Benton County, Minnesota: Motorcycle Accident Reporting Requirements: Police, Driver, and Motor Vehicle Reports

Short answer

In Minnesota, calling or notifying law enforcement, an officer’s motorcycle accident report, an insurer claim notice, and a request for a copy are different steps. A driver involved in a motorcycle accident with bodily injury or death must, by the quickest means of communication, notify the local police department within a municipality, the State Patrol on a trunk highway, or the county sheriff. Minnesota’s statute then requires a peace officer who investigates a reportable motorcycle accident in the regular course of duty to send the required report to the commissioner of public safety. Minn. Stat. § 169.09 does not make the ordinary driver’s next step a general DVS motorcycle accident-report filing: The current statute and DVS motorcycle accident-record materials do not provide a general DVS driver self-report form for an ordinary motorcycle accident. The PS2503 document is a request for a copy of an existing motorcycle accident record.

There is a narrow government-vehicle exception: a motorcycle accident or vehicle-damage notice is required for State of Minnesota vehicles insured by the State Risk Management Division. It is not the ordinary motorist’s DVS form. State vehicle notice form instructions

Immediate checklist

• If anyone is hurt or there is an emergency, get to a safe location if possible and call 911. The Minnesota Department of Commerce also advises exchanging identifying, vehicle, and insurance information and documenting the scene. Commerce: After an Accident
• For an injury or death motorcycle accident, give the required law-enforcement notice using the agency assigned by Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 6. Do not assume a later online request replaces that notice.
• Keep the investigating agency’s name, case number, motorcycle accident date, location, and the other vehicle’s plate/VIN if available. Those are the identifiers DVS asks for on its official request form. PS2503 motorcycle accident record request
• Notify your insurer promptly and follow the policy’s instructions. Commerce says most policies require prompt claim notice; that is an insurance-policy step, not a report to DVS or law enforcement. Commerce: After an Accident

Who reports what in Minnesota

Driver: notification and exchange of information

A driver who knows or has reason to know that a motorcycle accident caused bodily injury, death, or damage to another attended vehicle must provide the driver’s name, date of birth, mailing or email address, and the registration plate number. If requested and available, the driver must show a license or permit to an investigating officer. If insurance details were not given at the scene, the driver must provide the liability insurer and local agent within 72 hours when requested by another involved person or the investigating officer. These are exchange-of-information duties, not a general DVS self-report. Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 3

For an unattended vehicle, the driver must locate and notify the owner, report the identifying information to a peace officer, or leave a conspicuous written notice. For highway-adjacent fixtures, the driver must try to notify the owner or person in charge and report specified information to a peace officer. Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subds. 4–5

Investigating officer: the state motorcycle accident report

The officer-report rule applies when a peace officer investigates, in the regular course of duty, a motorcycle accident that must be reported under the statute. The officer must submit an electronic or written report to the commissioner within 10 days. On a street, highway, roadway, sidewalk, shoulder, shared-use path, or other public right-of-way, the statute identifies these reportable outcomes: a fatality; bodily injury that receives immediate medical treatment at or away from the scene; disabling vehicle damage requiring removal by tow truck or another vehicle; or damage to fixtures, infrastructure, or other property alongside or on a highway. Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 8

The statute separately says motorcycle accidents involving a school bus or a commercial motor vehicle must also follow the referenced school-bus or commercial-vehicle provisions. This general page is not a substitute for an operator, carrier, employer, or school’s separate procedure. Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 8(c)–(d)

Ordinary driver: no general current DVS self-report identified

The current statute and DVS motorcycle accident-record materials do not provide a general DVS driver self-report form for an ordinary motorcycle accident. The current official sources reviewed for this page identify the driver’s notice and information duties and the investigating officer’s report; they do not provide a general current DVS motorcycle accident-report form for an ordinary driver to file after a motorcycle accident. DPS motorcycle accident-report instructions Minn. Stat. § 169.09

