Kent County, Delaware 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 Kent County, Delaware. 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
In Delaware, a driver must immediately report a car accident to the police agency with primary jurisdiction over the car accident location if someone is injured or killed; if a car accident on a public highway has apparent property damage of $2,000 or more; or if it appears a driver is impaired by alcohol or drugs. A driver may report a car accident that does not meet those conditions. The controlling rule is 21 Del. C. § 4203.
That notice to police is not the same as a routine statewide DMV self-report. For qualifying reported car accidents, the investigating police agency completes the State of Delaware Uniform Car accident Report. Delaware law also permits the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to require a supplemental report from a driver or police department when the original report is insufficient; those supplemental reports are not open to public inspection.
Immediate checklist
- Stop and check for injury. A driver involved in a car accident with apparent property damage must stop and make reasonable efforts to determine whether anyone was injured or killed. In an injury or death car accident, the driver must stop, exchange information, give reasonable assistance, or contact appropriate law-enforcement or emergency personnel and await arrival. See 21 Del. C. §§ 4201–4202.
- Notify the police agency responsible for the location if the car accident involves injury or death, apparent public-highway property damage of $2,000 or more, or an apparently impaired driver. The law names the agency with primary jurisdiction, not one statewide phone number, app, or online form.
- Exchange required information. A driver must give name, address, and vehicle registration number and exhibit a driver license or other driving-privilege documentation to the other driver, occupants, or property owner as applicable. Keep any car accident information exchange form issued by the officer or agency.
- Note the investigating agency and case/report number. The Delaware State Police specifically asks for the car accident information exchange form when requesting a report.
Who reports what
| Report or notice | Who handles it | When it applies or what it does | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial report to police | Driver | Immediately after scene duties: injury/death; public-highway apparent property damage of $2,000 or more; or apparent alcohol/drug impairment. A driver may report another car accident voluntarily. | 21 Del. C. § 4203(a)–(b) |
| Uniform Car accident Report | Investigating police agency | Police must investigate and complete this state form for reported car accidents in their jurisdiction involving impaired driving, apparent $2,000-or-more property damage, injury, or death. | 21 Del. C. § 4203(d) |
| Supplemental car accident report | Driver or police department, only if the Department of Safety and Homeland Security requires it | The department may require one when the original report is insufficient. The statute says it is not open to public inspection. | 21 Del. C. § 4203(e) |
| Serious-damage repair-shop notice | Person in charge of a garage or repair shop | Within 24 hours after receiving a vehicle showing evidence of a serious car accident or bullet strike, report specified details to the nearest police station or sheriff’s office. This is not a normal driver self-report. | 21 Del. C. § 4204(a) |
| DMV car accident report | No routine driver-to-DMV filing is identified in the cited reporting statute | Section 4203 directs the driver to police and assigns the uniform report to police. It does not describe a routine DMV car accident report a driver must file after every car accident. | 21 Del. C. § 4203; Driver Manual |
| Insurance-status notice to DMV | Insurer, in the coverage-cancellation context | DMV says it receives notice from insurers when vehicle insurance is canceled. This is not a stated car accident-report procedure or accident-notice deadline. | DMV insurance FAQ |
The cited sources do not state a public-entity claim notice deadline or lawsuit filing deadline. Those subjects are separate from notifying police and obtaining a record, so this page does not calculate either.
Police, driver, and DMV reports: the difference
A driver report is the required notice to the police agency with primary jurisdiction when Section 4203 applies. It may also be a voluntary report under Section 4203(b). It is not the officer’s investigation.
A police report is the State of Delaware Uniform Car accident Report prepared by the police agency for the reported car accidents listed in Section 4203(d). The statute identifies the Department of Safety and Homeland Security as the form supplier but does not provide a public blank-form download. Ask the investigating agency for its procedure rather than treating the form as a self-filing requirement.
