SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated October 21, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every fact on this page was read that day from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles' own pages, its office data on data.ny.gov or the Vehicle and Traffic Law, and the official page each fact came from is linked where it appears.

About this guide

New York separates a driver's duty to report a crash from the process of obtaining a police report. File the required motorist report on time, then use DMV, the investigating police agency or the Thruway Authority to obtain the records you need.

In this guide: Decide whether you must file a motorist report, Take care of the scene and exchange information, File online or use the current MV-104, Electric bicycles, scooters and the reporting threshold, Choose the right source for a report copy, DMV online ordering and current fees, Mail requests and records outside the direct online search, Obtain an NYPD collision report, Thruway and other State Police reports, Keep insurance and DMV deadlines separate, Frequently asked questions

Decide whether you must file a motorist report

Under Vehicle and Traffic Law section 605, a motorist involved in a New York crash generally must report it to DMV within ten days when someone is injured or killed, or when damage to any one person's property exceeds $1,000. The property can be your own. The threshold is not a combined total divided among every driver, and an injury can trigger reporting even when vehicle damage is minor.

This obligation is separate from calling the police or notifying an insurer. A police investigation does not normally replace each involved driver's motorist report. Nonresidents are also covered when the crash occurs in New York. If you were physically incapable of reporting, the statute has provisions for another participant or the vehicle owner; identify the applicable situation rather than assuming the report is simply unnecessary.

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Take care of the scene and exchange information

The duties at the scene arise under the law on leaving an incident without reporting. Exchange the required license, contact and insurance information before leaving. An injury or death requires immediate police notification. If another person's parked vehicle or property was damaged and that person cannot be located, contact the police rather than treating an unattended note as the complete procedure.

In New York City, NYPD's non-injury collision instructions explain what to do when the vehicles can be moved and nobody is injured. Property-damage-only collisions do not always generate an NYPD investigation. That does not eliminate the separate DMV reporting requirement when the damage threshold is met. Save exchanged information, photographs and any incident number while the details are available.

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File online or use the current MV-104

DMV's motorist crash-report instructions now provide both online and mail options. For online filing, use the Online Motorist Crash Report Portal and follow the NY.gov ID sign-in or account-creation steps. Finish the submission and save its confirmation; creating an account is not the same as filing a report.

For mail filing, complete MV-104, Report of Motor Vehicle Crash, and send it to the address printed on the current form. Read both pages before filling it out. The form asks for the crash location, date and time, vehicles and people involved, insurance information, injuries, damage and a description or diagram. Write facts you know, distinguish an estimate from a confirmed detail and keep a complete copy of what you submit.

An insurer's claim number is useful in your personal records, but it is not necessarily the police report number or DMV case number. Label each number by the organization that issued it. This simple step helps when a record search asks for an identifier that looks similar to another number in your paperwork.

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Electric bicycles, scooters and the reporting threshold

The current statute includes a separate reporting rule for the operator of an electric scooter or bicycle involved in a public-highway crash that kills another person or causes serious physical injury. That operator generally has ten days after learning of the death or serious injury to report, with provisions for incapacity and certain minors.

Do not transfer that separate operator threshold to someone driving a motor vehicle. The general motorist rule can require a report for any personal injury. DMV's filing page expressly includes injury or fatality crashes involving e-bikes and e-scooters. Identify whether you are reporting as the motorist, cyclist, scooter operator or another responsible person, and use the current instructions for that role.

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Choose the right source for a report copy

First identify the investigating agency and the road. DMV maintains crash records, but a local police agency may provide its own report. The New York State Police records instructions divide State Police reports between Thruway crashes and crashes on other roads. Reports investigated by another police department may follow that department's own retrieval process.

Ask which record you need before ordering. The police report records the officer's investigation. A motorist report is the statement filed by a driver. There may be more than one report for the same collision. A request for every document may cost more than a request for one police report, and it may require enough identifying information to distinguish the records.