Do not confuse DVS’s PS2502 motor-vehicle-record request with a motorcycle accident report. DVS lists PS2502 for motor vehicle and driving records and PS2503 for a motorcycle accident-record copy request. DVS records request forms

State vehicle: a separate administrative notice

If the vehicle is leased through Minnesota’s Department of Administration, the agency’s instructions say to call police, document the people and vehicles involved, and submit the required motorcycle accident report within 24 hours through the fleet coordinator or Risk Management process. The linked Vehicle Motorcycle accident/Damage Notice form is expressly limited to State of Minnesota vehicles insured by the State Risk Management Division. Department of Administration motorcycle accident reporting Vehicle Motorcycle accident/Damage Notice form

How to find or request a motorcycle accident record

DVS provides an official route to request a law-enforcement motorcycle accident report: complete PS2503, Minnesota Motorcycle accident Record Request, and submit it in person at DVS or a full-service deputy registrar office, or by mail to the DVS Records Unit. The current form states a $5 fee for each requested copy. DPS request a motorcycle accident report

The request is not an unrestricted public lookup. DVS says it will process signed requests from an authorized requester, such as a driver, passenger, owner of the vehicle or damaged property, or pedestrian recorded on the police report; an authorized agent may need a signed release. For a fatality, DVS directs the next of kin or legal representative to provide proof of death. The statute also identifies other disclosure categories, including certain people with injury, property damage, or pecuniary loss, their counsel, and relevant insurer representatives. DPS request instructions Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 13

Bring or send what PS2503 asks for: your requester role and signature, proof of identity (or a notarized signature for a mail request), the case number if known, date, location and county, and identifying details for the people or vehicles. The form warns that DVS cannot complete a request with insufficient motorcycle accident information. PS2503

If the report is unavailable or another agency has it

Do not treat DVS as a guaranteed repository for every document an agency may have created. The DVS procedure describes PS2503 as a request for law-enforcement motorcycle accident reports in Minnesota, but does not state that it holds every report or related investigative record. Start with the investigating agency named on your exchange information, case number, or dispatch information.

Ask that police department, sheriff’s office, campus department, tribal agency, or other investigating agency for its motorcycle accident-report or law-enforcement-data request process. Minnesota DPS explains that a request for a police, incident, or investigative report is a request for law-enforcement data governed by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act; data classification can affect what is released or blocked out. DPS: Getting a police report For reports under section 169.09, the statute directs a law-enforcement agency to disclose the officer report on written request to the listed eligible people. Minn. Stat. § 169.09, subd. 13

For a record maintained by a DPS division, use DPS’s public-record request guidance to route the request to the appropriate division. That page explains DPS data classifications and says requests spanning divisions or of uncertain destination may be sent to the Commissioner’s Office.

Documents and identifiers to gather

Keep a copy or photo of the exchange information, the incident or case number, agency name, motorcycle accident date and time, street/highway and county, vehicle plates and VINs if available, contact details for drivers and witnesses, insurance information, photos, towing information, and any request receipt. These details help distinguish the police report from insurance correspondence and from a motor-vehicle-record request. For a practical evidence list, see the motorcycle accident evidence checklist.

A motorcycle accident record request is not the same thing as a public-entity claim notice or a lawsuit filing. This article does not state a deadline for either category, and neither PS2503 nor the State Vehicle Motorcycle accident/Damage Notice form supplies one.

Official resources

• Minnesota motorcycle accident statute, Minn. Stat. § 169.09
• DPS: Request a motorcycle accident report
• DVS PS2503 Minnesota Motorcycle accident Record Request
• DPS public-record requests
• Minnesota Department of Commerce: After an Accident
• Minnesota Department of Administration: Accident Reporting for state vehicles

Sources

1. Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minn. Stat. § 169.09
2. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Request a crash report
3. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, PS2503 Minnesota Crash Record Request
4. Minnesota Department of Commerce, After an Accident
5. Minnesota Department of Administration, Accident Reporting
6. Minnesota Department of Administration, Vehicle Crash/Damage Notice form
7. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Getting a police report
8. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Public record requests