New York Accident Report Lookup

If the property damage of any person is $1,000 or more, all the involved drivers are required by the NY State Vehicle and Traffic Law to file a Report of Motor Vehicle Accident (PDF) (MV-104).

The crash report must be filed within 10 days of the accident. File form MV-104 with the DMV no more than 10 days after the accident. The DMV can suspend your driver license if you fail to report an accident.

If a person is injured or killed, you are required by the NY State Vehicle and Traffic Law to immediately notify the police. All the involved drivers and the police must file a police accident report with the DMV. It is a crime to leave the scene of an accident that causes personal injury or death.

The accident appears on the records of all the involved drivers. An accident listed on your driver record does not indicate that you were at fault. The DMV does not try to determine fault in an accident.

New York state enjoys some of the lowest accident rates in the country, with the New York police department regularly enforcing traffic laws. Among vehicle occupants, there were 292 deaths per year, with a death rate of 1.6 per 100,000 New Yorkers. Hospitalization rates were significantly higher, with 6,207 hospitalizations per year, averaging 31.6 per 100,000 New Yorkers.

Finally, there are an average of 106,612 emergency department visits per year among vehicle occupants. With such a high rate, obtaining a police report can help you fight your case. Thankfully, obtaining a New York accident report is relatively easy, as stipulated by the New York DMV.

Reading an NYPD accident report can appear intimidating at first glance. The average report contains a myriad of information and codes that appear like jargon to the average person.

Here’s what each page of NY State police accident reports means:

• Page One – Nearly everything you need to know is contained on page one of New York State accident reports. Every detail reflects what happened as part of the accident, including the attending officer's view and interpretation.
• Page Two – The codes on page two refer to contributing factors in your New York accident report. New York State traffic reports may include codes like (4) “fell asleep” and (31) “texting.” Insurance companies review this section closely.
• Page Three – Page three of New York crash reports goes into detail about the types of injuries sustained by drivers and passengers.
• Pages Four & Five – Descriptions of hospital injury victims. Your New York accident report lookup will contain a four-digit code for anyone who was taken to the hospital, and which hospital, due to the accident.

Knowing how to read your crash report is crucial to ensure you know what you’re looking at and how your insurance company may interpret it. Learning the jargon decodes much of what’s written by the attending officer.