Big Horn County, Wyoming: Truck Accident Reporting Requirements: Police, Driver, and Motor Vehicle Reports

Big Horn County, Wyoming local guide: This county or county-equivalent page applies the state and national guidance and official resources below to people looking for accident information in Big Horn County, Wyoming. The agency responsible for a police report or records request can depend on where the incident occurred and which agency investigated it. Confirm the agency shown on the report or incident information before requesting a record.

Short answer

Wyoming drivers must immediately notify law enforcement by the quickest means of communication when a truck accident causes injury or death, or when property damage leaves a vehicle—other than a bicycle or human-powered vehicle—unable to operate normally and safely. Inside a municipality, the statute directs notice to the local police department; otherwise, it directs notice to the nearest Wyoming Highway Patrol office or county sheriff’s office. This is a notice to law enforcement, not a routine driver-filed DMV truck accident report or an insurance claim. The current rule took effect July 1, 2025. 1

Immediate checklist

Put immediate safety and urgent care ahead of paperwork.
Decide whether the Wyoming notice rule applies: injury or death, or a vehicle disabled from normal and safe operation. If it does, notify the appropriate law-enforcement agency immediately. 1
Keep the case number, investigating agency, truck accident date, names of involved people, vehicle VIN, and your contact details. WYDOT uses these identifiers to locate a report. 3
Preserve the practical record of what happened: photographs, contact information, repair or towing documents, and communications. See the car-accident evidence checklist for an organized evidence list.
If you need the officer’s report, use WYDOT Highway Safety’s request path rather than assuming that a police notification automatically gives you a copy. 3
Treat an insurer claim, a claim against a government entity, and a court filing as separate steps with separate rules.

Who reports what in Wyoming?

Person or process	What the official rule says	Deadline or timing	Destination
Driver	Give notice of a truck accident when it results in injury/death or a covered vehicle is disabled from normal and safe operation.	Immediately, by the quickest means of communication.	Local police department in a municipality; otherwise nearest Highway Patrol office or county sheriff. 1
Capable vehicle occupant	Gives or causes notice if the driver is physically incapable of doing so.	The same immediate notice context.	The law-enforcement destination in the driver-notice rule. 1
Investigating police officer	Sends a written truck accident report when the investigation involves injury/death or a vehicle disabled at the scene or later reported no longer operable.	Within 10 days after the investigation.	Wyoming Highway Department/WYDOT. 1
Driver or owner—local rule only	A municipality may adopt an ordinance requiring a driver or owner to file a report with a designated city department, or a copy of a report otherwise required to go to the highway department.	Only if the applicable municipal ordinance requires it.	The city department named by that ordinance. 1
Insured person	WYDOT says it verifies insurance online and may contact a driver if it cannot verify coverage. The state procedure reviewed does not make that contact a driver-filed insurer claim.	No statewide insurer-notice deadline is stated in the official sources below.	Use the insurer’s own claim channel and policy materials. 5
Person making a governmental claim	Present an itemized written claim, with the statutory information and sworn signature/certification requirements, before an action under the Governmental Claims Act.	Generally within 2 years of the alleged act, error, or omission; the statute includes a discovery provision. 6	State claim: General Services Division, Department of Administration and Information. Other governmental entity: its statutory business office. 6
Person filing a civil action	The general limitation provision gives four years for specified actions involving injury to personal property or an injury to rights not arising on contract.	Four years after accrual for those listed categories, unless a different statute governs. 6	The appropriate court; this is not a police-report or DMV deadline.

The driver’s law-enforcement notice rule

The current statutory trigger is not a dollar estimate of damage. The 2025 enrolled act changed the prior wording and became effective July 1, 2025. It covers injury or death, or property damage that leaves a vehicle unable to operate normally and safely; bicycles and human-powered vehicles are excluded from that vehicle condition. 1 2

For a truck accident inside a municipality, the statute names the local police department; outside, the nearest Highway Patrol office or county sheriff’s office. 1 WYDOT summarizes destinations more broadly as local police, county sheriff, and/or state law enforcement. 3 That wording is not identical to the location-based statute; do not infer a duplicate-notice requirement from the summary.

If the driver is physically incapable of giving immediate notice, a capable occupant must make or cause it to be made. 1 The officer’s written report is a separate duty with a 10-day period after investigation; it does not replace the driver’s immediate notice duty. 1

Is there a statewide driver or DMV self-report?

