GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2007
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1764
Short Title: Privacy of Online Crash Report Information. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives T. Harrell, R. Warren (Primary Sponsors); Adams, Alexander, Braxton, Cole, Coleman, Cotham, Dickson, Fisher, Gibson, Hall, Harrison, Jones, and McLawhorn. |
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Referred to: |
Judiciary II. |
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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.