189.635 Vehicle accident reports by operators, law enforcement officers, and agencies -- Availability to parties to accident and news-gathering organizations -- Contracts with outside entities to prov - Kentucky Statutes

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Page 1 of 2 189.635 Vehicle accident reports by operators, law enforcement officers, and agencies -- Availability to parties to accident and news-gathering organizations
-- Contracts with outside entities to provide vehicle's accident history and
electronic access to reports -- Administrative regulations. (1) The Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Department of Kentucky State Police, shall be responsible for maintaining a reporting system for all vehicle accidents which
occur within the Commonwealth. Such accident reports shall be utilized for such
purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the Commonwealth involving
the collection, processing, storing, and dissemination of such data and the
establishment of procedures by administrative regulations to insure that uniform
definitions, classifications, and other federal requirements are in compliance. (2) Any person operating a vehicle on the highways of this state who is involved in an accident resulting in fatal or nonfatal personal injury to any person or damage to the
vehicle rendering the vehicle inoperable shall be required to immediately notify a
law enforcement officer having jurisdiction. In the event the operator fails to notify
or is incapable of notifying a law enforcement officer having jurisdiction, such
responsibility shall rest with the owner of the vehicle or any occupant of the vehicle
at the time of the accident. A law enforcement officer having jurisdiction shall
investigate the accident and file a written report of the accident with his law
enforcement agency. (3) Every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident of which a report must be made as required in this chapter shall file a report of the
accident with the Department of Kentucky State Police within ten (10) days after
investigation of the accident upon forms supplied by the department. (4) Any person operating a vehicle on the highways of this state who is involved in an accident resulting in any property damage exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) in
which an investigation is not conducted by a law enforcement officer shall file a
written report of the accident with the Department of Kentucky State Police within
ten (10) days of occurrence of the accident upon forms provided by the department. (5) All accident reports filed with the Department of Kentucky State Police in compliance with subsection (4) above shall not be considered open records under
KRS 61.872 to 61.884 and shall remain confidential except that the department may
disclose the identity of a person involved in an accident when his or her identity is
not otherwise known or when he or she denies his or her presence at an accident.
Except as provided in subsection (9) of this section, all other accident reports
required by this section, and the information contained in the reports, shall be
confidential and exempt from public disclosure except when produced pursuant to a
properly executed subpoena or court order, or except pursuant to subsection (8) of
this section. These reports shall be made available only to the parties to the
accident, the parents or guardians of a minor who is party to the accident, and
insurers or their written designee for insurance business purposes of any party who
is the subject of the report, or to the attorneys of the parties. (6) Except as provided for in this subsection, the department shall not release accident reports for a commercial purpose. The department may, as a matter of public safety, Page 2 of 2 contract with an outside entity and release vehicle damage data extracted from
accident reports to such an entity if the data is used solely for the purpose of
providing the public a means of determining a vehicle's accident history. The
department may further contract with a third party to provide electronic access to
reports for persons and entities who are entitled to such reports under subsections
(5) and (9) of this section. (7) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to set out a fee schedule for accident reports made available
pursuant to subsections (5), (8), and (9) of this section. These fees shall be in
addition to those charged to the public for records produced under KRS Chapter 61. (8) The report shall be made available to a news-gathering organization, solely for the purpose of publishing or broadcasting the news. The news-gathering organization
shall not use or distribute the report, or knowingly allow its use or distribution, for a
commercial purpose other than the news-gathering organization's publication or
broadcasting of the information in the report. A newspaper, periodical, or radio or
television station shall not be held to have used or knowingly allowed the use of the
report for a commercial purpose merely because of its publication or broadcast. (9) The report shall be made available without subpoena to any party to litigation who files with the department a request for the report and includes a copy of the first
page of a District or Circuit Court clerk-stamped complaint naming all parties. (10) The motor vehicle insurers of any train engineer or other train crew member involved in an accident on a railroad while functioning in their professional capacity
shall be prohibited from obtaining a copy of any accident report filed on the
accident under this section without written consent from the individual the company
insures. Insurance companies issuing motor vehicle policies in the Commonwealth
shall be prohibited from raising a policyholder's rates solely because the
policyholder, in his or her professional capacity, is a train engineer or other train
crew member involved in an accident on a railroad. Effective: July 15, 2008
History: Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 160, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2008. -- Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 211, effective June 26, 2007. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts
ch. 497, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 478, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 1994. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 94, sec. 1, effective July 13,
1990. -- Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 194, sec. 1, effective January 1, 1977. --
Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 335, sec. 1. Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2008). The numbering of the subsections in this section has been altered by the Reviser of Statutes from the numbering in 2008
Ky. Acts ch. 160, sec. 1, under the authority of KRS 7.136.