HF 4056

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This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request  State of Minnesota
  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
  H. F. No.   4056
03/09/2026     Authored by Witte, Huot and Stier
  The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy
1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to motor vehicles; modifying accident report requirements; authorizing
1.3local law enforcement to provide certain data to contracted service providers for
1.4purposes of accident reporting; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections
1.5169.011, by adding a subdivision; 169.09, subdivisions 8, 9, 13, 19.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.011, is amended by adding a subdivision
1.8to read:
1.9Subd. 18a. Contracted service provider. "Contracted service provider" means a
1.10contracted entity authorized by a governmental agency to provide services that support or
1.11enable the permissible generation, collection, management, and dissemination of crash
1.12reports or data under the requirements of this chapter.
1.13EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2026.
1.14Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 8, is amended to read:
1.15Subd. 8. Officer to report accident to commissioner. (a) A peace officer who
1.16investigates in the regular course of duty an accident that is required to be reported under
1.17this section must submit an electronic or written report of the accident to the commissioner
1.18of public safety within ten days after the date of the accident and may retain an unofficial
1.19copy of the report locally. Within two business days after identification of a fatality that
1.20resulted from an accident, the reporting agency must notify the commissioner of the basic
1.21circumstances of the accident. A report or notification under this subdivision must be in the
1.22format as prescribed in subdivision 9.
Sec. 2.  1
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2.1      (b) Accidents on streets, highways, roadways, sidewalks, shoulders, shared use paths,
2.2  or any other portion of a public right-of-way must be reported under the requirements of
2.3  this section if the accident results in:
2.4      (1) a fatality;
2.5      (2) bodily injury to a person who, because of the injury, immediately receives medical
2.6  treatment away from or at the scene of the accident;
2.7      (3) one or more of the motor vehicles incurring disabling damage that requires a vehicle
2.8  to be transported away from the scene of the accident by tow truck or other vehicle; or
2.9      (4) damage to fixtures, infrastructure, or any other property alongside or on a highway.
2.10     (c) An accident involving a school bus, as defined in section 169.011, subdivision 71,
2.11 must be reported under the requirements of this section and section 169.4511.
2.12     (d) An accident involving a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 169.781,
2.13 subdivision 1, paragraph (a), must be reported under the requirements of this section and
2.14 section 169.783.
2.15     (e) Accidents occurring on public lands or trail systems that result in the circumstances
2.16 specified in paragraph (b) must be reported under the requirements of this section.
2.17     EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2026, for reports submitted on
2.18 or after that date.
2.19   Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 9, is amended to read:
2.20     Subd. 9. Accident report format. The commissioner of public safety shall must prescribe
2.21 the format for the official accident reports required under this section. Upon request, the
2.22 commissioner shall must make the format available the format to police departments,
2.23 coroners, sheriffs, garages, and other suitable agencies or individuals. The electronic or
2.24 written report to be completed by individuals involved in accidents and by investigating
2.25 peace officers must disclose the causes, existing conditions, and the individuals and vehicles
2.26 involved.
2.27   Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 13, is amended to read:
2.28     Subd. 13. Reports confidential; evidence, fee, penalty, appropriation. (a) All reports
2.29 and supplemental information required under this section must be for the use of the
2.30 commissioner of public safety and other appropriate state, federal, county, and municipal
Sec. 4.  2
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3.1  governmental agencies for accident analysis or law enforcement investigatory purposes,
3.2  except:
3.3      (1) upon written request, the commissioner of public safety,; a full-service provider as
3.4  defined in section 171.01, subdivision 33a, or any; a law enforcement agency; or a law
3.5  enforcement agency's contracted service provider must disclose the report required under
3.6  subdivision 8 to:
3.7      (i) any individual involved in the accident, the representative of the individual's estate,
3.8  or the surviving spouse, or one or more surviving next of kin, or a trustee appointed under
3.9  section 573.02;
3.10     (ii) any other person injured in person, property, or means of support, or who incurs
3.11 other pecuniary loss by virtue of the accident;
3.12     (iii) legal counsel of a person described in item (i) or (ii);
3.13     (iv) a representative of the insurer of any person described in item (i) or (ii); or
3.14     (v) a city or county attorney or an attorney representing the state in an implied consent
3.15 action who is charged with the prosecution of a traffic or criminal offense that is the result
3.16 of a traffic crash investigation conducted by law enforcement;
3.17     (2) the commissioner of public safety may verify with insurance companies vehicle
3.18 insurance information to enforce sections 65B.48, 169.792, 169.793, 169.796, and 169.797;
3.19     (3) the commissioner of public safety must provide the commissioner of transportation
3.20 the information obtained for each traffic accident involving a commercial motor vehicle,
3.21 for purposes of administering commercial vehicle safety regulations;
3.22     (4) upon specific request, the commissioner of public safety must provide the
3.23 commissioner of transportation the information obtained regarding each traffic accident
3.24 involving damage to identified state-owned infrastructure, for purposes of debt collection
3.25 under section 161.20, subdivision 4; and
3.26     (5) the commissioner of public safety may give to the United States Department of
3.27 Transportation commercial vehicle accident information in connection with federal grant
3.28 programs relating to safety.
3.29     (b) Accident reports and data contained in the reports are not discoverable under any
3.30 provision of law or rule of court. A report must not be used as evidence in any trial, civil
3.31 or criminal, or any action for damages or criminal proceedings arising out of an accident.
