How to Get a Crash Report in Alabama

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) sells copies of crash reports. You can buy them online or in person at any ALEA Driver License Office.¹

ALEA's Highway Patrol, known as the State Troopers, investigates rural traffic crashes in Alabama.⁴

Under Ala. Code § 32-10-7, the completed written report of an investigated crash must be forwarded to the director within 24 hours after the investigation is finished. It must be on the uniform accident report form the director supplies.⁵

Online. Use ALEA's online Purchase Crash Report service to request a copy. You can then view and download the report for up to 5 days after you submit the request. Reports for crashes that happened 10 or more years ago can't be bought through this service. ALEA's general public records request portal does not handle crash reports. Its crash report link sends you to ALEA Online Services instead.^2,6

In person. Buy a copy at any ALEA Driver License Office.¹

By mail. To buy a copy of the Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report by mail, fill out ALEA's crash report request letter. Send it with $15.00 by cashier's check, certified check or money order, payable to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Personal checks and cash are not accepted. The form says to mail it to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Crash Reports, P.O. Box 1471, Montgomery, AL 36102-1472.³

To order online, you need a personal email address, a valid credit card and information about the crash.²

For a mail order, the request form asks for your name and address. It also asks for each driver's full name, date of birth and driver license number, the county and date of the crash, the street or highway number, and the names of anyone killed in the crash.³

A mail request also needs a $15.00 cashier's check, certified check or money order, and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.³

ALEA lists the fee for a copy of a crash report as $15.¹

ALEA's fee page says it does not accept personal checks. It accepts money orders, cashier's checks, cash and credit cards.¹

Paying by mail: send $15.00 by cashier's check, certified check or money order, payable to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The mail-in form says personal checks and cash are not accepted.³

Ala. Code § 32-2-8 caps the fee the Director of Public Safety charges for a copy of a record or report at $15 each, unless another law sets a different fee.⁷

ALEA's general public records request portal is separate from crash report purchases and does not handle crash reports. It charges a non-refundable minimum fee of $20.00 per request.⁶

ALEA says it can take up to 15 business days from the date of the crash for the report to be available online.²

ALEA estimates the online request takes 1 to 5 minutes to complete.²

After you submit an online request, you can view and download the report for up to 5 days. Download your copy within that time.²

ALEA says Alabama Code § 32-10-7 governs who is eligible to buy crash reports.¹

Under that law, you can get the report if you were involved in the crash, including as a driver, passenger or pedestrian. A parent or guardian of a minor involved in the crash can also get it.⁵

If a person involved in the crash has died, the personal representative, executor or other legal representative of their estate can get the report. If a probate court has not appointed a personal representative, any heir can get it. ALEA or the local law enforcement agency may rely on the heir's affidavit that they meet the law's requirements. An heir's authority ends once a personal representative is appointed.⁵

An insurer of a person involved in the crash, or its written designee, can get the report for insurance business purposes.⁵

An attorney for a person involved in the crash, or the attorney's employee, can get the report. They must provide written, signed consent from the person the attorney represents.⁵

An owner or lienholder of a vehicle in the crash can get the report. So can a government entity responsible for the road or bridge where the crash happened, or for law enforcement investigations.⁵

Reports must also be released when a properly executed subpoena or court order directs it. They may also be released when the identity of a person involved is not otherwise known, or when a person denies being at the crash.⁵

News organizations can get reports only for publishing or broadcasting the news. For the first 30 days after the crash, ALEA limits the personal identifying information in those reports to the name and age of each person involved. After 30 days, they may get the complete report, without juvenile information or personal information protected by federal driver privacy law.⁵

Information that the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act prohibits disclosing does not have to be released.⁵

Alabama law (Ala. Code § 32-10-7) lets local police departments, and agents they contract with, keep copies of the written accident reports.⁵

ALEA's driver manual says all crashes should be reported to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction.⁸

The manual says crashes with injuries or deaths must be reported right away: to the local police if the crash is inside a city or town, or to the State Troopers if it is on a state highway.⁸

Ala. Code § 32-7-5 requires a written report to the director within 30 days after a crash in Alabama in which anyone is killed or injured, or in which property damage to any one person is more than $250. If the driver is physically unable to make the report, the vehicle owner must make it within 10 days after learning of the crash.⁹

The driver's report under § 32-7-5 is a financial-responsibility report. It carries only what the director needs to decide whether a security deposit under § 32-7-6 is excused by insurance or another exception. It is not a request for a copy of the police crash report.⁹

ALEA's November 2024 driver manual says that where there is an injury, a death or damage of $500 or more, the driver involved must send Form SR-31 within 30 days if the at-fault party was not insured. If both parties were insured, neither has to submit the SR-31.⁸

The SR-31 Accident Claim Form says it is required only when a crash in Alabama caused death, personal injury or property damage over $500 to any one owner, by an uninsured motorist. Only someone who has not been compensated for their injuries or losses can file it.¹⁰

Send SR-31 forms to ALEA's Safety Responsibility Unit at P.O. Box 1471, Montgomery, AL 36102-1471, or submit them online at www.AlabamaDL.alea.gov.⁸

If you hit an unattended vehicle, ALEA's manual says to notify the police, try to find the owner, or leave a written notice with your name and address on the vehicle.⁸