The current state provisions reviewed identify immediate driver notice and a written investigating-officer report. They do not identify a statewide routine driver-to-WYDOT truck accident-report form and deadline for this kind of truck accident. 1

That is not a reason to ignore a local requirement. Wyoming law lets a municipality adopt an ordinance requiring a driver or owner to file a city report or a copy of a report. 1 Check the ordinance for the municipality involved before concluding that no local filing is needed. Do not confuse that possible city filing with the statewide police-notification rule.

WYDOT says insurance is verified online and may contact a driver if it cannot verify coverage. 5 That is insurance verification, not an instruction to submit a truck accident report to the DMV after every truck accident.

Insurer notice, public-entity notice, and court deadlines are separate

Insurer notice. None of the official sources used here states one statewide deadline for reporting every truck accident to an insurer. An insurance claim is not a police notice or officer report. Use the insurer’s own claim path and policy materials; WYDOT insurance verification does not substitute for that step. 5

A claim involving a government entity. If a potential claim is against a Wyoming governmental entity, the Governmental Claims Act has its own presentment rule. The claim must be an itemized written statement presented within two years of the alleged act, error, or omission, subject to the statute’s discovery language. It must state the time, place, and circumstances of the loss or injury; the claimant’s identifying/contact information and representative or attorney if any; and the compensation or relief demanded. The statute also specifies a sworn claimant signature and notarial form. 6

For a claim against the State, the statute sends the claim to the General Services Division of the Department of Administration and Information. The agency’s official claims page says an originally signed claim must be mailed or hand-delivered to Risk Management or the General Services Division and is presented when received at one of those offices. 7 For another governmental entity, the statute uses the entity’s business office and specifies offices such as the county clerk, city or town clerk, school superintendent, or other listed office depending on entity type. 6 The form and agency instructions do not replace the statutory content, signature, and timing requirements.

A lawsuit. Under the general civil limitation statute, specified non-contract actions involving personal property or injury to rights have a four-year period after accrual. A different statutory limit controls when applicable. 6 Governmental-claim litigation is generally barred unless commenced within one year after the claim is filed, subject to stated exceptions and the applicable limitation period. 6 Do not replace governmental presentment with the general four-year period.

How to request a Wyoming truck accident report

WYDOT’s Office of Data Quality Control and Assurance says it keeps truck accident reports and collects them from law-enforcement agencies throughout Wyoming. 3 The agency lists three request routes:

Phone: WYDOT Highway Safety at 307-777-4450;
Email: truck accident.records@wyo.gov; or
Mail: Wyoming Department of Transportation, Attention: Highway Safety, 5300 Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82009. State whether you want paper, email, or fax delivery. 3

Give as many identifiers as you have: case number, investigating law-enforcement agency, involved person’s name and date of birth, truck accident date, involved vehicle VIN, email address, and phone number. 3 WYDOT’s companion request page lists a $3.00 truck accident-report charge and a $2.50 service fee when paying by credit card. It says payment is due at request, accepts major credit cards, and also accepts money orders or checks payable to WYDOT by mail or drop-off. 4

The public request pages do not state requester eligibility, an online purchase portal, or fulfillment time. They provide contact routes and identifiers but do not promise every requester or report will be available. 3 4 Do not infer a fee waiver, guaranteed turnaround, or unrestricted disclosure.

If the report is unavailable or WYDOT cannot locate it

First, provide or confirm the investigating agency, case number, truck accident date, names, and VIN with Highway Safety. Those are the identifiers WYDOT asks for. 3 If the report is not in the receiving agency’s custody or control, Wyoming’s Public Records Act says the designated public-records person must notify the requester of that unavailability within seven business days after acknowledged receipt and provide the appropriate records contact if known. 8

A public-records request goes to the designated records person for the agency responsible; Wyoming has no central request location. 9 If readily available, a record is to be released immediately when that does not impair agency duties; otherwise the statute generally sets a 30-calendar-day outer period from acknowledged receipt, absent good cause. 8 These rules do not establish that a particular truck accident record is disclosable.

For a dispute about a records request, the Governor’s Public Records Ombudsman page explains that either side may file a complaint after a request and provides the complaint route. The Ombudsman can mediate and review issues but does not provide legal advice or a legally enforceable opinion. 9

Documents and identifiers to keep

Keep the truck accident case number, investigating agency, truck accident date, names and date of birth for an involved person, VIN, and your email and phone number for a report request. 3 For an insurance claim, keep the insurer claim number and the insurer’s requested communications separately. For a governmental claim, preserve the statutory written claim, the original sworn signature materials, proof of delivery or receipt, and any agency response. 6 7

For a broader next-steps sequence after a truck accident, see what to do after a car accident.

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.