entitled to access such information under this section is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Any person, knowing that he or she is not entitled to obtain information made confidential and exempt by this section, who obtains or attempts to obtain such information commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Any person who knowingly uses confidential and exempt information in violation of a filed written sworn statement or contractual agreement required by this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.