Key points about crash reports after an accident in Alabama:
- Alabama requires accidents involving injury or death to be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately.
- If police investigate the accident, the officer generally completes the official Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report rather than the driver.
- Property-damage-only crashes generally don’t carry the same immediate police-reporting requirement.
- You can generally still file an insurance claim without a police report, although proving what happened may be harder if fault is disputed.
- Alabama crash reports can be purchased online through the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) or obtained at an ALEA Driver License Office.
If you’ve been in a car accident in Alabama, you’ve probably heard someone mention the police report, accident report, or crash report. But you may not know whether you need to file one yourself, what’s actually included in the report, or where you’re supposed to get a copy.
To make things more confusing, Alabama has different requirements for reporting an accident to police, filing certain paperwork yourself, and obtaining the official crash report afterward.
Below, we’ll explain who needs to file an official crash report after an Alabama car accident, when you may need to submit an additional form, how long reports take, and exactly where you can go to get a copy.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an Alabama crash, contact the Birmingham car accident attorneys at Nomberg Law Firm for a free consultation.
We can obtain and review the crash report, investigate what happened, and help you pursue the full compensation you’re entitled to receive.
What’s the difference between a police report and a crash report in Alabama?
After a car accident, people often use the terms police report, accident report, and crash report interchangeably.
In Alabama, the official document prepared by the law enforcement officer who investigates the accident is the Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report (UTCR).
The report creates an official record of the accident and often includes information such as:
- The names and contact information of the drivers involved
- Driver’s license and vehicle information
- Insurance information for each driver
- The date, time, and location of the crash
- A description or diagram showing how the crash occurred
- Injuries and fatalities reported
- Vehicle damage
- Road, traffic, lighting, and weather conditions
- Traffic violations or citations issued
- Names and contact information for witnesses
- The investigating officer’s information
So, when your insurance company or attorney asks you for the “police report” after an Alabama car accident, this is generally the report they’re talking about.
Do I have to file a crash report after an accident in Alabama?
It depends. If the accident causes an injury or death, Alabama law requires you to immediately report the crash to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
If no one was injured or killed, Alabama law generally does not require you to report a property-damage-only accident to police.
However, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) recommends reporting all crashes to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction.
If police respond and investigate the accident, you typically don’t have to prepare the official police crash report yourself. The investigating officer completes and submits the Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report (UTCR).
There is one additional form you should know about if the other driver doesn’t have insurance.
ALEA currently uses the SR-31 Safety Responsibility Claim Form when an uninsured motorist causes an accident involving death, personal injury, or more than $500 in property damage to one owner and you haven’t been compensated for your losses. The SR-31 is separate from the police crash report.
You may also come across references online to an SR-13 accident report. That’s an outdated form that has been replaced by the SR-31, so don’t rely on older instructions telling you to file an SR-13.
Even when you’re not legally required to immediately call the police, doing so can be a smart move if there is significant vehicle damage, the other driver won’t provide their information or proof of insurance, someone leaves the scene, or there’s disagreement about who caused the accident.
How long after an accident does it need to be reported in Alabama?
If an Alabama accident causes injury or death, you must report it to the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately, using the quickest means of communication. In practical terms, this means you should call 911 or the appropriate police agency from the scene as soon as you’re safely able to do so.
This is different from the officer’s deadline for submitting the written crash report. Alabama law gives the investigating officer 24 hours after completing the investigation to forward the completed report.
Do I have to file anything if the police came to the accident?
Usually, you don’t need to file the official crash report yourself. If police came to the scene and investigated the crash, the officer is responsible for completing the official crash report.
Before leaving the scene, however, get the officer’s name, agency, and report or case number if you’re able. That information can make finding your report much easier later.
One exception involves the SR-31 discussed above.
Police responding to the accident doesn’t eliminate any separate SR-31 filing you may need to make. If an uninsured driver caused qualifying uncompensated losses, you may still need to submit that form yourself.
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From salvage titles to payouts, understand your options when your car is totaled after an Alabama accident.
Can I report an accident online in Alabama?
It depends on what you’re trying to do.
If you’ve just been involved in an accident involving an injury or death, don’t use an online form as a substitute for notifying law enforcement. Alabama requires those accidents to be reported immediately.
