How to Get a State-Level Truck Accident Report in Chittenden County, Vermont

Short answer

Getting a Vermont truck accident report starts with the Vermont DMV Record Request, form VG-116. The form specifically offers a certified copy of a police truck accident report for $22 and a certified copy of an individual truck accident report for $15. Complete the request, include a copy of state-issued identification, sign it, choose the applicable Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) authorization category, and send payment by check or money order payable to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. Vermont State Police directs truck accident-report requests to DMV’s Driver Improvement Unit in Montpelier rather than to the State Police records portal. 1 2 3

The route matters. A copy request is not the same as an operator’s truck accident report, a police notification, an insurance claim, or a court deadline. The steps below separate those jobs so that a request for a record does not accidentally replace a separate obligation.

Immediate checklist

1. Preserve the basics: keep the truck accident date, approximate time, location, names, vehicle plate numbers, and any report or case number. The DMV form asks for as much identifying information as possible. 2
2. Choose the correct record on form VG-116: select either a certified police truck accident report or a certified individual truck accident report, depending on the record sought. Do not select a record type by guessing. 2
3. Attach identification and authorization information: the form requires proof of identification for all requests, a requester signature, and an initialed DPPA disclosure category. 2
4. Pay the listed fee: the form lists $22 for a certified police truck accident report and $15 for a certified individual truck accident report. It directs requesters to make a check or money order payable in U.S. funds to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. 2
5. Allow for the stated police-report availability period: Vermont State Police says a truck accident report that includes the police report is available 30 days from the truck accident date. The source does not give the same timing statement for an individual truck accident report. 3
6. Use the public truck accident-data tool only to locate non-personal data or a report number: it is not a narrative-and-diagram copy service. 5

For scene documentation while the information is still available, use the car accident evidence checklist. The site’s what to do after a car accident guide is a separate practical overview.

Who reports what in Vermont

The words “report a truck accident” can describe several different actions. They have different recipients, thresholds, and timeframes.

A police investigation and an operator’s form are therefore not interchangeable. The operator-report rule is the $3,000-or-injury rule in 23 V.S.A. § 1129; it does not say that a later request for a certified copy fulfills the report itself. 6

Exact statewide request path for a truck accident-report copy

1. Get the official form

Download Vermont DMV Record Request, VG-116 from the DMV’s record-request page. DMV identifies this as the form to request certified police and individual truck accident reports. 1 2

2. Identify the record you need

On the form’s “Documents Requested” list, choose one of the two truck accident-report entries:

• Certified Copy of police truck accident report — $22.00
• Certified Copy of individual truck accident report — $15.00

The form also lists insurance information of truck accident — $10.00, which is a different request from a truck accident-report copy. A requester should state the desired record rather than treating that entry as a substitute for either certified truck accident-report option. 2

3. Complete the request and identification fields

The form says that all applicable sections on the front and back must be completed. It asks for requester contact information and, for the record sought, fields such as vehicle identification number, vehicle make and year, Vermont plate and expiration date, name, Vermont license number, date of birth, dates to be covered, and a description of the specific information requested. It asks the requester to provide as much information as possible. 2

Every request must include proof of identification, such as a copy of state-issued identification. The form requires a signature on the back. It also requires the requester to initial an applicable DPPA disclosure category and gives categories including government functions, certain motor-vehicle or safety uses, litigation-related use, insurer claim activities, written consent, and a use specifically authorized by law. The form says DMV will review the request for DPPA conformity and may deny a request that does not meet the qualifications or lacks enough information for a determination. 2

This eligibility structure does not make every truck accident-report record available to every requester. 2

4. Prepare payment and mail the request to DMV

Use a check or money order in U.S. funds payable to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, as the form instructs. Vermont State Police’s truck accident-report directions say to complete the DMV record request and mail it to:

Department of Motor Vehicles
Driver Improvement Unit
120 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05603
3

VG-116 lists DMV at 120 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05603-0001; the State Police page identifies the Driver Improvement Unit as the truck accident-report destination. 2 3

5. Do not use the wrong online portal

The Vermont State Police online records service handles police reports and other public records, but its order page expressly says motor-vehicle-truck accident reports investigated by Vermont State Police must be requested through the Vermont DMV. The VSP online form has a different $20 police-report fee and different request fields; it is not the official truck accident-report copy route. 3 4

DMV’s general online Public Records Request form is also the wrong route. It expressly says it is not for truck accident reports and describes itself as a way to request statistical information from DMV records. 9

If the report is not yet available or you cannot identify it

For a police truck accident report, wait for the availability point stated by Vermont State Police: 30 days from the truck accident date. The VSP page does not state a DMV turnaround after request or say that the 30-day timing applies to an individual truck accident report. Those timing gaps should not be filled with an estimate. 3

If you lack a Vermont State Police case number for a VSP police record, the State Police records page says to contact the local VSP barracks that handled the case; it says case numbers also appear in VSP news releases. That instruction is a case-number lookup option, not a redirection of the truck accident-copy request away from DMV. 3

The Vermont Public Truck accident Data Query Tool can also help you narrow a record. It permits queries of non-personal statewide law-enforcement-reported motor-vehicle truck accident data from 2010 to the present, with filters including date, town/county, route, and reporting agency. Its result table includes a report-number field and can export the data. It expressly excludes the law-enforcement truck accident-report narrative and truck accident diagrams, so it cannot replace the certified DMV copy. 5

No reviewed source states a statewide municipal or county alternative for a certified truck accident copy. The verified fallback is limited to contacting the relevant VSP barracks for a missing VSP case number. 3

Separate legal time rules: report, notice, and lawsuit are different

The 72-hour operator report and five-day insurance-information disclosure in § 1129 are not lawsuit deadlines. Vermont’s general statute states that claims for personal injury caused by another’s act or default, and damage to personal property caused by another’s act or default, must be commenced within three years after accrual. For personal injury, the statute specifies discovery-of-injury accrual. The statute’s language and exceptions must be assessed against the actual claim. 10

A narrow public-entity rule is different again. For an action against a town involving injuries or damages from an insufficient or unrepaired bridge or culvert, Vermont law requires a written, signed notice to one or more selectboard members of the town where it is located within 20 days. The notice must state when and where the injury occurred, how the bridge or culvert was insufficient or out of repair, and that satisfaction will be claimed; the following section adds injury-description requirements. This is a bridge-or-culvert rule, not a general police-report, DMV-report, insurer-notice, or all-public-entity rule. 11

For claims involving the State, 12 V.S.A. § 5601 addresses State liability, exclusive Superior Court jurisdiction, limits, and listed exceptions. It is distinct from the town bridge-or-culvert notice statute. The effect of either provision turns on the particular facts and statutory exceptions. 12

Documents and identifiers to gather

What changes when a truck is involved

Record whether the truck was privately used or operated by a business or motor carrier. A personally used pickup is not automatically subject to federal motor-carrier requirements.
If a commercial carrier was involved, preserve the carrier name, USDOT or operating-authority number if available, unit and trailer identifiers, cargo information, employer or dispatch contact, and insurance details.

Keep these additional records

• Photograph carrier names, USDOT numbers, unit numbers, plates, trailers, and placards when safe.
• Use the jurisdiction procedure below for the official report.
• Use federal carrier resources only when an applicable motor carrier is involved.

Browse the Truck Accident Guides collection for related pages.

Accident-type official sources

• Insurance Filing Requirements — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• Company Safety Records — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Official resources

Sources