A DMV report is different. The official reporting statute does not establish a routine driver-to-DMV car accident report. The DMV Driver Manual contains a “Car accident Reporting Form” and says it may be useful when reporting a car accident; it does not call that worksheet a required DMV filing. Its “Reporting Car accidents” page displays dollar figures that differ from current Section 4203. The manual says actual code controls in a conflict, so the current statutory $2,000 public-highway threshold and the statute’s impaired-driver condition are used here. Where facts are near a threshold, confirm procedures with the primary agency.
How to request the car accident record
Start with the agency that investigated. Because Section 4203 directs the first report to the agency with primary jurisdiction, do not assume the Delaware State Police mail process covers reports written by every local police, sheriff, campus, or other agency. Although the State Police Traffic Operations Section describes statewide record-keeping, its request page does not expressly define its copy-request coverage for every investigating agency.
If the Delaware State Police investigated, request the report by mail from Delaware State Police, Traffic Operations Section, P.O. Box 430, Dover, DE 19903. Include the car accident information exchange form and payment by check or money order payable to Delaware State Police. The stated charge is $25 for a standard car accident report and $60 for a fatal car accident report. Walk-in requests are not honored. See the complete State Police car accident-report instruction.
The State Police page does not state a waiting period, requester eligibility category, identification requirement, universal report-number format, or redaction rule. Do not assume any of those conditions. Retain the exchange form, agency name, car accident date and location, and any case or report number shown on the materials received.
For detailed records held by Delaware State Police, use its official FOIA request route. A request does not ensure release. Delaware’s public-records law excludes investigatory files compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement purposes from the definition of public record, and Section 4203 says supplemental car accident reports are not open to public inspection. See 29 Del. C. § 10002 and 21 Del. C. § 4203(e).
If the report is unavailable or held elsewhere
Ask the investigating agency or the agency with primary jurisdiction whether it created a report and how it releases it. If local police, a sheriff’s office, campus police, or another authority investigated, use that agency’s records process first rather than sending a State Police request by default. If the Delaware State Police holds the detailed record sought, its FOIA page provides the official request route; access limits may still apply.
If a car accident was not required to be reported, Section 4203(b) still permits a driver to report it to the appropriate agency. That option does not promise that an agency will create the same record in every situation.
For organizing non-government evidence after the immediate reporting steps, use AccidentFiling.ai’s car accident evidence checklist and what to do after a car accident. The site’s resources and guides collect additional public resources.
Official resources
- Delaware Code, Title 21, Chapter 42 — Reports of Accidents
- Delaware State Police Traffic Unit — request a car accident report
- Delaware State Police — FOIA requests
- Delaware DMV — Driver Manual
- Delaware Code, Title 29, Chapter 100 — public records and exemptions
What changes for a car accident
Use this version when a private passenger car is involved. The official reporting or record-request procedure below is still controlled by the crash location, investigating agency, and the facts of the event—not by the wording “car accident.”
For insurance, start with the applicable personal auto policy and the insurance rules of the crash state. Save the declarations page, insurance cards, claim number, repair estimates, and insurer communications.
- Confirm which agency investigated or holds the report.
- Keep the other vehicle and driver information with the report number.
- Keep police, motor-vehicle agency, and insurer tasks as separate checklist items.
Browse the Car Accident Guides collection for related pages.
Accident-type official sources
- Auto Insurance — National Association of Insurance Commissioners
Sources
- Delaware General Assembly, 21 Del. C. Chapter 42, especially §§ 4201–4204.
- Delaware State Police, Traffic Unit, “Request Crash Report.”
- Delaware State Police, Freedom of Information Act.
- Delaware General Assembly, 29 Del. C. Chapter 100, public-record definition and law-enforcement-file exception.
- Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, Driver Manual, “Reporting Crashes” and “Crash Reporting Form.”
- Delaware DMV, Vehicle Liability Insurance FAQs, insurer cancellation notices to DMV.