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DMV online ordering and current fees

Use DMV's crash-report ordering instructions to reach the online sales service. For each report ordered directly online, DMV charges a $7 search fee plus a $15 report fee, totaling $22 per report. The site requires a certification that you are legally authorized to obtain the information. It is not an unrestricted public search of everybody's collisions.

The Online Crash Report Sales Portal provides the record search and download after sign-in. Gather the date, county, plate, VIN, license number or DMV case number before starting. Purchased reports remain available through that service for seven calendar days, so download the PDFs and save them with the payment confirmation.

Reports do not enter the system immediately. DMV lists at least 14 days for electronically filed NYPD reports, at least 30 days for paper police reports and at least 60 days for motorist reports. These availability periods are not extensions of the ten-day filing deadline.

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Obtain an NYPD collision report

For a New York City collision, start with NYPD's collision-report page. During the initial 30-day period described there, a report may be requested through the precinct where the collision occurred. The page also connects readers with the city's online retrieval service and explains when DMV becomes the appropriate route.

NYC311's report-copy instructions describe mail and in-person requests, including photo identification and the collision-record request form. Bring or supply the information required for the selected method. Do not visit a precinct merely because it is closest to home if another precinct handled the collision.

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Thruway and other State Police reports

For a crash investigated by Troop T on the Thruway or its specified arterials, the State Police instruct requesters to use the Thruway Authority. Its TA-W4310 police-report request form lists the details and payment required, including a $15 nonrefundable search fee. Use the current form's submission address and payment instructions.

For State Police crashes elsewhere, request the report through DMV. State Police explain that processing time varies, often taking several weeks. If an insurance deadline is approaching, notify the insurer that the police report is pending and provide the available incident information. Waiting for the final report should not become an accidental decision to postpone a separate required notice.

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Keep insurance and DMV deadlines separate

The Department of Financial Services' no-fault claim guidance generally requires written notice to the appropriate insurer as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 30 days after the crash, subject to the stated justification provisions for late notice. Filing MV-104 with DMV does not send that notice to the insurer.

Maintain a short record of what you filed, the recipient, the date and the confirmation. Keep the motorist report, police report, insurer correspondence and repair records together. A crash appearing on a DMV driving record does not itself mean that DMV found you at fault; DMV's crash-report instructions explicitly distinguish the record of involvement from a fault determination.

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Frequently asked questions

When must I file MV-104 after a New York crash?
A motorist generally must report within ten days if someone was injured or killed or damage to any one person's property exceeded $1,000. The property can be your own.

Does a police report replace my motorist report?
Normally no. Reporting to police, filing the required motorist report with DMV and notifying an insurer are separate tasks.

How much is a DMV crash-report copy?
Direct online ordering costs $22 per report: $7 for the search and $15 for the report. Navigator ordering costs $25 per report. The MV-198C mail request uses one $10 search fee plus $15 for each report.

Does a crash on my driving record prove I was at fault?
No. DMV records involvement in the crash; a crash entry alone is not a DMV determination of fault.

Why is an e-bike crash missing from the direct online report search?
DMV excludes e-bike and e-scooter reports from that particular search-and-sale transaction. Use the Records Request Navigator or MV-198C as DMV directs.

Where do I request a State Police report for a Thruway collision?
State Police direct requests for Troop T collisions on the Thruway and specified arterials to the Thruway Authority using TA-W4310. Other State Police crash reports generally go through DMV.

About this page

Written by SearchSystems.net from the New York DMV and state pages linked in each section, on nysenate.gov and nyc.gov, dmv.ny.gov, reportcrash.dmv.ny.gov, troopers.ny.gov, getcrashreports.dmv.ny.gov, portal.311.nyc.gov, thruway.ny.gov, dfs.ny.gov, read on October 21, 2026.

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More New York DMV guides

The other New York DMV guides, 55 of them: