You are required by the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law to file an crash (accident) report if you are involved in any crash where there is damage to the property of one individual (including yourself) that is more than $1,000. The report must be filed within 10 days.

The New York State DMV keeps (motorist and police) crash reports for 4 years from the date of a crash, except for rare cases. These cases are described in Vehicle and Traffic Law, Section 201(i). Certified crash (accident) report copies include an attestation and signature of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.

It takes 14 - 60 days for an crash report to become available in our system. The time depends on where the crash occurred, and who filed the report (police or a motorist).

You can search, purchase, and immediately download certified crash (accident) reports online.

You must pay both a $7.00 search fee, and a $15.00 report fee for each report. You will be charged separately for the search fee and for each report you order. You will receive a confirmation email for each transaction.

Please note: you must complete Step 1 of the online transaction before you will be able to perform a free or paid search. 

Order Motor Vehicle Accident Reports online

Step 1: Do a ‘Free’ Limited Search

To see if your report is available in our system use 'List Reports on File by Date.' This will show a list of crashes by the county and date you select (see screenshot example below). The list of crashes will include the plate numbers of the vehicles involved in the crash. 

If there are reports you want, you will need to do a paid search before you can order them.

Step 2: Do a "Paid" Search

To search for your report use 'Search by Plate Number, License Number, or DMV Accident Case Number' (see screenshot example below).

You will be charged a fee even if you enter incorrect information or if the report(s) are not found.

Each search costs $7.

Step 3: Order your reports

To order reports, you will need one of the following (which you can get from the search)

• the plate number of a vehicle involved in the crash, and/or
• the driver license number of a person who was involved in the crash, and/or
• the 8-digit DMV case number (starts with the number 3).

Each report costs $15. For example, if there are 3 reports in our system for one crash (a police report and 2 motorist reports) and you must purchase each of them, the order fee will be $45).

Step 4: Access Your Report(s) Purchased Online

After you pay, you will be able to download your reports (in PDF format).

Note: Some customers have problems downloading PDF documents from our website. Make sure your operating system and web browser are up to date.

Access Crash (Accident) Reports You Already Purchased Online

You will have 7 calendar days to access reports you already purchased online. After 7 days, you will need to purchase the reports again.

You will need:

• Your email address
• The Report Confirmation Number (the number we displayed during the report purchase transaction and emailed to you in the transaction confirmation) - do not enter the Search Confirmation Number 

Access reports purchased online in the last 7 days

You can still order a certified copy of an crash (accident) report online if you are unable to use the method above.

You must pay a $10 search fee, and a $15 report fee for each report you order.

You must provide the

• date of the crash
• county where the crash occurred

and at least one of the following

• the plate number of a vehicle involved in the crash
• driver license number of a person who was involved in the crash
• name and date of birth of a person who was involved in the crash

If DMV cannot find a crash based on the information you provide, we will notify you by certified letter.

Order through the Record Request Navigator

You may order a copy of a crash (accident) report by mail using the Request for Copy of Crash/Accident Report (MV-198C) (PDF). You must fill out as much information as possible.

Return the completed form, along with payment for the non-refundable search fee and each requested report to:

New York State DMV
MV-198C Processing
6 Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12228