Barnes County, North Dakota: Motorcycle Accident Reporting Requirements: Police, Driver, and Motor Vehicle Reports

Short answer

For a state-reportable motorcycle accident in North Dakota, the driver’s immediate duty is to notify law enforcement—not to use the online report-purchase site. A motorcycle accident is state-reportable when it involves an injury, a death, or apparent total property damage of at least $4,000. Inside a municipality, notify the local police department; outside a municipality, notify the county sheriff or North Dakota Highway Patrol. An officer who investigates a reportable motorcycle accident makes and sends the official motorcycle accident report to the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT). North Dakota Century Code § 39-08-09 and § 39-08-10

There is one narrow driver-to-motor-vehicle-agency step in the statute: if the driver cannot give the required insurance carrier and policy information to the investigating officer, the driver must provide it to the Driver License Division within five days, in the form the division requires. The official sources reviewed for this page do not describe a general statewide driver self-report form that replaces the immediate law-enforcement notice. The NDDOT online site is for buying an available report, not filing one. § 39-08-09; NDDOT: Purchase Motorcycle accident Report

Immediate checklist

1. If the motorcycle accident involves an injury, death, or apparent total damage of at least $4,000, give immediate notice to the proper law-enforcement agency: local police in a municipality, or the county sheriff or Highway Patrol outside one. An undomesticated-animal motorcycle accident with property damage only to the driver’s vehicle is exempt from that notice requirement, regardless of damage amount. § 39-08-09
2. If an officer investigates, provide the insurance carrier and policy number when available. If that information is not available for the officer, preserve the details needed for the Driver License Division submission required by the statute. § 39-08-09
3. Write down the motorcycle accident date, county, investigating agency, officer name or badge number if provided, and any report or case number. These details make it easier to locate the record later.
4. Keep photos, vehicle and insurance details, contact information exchanged at the scene, and repair or damage information with your own notes. See the car-accident evidence checklist for a practical list.

Who reports what in North Dakota?

The driver: immediate notice to police, sheriff, or Highway Patrol

The driver must provide insurance carrier and policy information to the investigating officer. If the driver cannot do so, the statute directs a submission to the Driver License Division within five days on the division-required form. This is an insurance-information follow-up, not a verified instruction to submit a full driver motorcycle accident narrative to NDDOT. If the driver is physically unable to give notice, a capable occupant must make or cause it; in the stated owner-not-driver circumstance, the owner has a five-day duty after learning of the motorcycle accident. §§ 39-08-09 and 39-08-11

A municipality may adopt an ordinance requiring a driver to file a report with a designated city department or provide a copy of a report filed with the state. This is an authority for individual cities or municipalities, not a statewide statement that every driver must complete a city form. Check the designated local department if a city gives you a separate instruction. § 39-08-16

The investigating officer: the official motorcycle accident report

When a law-enforcement officer investigates a motorcycle accident required to be reported under § 39-08-09—at the scene or later through participant or witness interviews—the officer must make and promptly forward a report in the director’s prescribed electronic format. The statute also directs an investigating officer to forward the report to the department within ten days after the motorcycle accident. §§ 39-08-10 and 39-08-13

This officer report is different from a driver’s immediate notice. It is the record NDDOT identifies as a report available for purchase once it is in the system. Do not assume that calling law enforcement automatically means a report is already ready to buy; the NDDOT page says a report may not be located when fewer than 10 days have passed. NDDOT: Purchase Motorcycle accident Report

Motor-vehicle agency records: NDDOT holds the state motorcycle accident record

NDDOT says reports for traffic motorcycle accidents reportable to the department are available for online purchase and are delivered immediately if available. The NDDOT purchase page concerns the state motorcycle accident record; it is not described as an all-purpose repository for every police document, dispatch record, photograph, or local agency file. NDDOT: Purchase Motorcycle accident Report

The statute also addresses access. Listed parties and representatives may receive a completed copy on the prescribed form for up to $7. Any person may receive an investigating officer’s report for up to $7 if exempt information is removed. Protected fields include driver identification numbers, telephone numbers, insurance carrier and policy information, and dates of birth; separate minor-party protections apply to other requesters. § 39-08-13

Insurance notice, public-agency notice, and lawsuit dates are separate questions

These verified motorcycle accident-report sources do not provide an insurer claim-notice deadline, a public-entity notice deadline, or a lawsuit filing deadline. Do not treat the police-notification rule, five-day insurance-information follow-up, or report-purchase waiting period as a deadline for those separate matters. For general next steps, see what to do after a motorcycle accident.

How to find or request the state motorcycle accident record

Use NDDOT’s official purchase page, which links directly to the state’s online motorcycle accident-report purchase portal. The stated fee is $7. NDDOT says customers receive the report immediately if it is available for purchase.

Have at least two of these three identifiers ready: the motorcycle accident date, a last name, and the county of the motorcycle accident. If you lack them, NDDOT says to contact the law-enforcement agency that investigated the motorcycle accident to obtain the details. The agency page lists three common reasons a report may not be found: it has been fewer than 10 days since the motorcycle accident, the motorcycle accident was not reportable, or it involved an undomesticated animal with no injury or fatality. NDDOT: Purchase Motorcycle accident Report

If the record is unavailable or held elsewhere

Start with the investigating agency for the report number, date, location, and county; NDDOT directs people missing search identifiers to that agency. If the state record is not yet available, wait until NDDOT’s stated 10-day period has passed before searching again. A state report may not exist for a nonreportable motorcycle accident.

For a separate record held by a city police department, sheriff, campus agency, or another investigating agency, ask that agency’s records custodian for the specific record you need. North Dakota’s Attorney General says a public-record request can be made by phone, email, mail, or in person and must reasonably identify the record. The public entity must respond within a reasonable time by providing records or citing the authority for denial; it may charge for copies. This does not guarantee release of every local file: the motorcycle accident-report statute contains exemptions for certain records and information. Attorney General: Requesting Public Records; § 39-08-13

For records from tribal law enforcement, contact that agency directly for its request procedure rather than assuming the state purchase portal or state public-record process controls its records.

Documents and identifiers to gather

Keep the motorcycle accident date and time, location and county, report or case number, investigating agency, driver and vehicle details, insurance information, photos, exchanged contact information, and repair or damage records together. For a state report, NDDOT specifically lists the date, last name, and county as search identifiers. Keep the purchase receipt with the downloaded report.

Official resources

• North Dakota Department of Transportation — Purchase Motorcycle accident Report
• North Dakota Motorcycle accident Report Purchase portal
• North Dakota Highway Patrol — Request a Motorcycle accident Report
• North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 39-08
• North Dakota Attorney General — Requesting Public Records
• AccidentFiling.ai guides

Sources

1. North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 39-08 — Accident Reports (sections 39-08-09 through 39-08-16).
2. North Dakota Department of Transportation — Purchase Crash Report.
3. North Dakota Crash Report Purchase portal, linked by NDDOT.
4. North Dakota Highway Patrol — Request a Crash Report.
5. North Dakota Attorney General — Requesting Public Records.