Beaverhead County, Montana: Car Accident Reporting Requirements: Police, Driver, and Motor Vehicle Reports

The short answer

In Montana, a driver who knows or reasonably should know of a car accident involving injury, death, a deceased person’s body, or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more must immediately notify law enforcement by the quickest means of communication. Inside a municipality, notify the local police department; elsewhere, notify the county sheriff or the nearest Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) office. Montana Code Annotated (MCA) § 61-7-108 sets out that immediate-notice rule.

A separate written report may also be required. When a car accident involves a death, injury, or property damage in excess of $1,000, the vehicle operator generally must file a written report with the Montana Department of Justice within 10 days—unless a law-enforcement officer investigated and reported the car accident. An investigating officer has a separate duty to send the officer report to the department within 10 days after completing the investigation. These are distinct steps under MCA § 61-7-109.

Immediate checklist

1. If there is a life-threatening emergency, call 911. MHP directs people to 911 in that situation.
2. For a car accident meeting the state’s immediate-notice conditions, contact the appropriate local police department, county sheriff, or MHP as the statute directs. The Montana Department of Transportation lists MHP’s car accident/unsafe-driver line as 1-855-647-3777.
3. Record the location, date, time, involved drivers, vehicle information, and any officer or dispatch number.
4. Ask whether an officer will investigate and prepare a written report. That answer matters because an officer report can replace the driver’s written-report obligation under the statute.
5. If no officer report will be made and the written-report conditions apply, use MHP’s official Individual White Form and follow the MHP submission instructions below.

For a practical evidence list while details are still available, see the car accident evidence checklist.

Who reports what in Montana?

The word “department” in these motor-vehicle provisions means the Montana Department of Justice acting directly or through authorized officers or agents. See MCA § 61-1-101(16).

The driver self-report: the MHP Individual White Form

MHP identifies the Individual White Form as a form used to submit a copy of a car accident report. Its car accident-records page describes it as a self-reporting car accident form that law enforcement may advise in circumstances such as when all parties have left the scene or the car accident happened on private property. The form asks for car accident location, vehicles and drivers, insurance carriers, injuries, damage, conditions, a diagram, and a description of what happened.

An Individual White Form does not generate a car accident number. If a person called local law enforcement or MHP Dispatch, the dispatch log number may be included on the form. MHP says White Forms may be sent to its Records Section by mail, email, or fax:

• Mail: Montana Highway Patrol, P.O. Box 117, Boulder, MT 59632
• Email: MHPRecords@mt.gov
• Fax: 406-444-4169

The controlling written-report conditions and 10-day period are in the statute. Do not treat the White Form as proof that an officer investigated the car accident; it is the driver/self-report route.

The officer report is different

When an officer investigates a qualifying car accident, the officer’s written report is the report the statute says removes the driver’s separate written-report duty. The statute requires the officer to forward it within 10 days after completing the investigation. The department supplies approved accident-report forms to police departments, sheriffs, coroners, medical examiners, and other appropriate agencies; both involved-person and officer reports are intended to capture causes, conditions, people, and vehicles involved. See MCA § 61-7-111.

If the driver is physically unable to give immediate notice, another capable occupant must make or cause the notice to be made. If a non-owner driver is physically unable to make the required written report, the owner must make that report within 10 days after learning of the car accident. Those are specific contingencies in MCA § 61-7-110.

How to find or request an MHP car accident report

MHP’s Car accident Records page is the official route for records held by MHP. MHP says records are not processed online and that a request must be mailed with the appropriate documentation and fee. Use the printable Car accident Release Form. The form requests identifiers such as the car accident number if known, car accident date, county, location, nearest city, officer name, and names of drivers. A car accident number is helpful but is not required; MHP asks requesters to provide as much car accident detail as possible.

For a car accident report, MHP states a $2 nonrefundable search fee and accepts cash, check, or money order—not electronic payment. Its stated 10–14-day period is not a guaranteed production deadline; MHP explains that review or record location can take longer. The request form permits delivery choices for the report, but the request itself must be mailed.

Car accident reports are confidential and are not open to general public inspection. Under MCA § 61-7-114, a person named in or involved in the car accident, an authorized representative or insurance carrier, a civil-action party, and certain representatives of a deceased person may examine and copy law-enforcement-filed reports without a court order. The statute also permits vehicle-history research by the public, including commercial entities, but bars release of identifying information about people and insurers in that research use. MHP’s records procedure says it will deny a request from someone who is not an entitled party.

If the report is unavailable or another agency investigated

Do not assume MHP holds every report made in Montana. The MHP release form says that if no report is available, contact the officer or agency at the scene. That is the official fallback for a city police, county sheriff, campus, tribal, or other agency investigation. MHP also specifically says it does not receive media or photographs from other investigating agencies; request those materials from the investigating agency.

When contacting that agency, have the car accident date, approximate time, precise location, names of involved drivers, vehicle plate or description if available, dispatch or incident number, and the investigating officer’s name or badge number. If you only have the MHP record route, MHP says it will provide a car accident report number by phone or email but will not release other car accident details that way; use the formal request for the report itself.

If no officer report exists and the written-report conditions apply, return to the Individual White Form and MHP’s instructions. For a wider overview of post-car accident steps and official resources, visit AccidentFiling.ai’s guides and resources.

Official Montana resources

• MCA § 61-7-108: Immediate notice of accidents
• MCA § 61-7-109: Written reports and officer reports
• Montana Highway Patrol: Car accident Records and Individual White Form instructions
• MHP Individual White Form
• MHP Car accident Release Form

Sources

1. Montana Legislature, MCA § 61-7-108
2. Montana Legislature, MCA § 61-7-109
3. Montana Legislature, MCA § 61-7-110
4. Montana Legislature, MCA § 61-7-111
5. Montana Legislature, MCA § 61-7-114
6. Montana Highway Patrol, Crash Records
7. Montana Highway Patrol, Crash Release Form
8. Montana Department of Transportation, Reporting Problems