How to Get a State-Level Car Accident Report in Maine

Short answer

For a Maine State Traffic Car accident Report, start with the Maine Car accident Reporting Online Search & Ordering Service, an official Maine State Police service. The service searches the Maine State Police Car accident Database. It says anyone may purchase a car accident report, and the listed price is $10 per report. Search using the name and date of birth of a person on the report; you can also search by car accident date, location, or investigating agency. Maine State Police’s Vehicle Car accidents FAQ says reports are available online or through the Traffic Division office in Augusta.

This is the state-level traffic car accident report—not necessarily every record created after the car accident. The ordering service says there may be separate officer narratives, witness statements, photographs, or recordings held by the investigating law-enforcement agency. For those records, contact that agency directly.

Immediate checklist

• Write down the car accident date, approximate time, location, and the name of the agency or officer who investigated.
• Have the name and date of birth of at least one person on the report. An incident number is useful if you have it.
• Search the official State Police car accident-report service. The online search itself is listed as free.
• If the report is not found, do not assume it does not exist. Check the report status and follow the state and local-agency steps below.
• Keep the report with photographs, repair information, and other materials in an organized record. The car-accident evidence checklist can help organize non-government records.

Who reports what after a Maine car accident

Maine’s current accident-report statute uses a specific definition of a reportable accident: an accident on a public way, or a place where public traffic may reasonably be anticipated, that results in injury or death or apparent property damage of $2,000 or more. For that category, the operator, a person acting for the operator, or—if the operator is unknown—the knowledgeable owner must report the accident immediately by the quickest means to the appropriate state, county, or municipal law-enforcement office. Read the definition and reporting rule in 29-A M.R.S. §2251.

That notification to police is different from ordering a copy later. A law-enforcement officer who investigates a reportable accident must interview participants and witnesses and transmit an electronic or written report with available information to the Chief of the State Police within five days after notification. The Chief receives, tabulates, and analyzes accident reports and sends them to the Secretary of State. Those statutory duties help explain why a newly investigated report may not appear immediately in the state database.

How to find and request the state record

Order online

Use the official online service to search the Maine State Police Car accident Database. The service says you need a person’s name and date of birth to use it. It also allows searches by car accident location, car accident date, or investigating agency. A credit card or eligible InforME subscription is needed to order. When a matching report is found and ordered, the service says it is sent by email; its homepage says most reports are sent within two hours, while its FAQ says to allow up to 24 hours when the details are correct and the report is in the database.

The listed price is $10 per report. The online homepage says no charge is made if the search produces no match. Separately, the State Police FAQ describes the $10 charge as a nonrefundable records-search administrative fee, including when no report exists. Because those official pages describe payment differently, confirm the charge shown in the request path you choose before submitting payment.

Request through the Traffic Division or by mail

The State Police FAQ says a requester may purchase a report online or use the request form from the ordering-service homepage to mail a request to the Maine State Police Traffic Division. It also says reports are available through the Traffic Division office at 36 Hospital Street, Augusta. Bring or provide the car accident facts the agency lists: date and location; a person’s name and date of birth; the investigating officer’s or agency’s name; and, if known, the incident report number.

For car accidents before 2003, the online-service homepage says the report may not be in the database. It directs readers to request a manual search from the Maine State Police Traffic Division; the listed fee is $10 and nonrefundable. If a matching report is found, the service says it may be sent by U.S. mail, fax, or email.

What the state database can—and cannot—provide

The state service is designed to provide a State of Maine Traffic Car accident Report. It is a practical statewide access point for reports submitted to the State Police Car accident Database, but it is not a promise that every document from every responding agency will be displayed there. The service specifically warns that additional materials may remain with the investigating agency.

If you need a correction, the State Police FAQ says to contact the investigating officer; it says that officer is the only person who can make changes to the report. If you need narratives, witness statements, photos, recordings, or another incident record, ask the investigating municipal police department, sheriff’s office, State Police unit, campus agency, tribal agency, or other agency that actually investigated what it holds and how it handles record requests.

There are two important state-system fallbacks. First, if a report is not found, the FAQ says the investigating agency may not yet have submitted it to the Traffic Division; try again in a few days because reports are downloaded daily. Second, a car accident with less than $1,000 in combined damage and no injury reported at the scene is described by the FAQ as non-reportable and not maintained in that system; for such a record, it directs readers to contact the department called to the scene for its incident report. The current statute’s $2,000 reportable-accident definition controls the statutory notification rule; do not use the older FAQ’s $1,000 database description to broaden or replace that rule.

The FAQ also says car accidents involving an ATV or snowmobile covered by the Maine Warden Service are not in the State Police car accident database; contact the Maine Warden Service for those records.

Information and documents to gather

Before searching or contacting an agency, gather the following:

• Car accident date, time, and exact or approximate location;
• Name and date of birth of a person involved;
• Investigating agency and officer name, if known;
• Incident or report number, if available;
• Driver, vehicle registration, and insurance information you exchanged or gave to the officer; and
• Any Driver Report Form or paperwork provided at the scene.

Do not rely on an insurance company’s use of “at fault” as a State Police finding. The State Police FAQ says the state does not enter “at fault” or “not at fault” on an insurance record; insurance companies determine fault, while the investigating agency identifies contributing factors.

If the report is unavailable or held elsewhere

Start with the agency named on any scene paperwork. For a local investigation, ask that police or sheriff’s department whether it submitted the traffic car accident report to the State Police and whether it has a separate incident report or supplemental materials. For State Police investigative records outside the traffic-report order process, see the agency’s Investigative Records and Record Requests page. That page explains that State Police investigative and intelligence records are not generally public records and that release is restricted under Maine law.

If an online search produces no match, keep the search details and try the State Police instructions for a later search or manual search. If you are collecting a broader file after a car accident, the site’s guides and resources provide additional general organization help.

Official resources

• Maine Car accident Reporting Online Search & Ordering Service
• Maine Car accident Reporting service FAQ
• Maine State Police: Vehicle Car accidents FAQ
• Maine Legislature: 29-A M.R.S. §2251, Accident reports
• Maine State Police: Investigative Records and Record Requests

Sources

1. Maine Crash Reporting Online Search & Ordering Service, Maine State Police
2. Maine Crash Reporting Online Search & Ordering Service FAQ, Maine State Police
3. Vehicle Crashes FAQ, Maine State Police
4. 29-A M.R.S. §2251: Accident reports, Maine Legislature
5. Investigative Records and Record Requests, Maine State Police