Your Virginia Crash Report: Getting the Copy You Need

To get a Virginia crash report, request it from the law enforcement agency that investigated the crash, usually through that agency’s records process. If you need a copy of a Virginia accident report, this guide walks through each step in plain language. It also explains how the request fits with the deadlines that still apply after an injury or a fatal crash.

What a Virginia Crash Report Is and Why People Request It

A crash report is the official record a law enforcement agency creates after it responds to a crash. It usually records the date, the location, the vehicles and people involved, and what the responding officer observed at the scene.

People ask for it for several reasons. An injured driver or passenger may want the record to check the basic facts. The family of someone killed in a crash often needs it while they handle the loss. Insurance companies and lawyers may request it too.

A report records what the agency documented. It is one piece of the picture, not the whole story. Your medical records and your own insurance records are separate. Keeping them in separate folders makes it easier to know which record answers which question.

Virginia’s Duty to Report a Crash With Injury or Death

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894).

Many people ask whether they have 24 hours to report. The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident in which a person is killed or injured, or in which an attended vehicle or other attended property is damaged, must immediately stop as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic. The driver must report his name, address, driver’s license number, and vehicle registration number to the State Police or local law-enforcement agency, to the person struck and injured if that person can understand and retain the information, or to the other driver or an occupant of the vehicle hit, or to the custodian of other damaged property (§ 46.2-894). Under Va. Code § 46.2-371, the driver of a vehicle in an accident that injures or kills someone (or a person acting for the driver) must immediately notify a law-enforcement officer, and a willful failure to make that report is a Class 4 misdemeanor. If injuries keep a driver from reporting at the scene, the driver must make the report as soon as reasonably possible (§ 46.2-894).

Keep the two deadlines apart. The two-year period discussed later is the deadline to file a personal injury or fraud lawsuit, unless this section or another statute provides otherwise (Va. Code § 8.01-243).

A prompt report gives the responding agency the details it needs to create its own record. That agency record is what you request later.

Identifying the Agency That Investigated the Crash

The agency that responded to the crash holds the report. Depending on where the crash happened, that may be the Virginia State Police, a county sheriff’s office, or a city or town police department. The statute names the State Police and local law-enforcement agencies as places to report a crash (§ 46.2-894).

Narrow it down using the crash date, the road, and the county or city. Roadside paperwork or an exchange card the driver received may name the officer, the agency, or a report number.

This matters across the Shenandoah Valley, including Winchester and Harrisonburg, and in Richmond and Henrico County. A crash on a county road, a town street, or a state highway can fall under different agencies.

Confirm the agency through its official website or records contact before you submit anything. A request sent to the wrong office can slow the process.

Information to Have Ready Before You Request the Report

Gather the date and time of the crash, the exact location, and the names of the drivers and passengers. Add the make, model, and plate number of each vehicle. Include any report or incident number given at the scene. These details help the agency find the right file.

When no report number is available, the crash date and location are often the most useful details. Write them down as you know them, including the nearest road or intersection.

Match the details to what you know as closely as you can. Do not guess at facts you do not know, because a wrong detail can make the search harder. The agency’s request form will list what it needs, so read it before you fill it in.

Requesting the Report Through the Investigating Agency

You request the report through the investigating agency’s records process. Each agency lists the ways it accepts requests, such as online, by mail, or in person, on its official page.

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles also publishes a page on requesting a police crash report. It describes who may obtain a Virginia police crash report and how requests are submitted. Use that page and the agency’s own page for current forms and steps. Procedures can change, so rely on the version you read today.

Expect processing time. A report may not be ready right away after a crash. Check the timing the agency states when you submit your request.

A common mistake is waiting for the report before doing anything else. The report helps, but it is one record among several.

How the Report Request Fits With the Lawsuit Deadline

Requesting the report does not stop the lawsuit clock. Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions.

For a fatal crash, the filing rule works differently. A Virginia wrongful death action is filed by the decedent’s personal representative within two years of the death (Va. Code §§ 8.01-50(C), 8.01-244(B)), on behalf of the family members the statute protects.

Some claims carry notice requirements that run out sooner. Under Va. Code § 15.2-209, a claim for negligence against a county, city, or town generally requires a written statement of the nature of the claim, including the time and place of the injury, filed within six months after the cause of action accrued. Failure to file that statement does not bar the claim if the locality’s attorney, chief executive, or mayor, or an insurer or entity providing coverage or indemnification, had actual knowledge of the claim within that six-month period. Whether it applies to your crash depends on the facts.

Do not wait for the crash report before checking these dates. The report may take time to arrive, and the clock keeps running while you wait.

Frequently asked questions