How to Get a State-Level Car accident Report in Georgia

Georgia’s state-level starting point for a police car accident report is the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Car accident Reporting Unit. GDOT says it manages and stores the state’s car accident reports in the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System (GEARS) and directs people to BuyCrash or a mailed GDOT request form. GDOT Car accident Reporting

If the Georgia State Patrol investigated the car accident, you can also use the State Patrol/DPS records route. If a city police department, county sheriff, campus police department, or another non-State-Patrol agency investigated, Georgia DPS specifically directs people with “all other car accident reports” to GDOT’s Car accident Reporting Unit—not to the State Patrol records office. Georgia DPS: Submit an Open Records Request

Short answer: where to request a Georgia car accident report

Use the route that matches the investigating agency:

• Any police car accident report in the state system: Start with GDOT’s official Car accident Reporting page. It designates BuyCrash for online purchases and provides a mail-in request form.
• Georgia State Patrol investigated: You may contact a local State Patrol Post or the DPS Open Records Unit. DPS also offers EPORTS for online search, retrieval, and payment of available car accident reports prepared by the Georgia State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, or Capitol Police. DPS EPORTS information
• Local police, sheriff, campus, or another agency investigated: Use the GDOT route first. The DPS instruction for reports other than State Patrol reports is to contact GDOT’s Car accident Reporting Unit. DPS car accident-report instructions

A report is not simply available to anyone who asks. Georgia’s Open Records Act requires a written statement of need for an individual Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report, unless the requester’s name or identifying information is in the report. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72, official Attorney General publication

Immediate checklist

1. Identify the investigating agency from the exchange sheet, officer’s card, incident number, or citation.
2. Gather the car accident date and the last name of a driver, passenger, vehicle owner, or pedestrian listed in the report.
3. For an online BuyCrash search, have one more identifier ready: the car accident report number, a vehicle identification number (VIN), or a driver’s license number. GDOT BuyCrash help guide
4. Decide whether you will use BuyCrash, the GDOT mail form, or—only for a DPS-investigated matter—the DPS/EPORTS route.
5. If the record is not found, contact GDOT’s Car accident Reporting Unit rather than assuming a local report must be requested from the State Patrol.

For preserving other information while you wait, see the car accident evidence checklist.

Who reports what in Georgia

Georgia’s official materials distinguish a driver’s notice to police from a law-enforcement car accident report.

The state sources cited here do not make ordering a car accident report an insurer notice, a separate driver self-report, a DMV filing, a public-entity notice, or a lawsuit filing. This article therefore gives none of those deadlines.

How to find and request the record

1. Use the online GDOT-designated BuyCrash route

GDOT’s official page says police car accident reports are available through BuyCrash and links directly to it. The official GDOT help guide instructs searchers to select Georgia, then All GA Agencies. Enter the last name of a driver, passenger, owner, or pedestrian, the car accident date, and one of these: car accident report number, VIN, or driver’s license number. How to use BuyCrash for Georgia

Selecting “All GA Agencies” is useful when a report was handled by local police or a sheriff and you do not need a State Patrol-specific route. The page does not promise that every report will be searchable immediately. If a search fails, the GDOT guide directs users to BuyCrash customer support, while the GDOT Car accident Reporting Unit is the official state contact for car accident-report questions. GDOT Car accident Reporting

2. Mail an individual request to GDOT

GDOT provides an Individual Accident Report Request form. The form asks for the last name on the car accident report, car accident date, reporting agency or report number, requester name and contact information, and a signed statement of need. It directs mail requests to the GDOT Car accident Reporting Unit at 935 United Ave. SE, Building 24, Atlanta, GA 30316.

The form states a $5 fee per report, with an additional $2 if a certified report is requested. Payment for this mail route is by money order or cashier’s check; it says reports are mailed to the requester. The form also states that processing will take at least two weeks. Those figures apply to the GDOT mail request form; the source does not state that an online purchase will take the same amount of time or cost the same amount.

3. Use DPS records options only for a DPS-investigated car accident

For a car accident investigated by the Georgia State Patrol, DPS says you may contact a local State Patrol Post or the Open Records Unit. Its EPORTS portal is the online option for available car accident reports from the Georgia State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, and Capitol Police. DPS says it prefers electronic requests and lists $5 per car accident report on its current charging chart. DPS fees and EPORTS options

For a DPS open-records request, provide your full name and mailing address, the names of subjects or victims, the records requested, the car accident county or city, the date, and the car accident or incident report number if known. DPS request details

Who may request a copy

Under the state Open Records Act, a person or entity named or otherwise identified in the report may receive a copy personally or through a lawyer or representative. Other requesters must give a written statement of need. The statute recognizes need for, among others, a person connected to a party; an owner or lessee of damaged property; an injured person or witness; an insurer; an alleged liable party; and certain public officials. It has separate provisions for specified attorneys, news-media representatives, qualifying public-interest research, and government requesters. Official Open Records Act text

When using the GDOT mail form, select the statement of need that applies and sign it. Do not claim a category that does not fit your relationship to the car accident.

Information and documents to gather

Before starting, collect the following:

• The car accident date, reporting/investigating agency, and a listed person’s last name;
• The car accident report number, if available;
• For BuyCrash, a VIN or driver’s license number as an alternative additional search field;
• Your name, mailing address, phone number, and email for a mailed GDOT request; and
• The facts supporting your statement of need if you are not identified in the report.

Use only the fields the official request method calls for. The report search does not require a narrative of the car accident.

If the report is unavailable or held elsewhere

First, confirm the agency that investigated. A local agency report should not be routed to the State Patrol merely because the car accident happened in Georgia. DPS’s own instruction is that reports other than Georgia State Patrol reports go to GDOT’s Car accident Reporting Unit. DPS instruction

If an online search does not find the report, try the information on the official GDOT mail form or contact the GDOT Car accident Reporting Unit at crashinquiries@dot.ga.gov. GDOT identifies that unit as its contact for car accident-data reports. GDOT Car accident Reporting If the report is State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, or Capitol Police, use the DPS/EPORTS route instead. Keep the agency name, car accident date, and any report number with your request.

For more state and local resources, visit the AccidentFiling.ai resources page or explore the guides library.

Official resources

• GDOT Car accident Reporting and police car accident-report requests
• GDOT individual accident report request form
• GDOT BuyCrash help guide
• Georgia DPS car accident-report and open-records instructions
• Georgia Attorney General: Open Records Act

Sources

1. Georgia Department of Transportation, “Crash Reporting”.
2. Georgia Department of Transportation, “Individual Accident Report Request”.
3. Georgia Department of Transportation, “How to Use the Buy Crash Web Site”.
4. Georgia Department of Public Safety, “Submit an Open Records Request?”.
5. Office of the Georgia Attorney General, Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72.
6. GDOT Crash Safety Manual, “Statutory Rules”.