However, ALEA does allow you to submit an SR-31 Safety Responsibility Claim Form online when the requirements for that form apply.
So, there are online options for paperwork after an accident, but they aren’t a replacement for calling police when the accident needs to be immediately reported.
What happens after a crash report is filed?
Once the crash report is filed, it becomes an official record of the accident that can be obtained by authorized parties. It’s a good idea to obtain your own copy and review it carefully.
If you notice incorrect information about the drivers, vehicles, insurance, location, or other facts, you may want to contact the investigating law enforcement agency about whether the error can be corrected.
Keep in mind that the report doesn’t necessarily determine who was legally responsible for the accident. A local Alabama car accident attorney can help you collect additional evidence that may support or contradict what’s documented in the police report.
What happens if you don’t report an accident in Alabama?
If an Alabama car accident causes injury or death, you’re legally required to immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency. Failing to comply with Alabama’s accident-reporting requirements can have serious legal consequences, including potential jail time and fines.
Will insurance do anything without a police report?
Yes. You can generally make an insurance claim even if there isn’t a police report.
An insurance company can investigate using other evidence, including photographs and videos, statements from the drivers and witnesses, vehicle damage, medical records, repair estimates, and other information you collected at the scene of the accident.
However, not having a police report can make a claim more difficult when there’s disagreement about what happened.
For example, suppose the driver who hit you apologizes at the scene and says they didn’t see the stop sign. You exchange information without calling the police. A few days later, they tell their insurance company that you pulled out in front of them.
If there isn’t an officer’s report documenting the scene, identifying witnesses, or recording information gathered shortly after the crash, it can become your word against theirs.
That’s particularly important in Alabama because the state’s strict contributory negligence rule can potentially prevent you from recovering personal injury compensation if it’s discovered that you contributed to the accident in any way.
Do police reports get sent to insurance companies?
Crash reports in Alabama don’t automatically get sent to insurance companies simply because an accident happened. However, Alabama law allows an insurer or its authorized representative to obtain the report of an accident involving its insured when the request is for insurance business purposes.
So your insurance company—or the other driver’s insurer—may obtain the report as part of its investigation.
Keep in mind that the insurance company doesn’t necessarily rely solely on the police report and may still conduct its own investigation before deciding whether to accept or dispute liability.
How do I obtain an Alabama crash report?
Once the report is available, ALEA makes getting a copy relatively straightforward.
You can purchase an Alabama crash report online or obtain one in person at an ALEA Driver License Office. The current fee is $15.
Alabama restricts access to complete crash reports. People who can obtain them include:
- Drivers and passengers involved in the crash
- Certain family and legal representatives
- Attorneys representing someone involved
- Insurers requesting the report for insurance purposes
- Owners or lienholders of vehicles involved in the accident
It helps to have as much identifying information as possible when looking for the report, particularly the date and county of the accident, street or highway, and information about the drivers involved, as ALEA’s crash-report request form asks for those details.
How long do you wait for a police report in Alabama?
There isn’t a set number of days after an accident when your police report is guaranteed to be available.
Alabama law requires the investigating officer to forward the completed crash report within 24 hours after completing the investigation. Importantly, that 24-hour period begins when the officer finishes the investigation—not when the accident occurs.
That means a police report from a straightforward accident may be completed relatively quickly, while an investigation into a serious or complicated crash could take longer.
If you don’t see your report available online, you can contact the law enforcement agency that investigated the accident. Have information like the case or report number, date of the crash, and names of the drivers involved ready so the agency can help locate the report and tell you whether it’s been completed.
Injured in an accident in Birmingham and need help with your claim?
A crash report can provide valuable information about what happened, but don’t assume everything you need to prove your claim will be contained in those few pages.
At Nomberg Law Firm, we’ve spent more than 50 years representing Alabamians in serious crashes. Our Birmingham car accident attorneys can obtain and review the crash report, investigate information that’s missing or disputed, preserve additional evidence, deal with the insurance companies, and build a strong case showing who was responsible for your injuries.
If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury or wrongful death in an Alabama car accident, contact Nomberg Law Firm for a free consultation so we can help get you the full compensation you deserve.