Adams County, Pennsylvania: Crash Reporting Requirements: Police, Driver, and Motor Vehicle Reports

Adams County, Pennsylvania local guide: This county or county-equivalent page applies the state and national guidance and official resources below to people looking for accident information in Adams County, Pennsylvania. The agency responsible for a police report or records request can depend on where the incident occurred and which agency investigated it. Confirm the agency shown on the report or incident information before requesting a record.

Short answer

Pennsylvania separates the police crash report from the driver’s AA-600 Driver’s Accident Report. A driver must immediately notify the nearest authorized police department when a crash involves injury or death, or vehicle damage that requires towing because it cannot be driven in its customary manner without further damage or hazard. If police investigate, the agency prepares the police report. If police do not investigate a crash that required police notice, each involved driver must send PennDOT an AA-600 within five days. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3746 and § 3747 set out those duties.

The AA-600 is the driver’s written report to PennDOT—not a substitute for a police investigation. PennDOT says it is for a crash not investigated by a police agency. Get the official AA-600 form and instructions.

Immediate checklist

Notify police when the statutory trigger applies. Injury, death, or a crash-damaged vehicle requiring towing calls for immediate notice to the nearest authorized police department. If the driver is physically unable, a capable occupant must make or arrange the notice. § 3746
Identify the investigating agency. Keep the agency name, officer information if provided, and the CAD, case, incident, or report number. When police investigate a § 3746 crash, the officer must provide each driver a signed statement that it was reported.
If police did not investigate, use AA-600. The driver’s written report is due to PennDOT within five days. § 3747
Save documents and facts. Retain the location, date and time, vehicle and tow details, contacts, and photos. The car-accident evidence checklist can help organize them.
Notify your insurer under your policy. Insurer notice is separate from Pennsylvania’s state crash-reporting procedures.

Who reports what?

Calling or notifying police

The § 3746 threshold is specific: injury or death, or damage that leaves a vehicle unable to be driven in its customary manner without further damage or hazard and requires towing. It is a duty to notify police, not a request for a report type. PennDOT’s Police Officers Crash Report Manual describes reportable police-system crashes as occurring on a public highway or trafficway, involving at least one motor vehicle in transport, and meeting the injury/death or towing condition.

The investigating agency’s police crash report

A police department that investigates a vehicle accident requiring a report and prepares a written report must forward an initial report to PennDOT within 15 days; a supplemental report can follow if needed. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3751. This is the agency’s duty, not the driver’s deadline. PennDOT’s police guidance describes submission through its Crash Reporting System or police records-management software.

The driver or owner’s AA-600 report

When police do not investigate a crash that § 3746 required to be investigated, every involved driver must forward a written report to PennDOT within five days. If the driver is physically incapable and is not the owner, the owner must report. PennDOT may request a supplemental report. § 3747 contains the exact rule and exception.

Use PennDOT’s official AA-600. The instructions direct the sender to mail it within five days to PennDOT BOO – Crash Unit, P.O. Box 2047, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2047. It requires a signature, location, tow/injury information, narrative, and diagram. PennDOT says there is no filing fee and it does not investigate crashes; keep a copy. The instructions state that only the submitting driver may request a copy of that submitted report.

PennDOT data is different from a report copy

PennDOT’s Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool provides crash statistics, downloads, and queries—not an ordering portal for a person’s police investigative report. Its displayed data may be delayed or updated.

How to find or request the police report

Start with the agency that investigated the crash. Under § 3751, a police department must, upon request, furnish a certified copy to a person involved, that person’s attorney or insurer, and specified government requesters. The statutory charge is capped at $15, or $25 in a city of the first class. A department may refuse a complete investigation copy while criminal charges are pending against a person involved, subject to criminal-procedure rules. Read § 3751(b).

For crashes investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), use PSP’s official request page. PSP states that its reports are available 15 days after the crash and cost $22. A person involved, their attorney or insurer, and government agencies involved may request one. PSP provides an online request system and a mail application. The online system searches with a CAD/case number or a last name and incident date; the mail form requests crash, location, requestor, and involvement details. The PSP form says its certified report excludes appended documents and photographs.

PSP’s service covers crashes it investigated; it is not a statewide ordering system for every police agency. If a local department, sheriff, campus police, transit police, tribal police, or another agency investigated, contact that agency’s records unit. The investigating-agency name and report or case number are the practical starting points.

Documents and identifiers to gather

Gather the crash date and time, exact location, agency name, CAD/case/incident number, driver and owner names, license, plate and VIN details, insurance, tow information, and contacts for those involved. The AA-600 instructions direct users to use the driver license, registration card, and proof-of-financial-responsibility card. Save any police-report statement, receipt, or proof of mailing.

If the report is unavailable or held elsewhere

For a PSP report, allow the stated 15 days before searching. If police did not investigate a crash that required notice, the state filing may be AA-600 instead. Follow the form’s instructions and retain your submission record. For practical record-keeping help, see AccidentFiling.ai’s guides and resources.