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

Short answer

Delaware’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security (DSHS) is the official custodian of Delaware car accident reports and collects statewide car accident data. That does not mean the public car accident-data map is a copy of a report, or that one state office is the correct pickup point for every report. Delaware says official car accident reports are confidential and directs authorized parties to the reporting police agency for an official copy. If the Delaware State Police investigated the car accident, its Traffic Operations Section accepts report-copy requests by mail only. Delaware’s official car accident-data page and 21 Del. C. § 313 explain the statewide custody and access rules.

For a Delaware State Police report, mail a request to the Delaware State Police Traffic Operations Section, P.O. Box 430, Dover, DE 19903. Include a copy of the car accident information exchange form and payment by check or money order payable to Delaware State Police. The stated fee is $25 for a standard car accident report and $60 for a fatal car accident report. Delaware State Police says it cannot honor walk-in car accident-report requests. Read the DSP request instructions.

Immediate checklist

1. Check the car accident information exchange form for the police agency that investigated the car accident. That agency is the starting point for an official copy.
2. If Delaware State Police investigated, mail the exchange-form copy and the applicable payment to DSP Traffic Operations Section. Do not go to a walk-in counter for this request; DSP says car accident-report requests must be made by mail.
3. If a municipal police department, sheriff, campus police, or another agency investigated, contact that reporting agency directly for its copy procedure. Delaware’s state car accident-data page gives this direction for authorized parties seeking official reports.
4. Bring together the materials the agency expressly asks for. For DSP, that is the car accident information exchange form and payment. The access statute also requires proof of identity and the fee set by the law-enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction.
5. Use the public car accident-data site only for de-identified research, not as the official report. It does not contain personal information and is not an official record of a particular car accident.

Who reports what after a Delaware car accident?

Delaware’s reporting rules separate notifying police from obtaining a later copy of a report.

The $2,000 figure above is a police-notification and investigation threshold in the statute for a public-highway property-damage car accident. It is not a fee, a report-copy eligibility rule, or a deadline.

Who can receive an official car accident report?

Delaware treats accident reports and data derived from them as confidential rather than public records under the state Freedom of Information Act. Under 21 Del. C. § 313(c), disclosure is limited to:

• a person, or that person’s legal representative, requesting the person’s own accident report; and
• an insurer, insurance support organization, or a self-insured entity—or its agent, employee, or contractor—for the statute’s listed claims-investigation, anti-fraud, rating, or underwriting activities.

A requester under that provision must provide proof of identity and pay the fee established by the law-enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction over the car accident. A report associated with a criminal prosecution may be withheld until that prosecution concludes. These limits are why the standard state FOIA process is not the normal route for an official car accident report: the report statute specifically says the reports are not public records under FOIA.

Requesting a report when Delaware State Police investigated

Delaware State Police publishes a specific copy-request procedure through its Traffic Unit page:

• Method: mail only. DSP expressly says it cannot honor walk-in car accident-report requests.
• Mailing address: Delaware State Police, Traffic Operations Section, P.O. Box 430, Dover, DE 19903.
• What to include: a copy of the car accident information exchange form and payment.
• Payment: check or money order payable to Delaware State Police.
• Fee: $25 for a standard car accident report; $60 for a fatal car accident report.
• Questions: DSP lists Traffic Operations at (302) 739-5931, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

DSP’s published procedure does not state an online ordering option or a waiting period for a car accident-report copy. Do not infer a delivery date from the absence of a stated waiting period. If the form or agency information is missing, contact the reporting agency to ask what information it needs rather than sending a request to the wrong department.

What to gather before you request a copy

Use the car accident information exchange form as the primary document. It is the item DSP specifically directs requesters to include. Also keep the name of the reporting police agency visible on that form, because Delaware’s statewide car accident-data page directs authorized parties to the reporting agency for official copies.

For an eligibility-based request, be prepared to provide the proof of identity required by 21 Del. C. § 313(c)(2). For a DSP request, prepare the correct check or money order. The official DSP page does not prescribe additional identifiers in its published instructions, so this guide does not add an invented list of required dates, case numbers, or vehicle details.

If the report is unavailable, held elsewhere, or you only need car accident data

First, confirm which agency reported the car accident. The statewide DSHS data page is clear: authorized parties should contact the reporting police agency directly for official copies. That is the appropriate fallback when the investigating agency was local or another non-DSP agency. It also means a Delaware State Police mail request should not be treated as a guaranteed route for a car accident investigated by another department.

If the report is tied to a criminal prosecution, the statute permits it to be withheld until that prosecution has concluded. If you are not within a statutory category of requester, the report’s confidential status may prevent release.

For non-personal, de-identified car accident research, Delaware’s Public Car accident Data resource is available to the public. It is updated monthly, covers car accidents from 2009 through six months ago, and is designed for analysis and safety planning. It does not contain personal information and is not an official record of a particular car accident. For practical next steps after a car accident, see the site’s what-to-do guide and evidence checklist.

Official resources

• Delaware State Police Traffic Unit: car accident-report copy instructions
• Delaware Public Car accident Data: statewide data and official-copy direction
• 21 Del. C. § 313: report confidentiality and eligible disclosure
• 21 Del. C. § 4203: police reporting and investigation rules
• Delaware State Police FOIA page — useful for other DSP records, but car accident reports are addressed by the confidentiality and disclosure rule above.

Sources

• Delaware State Police, “Traffic Unit”, “Request Crash Report.”
• Delaware Code Online, Title 21, Chapter 3, § 313, “Accident statistics and reports; evidence.”
• Delaware Code Online, Title 21, Chapter 42, § 4203, “Duty to report collisions; evidence.”
• State of Delaware Open Data Portal, “Public Crash Data.”
• Delaware State Police, “Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).”