| Chapter 419 |
| 2021 -- H 6329 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/14/2021 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT REPORTS |
Introduced By: Representative Stephen M. Casey |
| Date Introduced: May 12, 2021 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Sections 31-26-9 and 31-26-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-26 entitled |
| "Accidents and Accident Reports" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 31-26-9. Reports by law enforcement officers. |
| (a) Every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor |
| vehicle accident of which a report must be made as required in § 31-26-6 and in accordance with |
| subsections (a), (b), (d) and (e) of this section, either at the time of and at the scene of the accident |
| or thereafter by interviewing participants or witnesses shall, effective January 1, 2003, submit all |
| investigated and reportable accident reports to the department of transportation electronically. The |
| form utilized shall be the newly revised accident form developed by the department of |
| transportation in cooperation with the division of motor vehicles. The electronic accident report |
| shall be transferred using the Rhode Island Accident Data Export Manager over the Rhode Island |
| law Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (RILETS) to the department of transportation. |
| (b) The law enforcement agency or their its contracted agent shall transmit an electronic |
| accident report to the department of transportation within fourteen (14) days of the investigation or |
| preparing of the report and may maintain a copy locally. |
| (c) The driver of a vehicle that is involved in an accident shall submit the motorist accident |
| report form to the division of motor vehicles within twenty-one (21) days of the accident, pursuant |
| to § 31-26-6. |
| (d) Any accident occurring on a highway or upon premises open to the public resulting in |
| injury or death to any person or damage to property equal to or in excess of one thousand dollars |
| ($1,000) is subject to the reporting requirements. In addition, the division of motor vehicles will |
| take action on reported accidents in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) for compliance with the |
| state financial responsibility law pursuant to § 31-26-6. |
| (e) The department of transportation shall serve as the accident data repository agency for |
| the electronic accident reports submitted by the law enforcement agencies in the state, and the |
| division of motor vehicles shall remain as the repository agency for all motorist accident reports. |
| "Personal information", as defined in § 11-49.3-3, and associated with accident reports submitted |
| pursuant to this section shall remain privileged except that such the information may be provided |
| to an involved party to the accident or their legal representative, an insurance company, or |
| insurance- support organization or in accordance with Rhode Island general laws. |
| 31-26-13. Reports confidential -- Use as evidence. |
| (a) All motorist accident reports made by persons involved in accidents, pursuant to § 31- |
| 26-6, or by garages, pursuant to § 31-26-12, shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting |
| and shall be for the confidential use of the division of motor vehicles or other state or municipal |
| agencies having use for the records for accident prevention purposes or for the administration of |
| the laws of this state relating to the deposit of security and proof of financial responsibility by |
| persons driving or the owners of motor vehicles. |
| (b) The division of motor vehicles may disclose the identity of a person involved in an |
| accident when the identity is not otherwise known or when the person denies his or her presence at |
| the accident, and except that the reports, as well as police reports, may be used by the division of |
| motor vehicles, together with any other evidence that the division of motor vehicles may deem |
| appropriate, to make determinations as to the reasonable possibility of a judgment being rendered |
| for purposes of requiring security after an accident involving one or more uninsured motorists. |
| (c) No report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an |
| accident, except that the division of motor vehicles shall furnish upon demand of any person who |
| has, or claims to have, made a report or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing that a |
| specified accident report has or has not been made to the division of motor vehicles solely to prove |
| a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that a report be made to the division. |
| Provided, that in the event an accident report has not been filed, then the failure to file the report |
| shall be considered to be prima facie evidence that the operator and/or the registered owner of the |
| motor vehicle involved was uninsured at the time of the accident. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC002820/SUB A/2 |
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