3.32 However, the commissioner of public safety must furnish, upon the demand of any person
Sec. 4.  3
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4.1  who has or claims to have made a report or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing
4.2  that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the commissioner solely to prove
4.3  compliance or failure to comply with the requirements that the report be made to the
4.4  commissioner.
4.5      (c) Nothing in this subdivision prevents any individual who has made a report under
4.6  this section from providing information to any individuals involved in an accident or their
4.7  representatives or from testifying in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident,
4.8  as to facts within the individual's knowledge. It is intended by this subdivision to render
4.9  privileged the reports required, but it is not intended to prohibit proof of the facts to which
4.10 the reports relate.
4.11     (d) Disclosing any information contained in any accident report, except as provided in
4.12 this subdivision, section 13.82, subdivision 3 or 6, or other statutes, is a misdemeanor.
4.13     (e) The commissioner of public safety or full-service provider as defined in section
4.14 171.01, subdivision 33a, must charge authorized persons as described in paragraph (a) a $5
4.15 fee for a copy of an accident report. Of the $5 fee collected by the commissioner under this
4.16 paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited in the driver and vehicle services operating account
4.17 under section 299A.705 and ten percent must be deposited in the general fund. Of the $5
4.18 fee collected by a full-service provider, the provider must transmit 50 cents to the
4.19 commissioner for deposit in the general fund, and the provider must retain the remainder.
4.20 The commissioner may also furnish an electronic copy of the database of accident records,
4.21 which must not contain personal or private data on an individual, to private agencies as
4.22 provided in paragraph (g), for not less than the cost of preparing the copies on a bulk basis
4.23 as provided in section 13.03, subdivision 3.
4.24     (f) The fees specified in paragraph (e) notwithstanding, the commissioner and law
4.25 enforcement agencies must charge commercial users who request access to response or
4.26 incident data relating to accidents a fee not to exceed 50 cents per record. "Commercial
4.27 user" is a user who in one location requests access to data in more than five accident reports
4.28 per month, unless the user establishes that access is not for a commercial purpose. Of the
4.29 money collected by the commissioner under this paragraph, 90 percent must be deposited
4.30 in the driver and vehicle services operating account under section 299A.705 and ten percent
4.31 must be deposited in the general fund.
4.32     (g) The fees in paragraphs (e) and (f) notwithstanding, the commissioner must provide
4.33 an electronic copy of the accident records database to the public on a case-by-case basis
4.34 using the cost-recovery charges provided for under section 13.03, subdivision 3. The database
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5.1  provided must not contain personal or private data on an individual. However, unless the
5.2  accident records database includes the vehicle identification number, the commissioner
5.3  must include the vehicle registration plate number if a private agency certifies and agrees
5.4  that the agency:
5.5      (1) is in the business of collecting accident and damage information on vehicles;
5.6      (2) will use the vehicle registration plate number only for identifying vehicles that have
5.7  been involved in accidents or damaged, to provide this information to persons seeking access
5.8  to a vehicle's history and not for identifying individuals or for any other purpose; and
5.9      (3) will be subject to the penalties and remedies under sections 13.08 and 13.09.
5.10     (h) A reporting agency that retains unofficial copies of reports locally may provide
5.11 nonpersonal data contained in the reports to a contracted service provider subject to the
5.12 requirements and limitations of paragraph (g), clauses (1) to (3), and section 13.055.
5.13     EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2026, for reports submitted on
5.14 or after that date.
5.15   Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 169.09, subdivision 19, is amended to read:
5.16     Subd. 19. Terminology. (a) The provisions of this section apply equally whether the
5.17 term "accident" or "collision" is used. The term "accident" or "collision" does not include:
5.18     (1) an occurrence involving only boarding and alighting from a stationary motor vehicle;
5.19     (2) an occurrence involving only the loading or unloading of cargo; or
5.20     (3) intentional vehicle-to-vehicle contact when initiated by a peace officer:
5.21     (i) to stop a perpetrator from fleeing in a motor vehicle, as defined in section 609.487,
5.22 subdivision 3; or
5.23     (ii) as an authorized use of force, as defined in section 609.06, subdivision 1; 609.065;
5.24 or 609.066.
5.25     (b) For purposes of this section, "disabling damage" means damage that prevents a motor
5.26 vehicle from departing the scene of the accident in its usual manner in daylight after simple
5.27 repairs. Disabling damage includes damage to a motor vehicle that could be driven from
5.28 the scene of the accident but would be further damaged if so driven. Disabling damage does
5.29 not include:
5.30     (1) damage that can be remedied temporarily at the scene of the accident without special
5.31 tools or parts;
Sec. 5.  5
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6.1     (2) tire disablement without other damage, even if no spare tire is available;
6.2     (3) headlamp or taillight damage; or
6.3     (4) damage that makes the turn signals, horn, or windshield wipers inoperable.
6.4     (c) For purposes of this section, motor vehicle includes off-highway vehicles, as defined
6.5 in section 84.771, and snowmobiles, as defined in section 84.81.
6.6     (d) For purposes of this section, "official accident report" means an original copy of an
6.7 accident report that meets the requirements of subdivision 9 and is held by the commissioner
6.8 of public safety.
      Sec. 5.  6