GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2007

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 1764

Short Title:     Privacy of Online Crash Report Information.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives T. Harrell, R. Warren (Primary Sponsors);  Adams, Alexander, Braxton, Cole, Coleman, Cotham, Dickson, Fisher, Gibson, Hall, Harrison, Jones, and McLawhorn.
Referred to:	Judiciary II.

April 19, 2007

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to require the redaction of personal information contained in crash reports that may be used to steal the identity of another person and that may be PUBLISHED ONLINE or made available through the public information laws of this state.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑166.1 reads as rewritten:

"§ 20‑166.1.  Reports and investigations required in event of accidentcrash.

(a)       Notice of Accident.Crash. – The driver of a vehicle involved in a reportable accidentcrash must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, notify the appropriate law enforcement agency of the accident.crash. If the accidentcrash occurred in a city or town, the appropriate agency is the police department of the city or town. If the accidentcrash occurred outside a city or town, the appropriate agency is the State Highway Patrol or the sheriff's office or other qualified rural police of the county where the accidentcrash occurred.

(b)       Insurance Verification. – When requested to do so by the Division, the driver of a vehicle involved in a reportable accidentcrash must furnish proof of financial responsibility.

(c)       Parked Vehicle. – The driver of a motor vehicle that collides with another motor vehicle left parked or unattended on a highway of this State must report the collision to the owner of the parked or unattended motor vehicle. This requirement applies to an accidenta crash that is not a reportable accidentcrash as well as to one that is a reportable accidentcrash. The report may be made orally or in writing, must be made within 48 hours of the accident,crash, and must include the following:

(1)       The time, date, and place of the accident.crash.

(2)       The driver's name, address, and drivers license number.

(3)       The registration plate number of the vehicle being operated by the driver at the time of the accident.crash.

If the driver makes a written report to the owner of the parked or unattended vehicle and the report is not given to the owner at the scene of the accident,crash, the report must be sent to the owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, and a copy of the report must be sent to the Division.

(d)       Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 191, s. 2.

(e)       Investigation by Officer. – The appropriate law enforcement agency must investigate a reportable accident.crash. A law‑enforcement officer who investigates a reportable accident,crash, whether at the scene of the accidentcrash or by subsequent investigations and interviews, must make a written report of the accidentcrash within 24 hours of the accidentcrash and must forward it as required by this subsection. The report must contain information on financial responsibility for the vehicle driven by the person whom the officer identified as at fault for the accident.crash.

If the officer writing the report is a member of the State Highway Patrol, the officer must forward the report to the Division. If the officer is not a member of the State Highway Patrol, the officer must forward the report to the local law enforcement agency for the area where the accidentcrash occurred. A local law enforcement agency that receives an accidenta crash report must forward it to the Division within 10 days after receiving the report.

When a person injured in a reportable accidentcrash dies as a result of the accidentcrash within 12 months after the accidentcrash and the death was not reported in the original report, the law enforcement officer investigating the accidentcrash must file a supplemental report that includes the death.

(f)        Medical Personnel. – A county medical examiner must report to the Division the death of any person in a reportable accidentcrash and the circumstances of the accident.crash. The medical examiner must file the report within five days after the death. A hospital must notify the medical examiner of the county in which the accidentcrash occurred of the death within the hospital of any person who dies as a result of injuries apparently sustained in a reportable accident.crash.

(g)       Repealed by Session Laws 1987, c. 49.

(h)       Forms. – The Division shall provide forms or procedures for submitting crash data to persons required to make reports under this section and the reports shall be made in a format approved by the Commissioner. The following information shall be included about a reportable crash:

(1)       The cause of the crash.

(2)       The conditions existing at the time of the crash.

(3)       The persons and vehicles involved.

(4)       Whether the vehicle has been seized and is subject to forfeiture under G.S. 20‑28.2.

(i)        Effect of Report. – A report of an accidenta crash made under this section by a person who is not a law enforcement officer is without prejudice, is for the use of the Division, and shall not be used in any manner as evidence, or for any other purpose in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of the accident.crash. Any other report of an accidenta crash made under this section may be used in any manner as evidence, or for any other purpose, in any trial, civil or criminal, as permitted under the rules of evidence. At the demand of a court, the Division must give the court a properly executed certificate stating that a particular accidentcrash report has or has not been filed with the Division solely to prove a compliance with this section.

The reports made by persons who are not law enforcement officers or medical examiners are not public records. The reports made by law enforcement officers and medical examiners are public records and are open to inspection by the general public at all reasonable times. Personal information contained in crash reports shall be redacted from the reports before being published to the public. Personal information shall include the home address, date of birth, telephone numbers, employer information, insurance policy number, and the drivers license number of any person involved in the crash. Law enforcement personnel, district attorneys, attorneys-at-law, insurance companies, any person involved in a crash, and any other state or local governmental unit may have access to the original crash report, without any redactions. The Division must give a certified copy of one of these reports the appropriate type of report to a member of the general public who requests a copy and pays the fee set in G.S. 20‑42.

(j)        Statistics. – The Division may periodically publish statistical information on motor vehicle accidentscrashes based on information in accidentcrash reports. The Division may conduct detailed research to determine more fully the cause and control of accidentscrashes and may conduct experimental field tests within areas of the State from time to time to prove the practicability of various ideas advanced in traffic control and accidentcrash prevention.

(k)       Punishment. – A violation of any provision of this section is a misdemeanor of the Class set in G.S. 20‑176."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.