GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1995 SESSION

CHAPTER 191
SENATE BILL 154

AN ACT TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM PROPERTY DAMAGE AMOUNT FOR A REPORTABLE MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT AND TO RESOLVE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE LAW CONCERNING ACCIDENT REPORTS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-4.01 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(33b)	Reportable Accident. – An accident or collision involving a motor vehicle that results in either of the following:
a.	Death or injury of a human being.
b.	Total property damage of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-166.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-166.1.  Reports and investigations required in event of accident.
(a)	Notice of Accident. –  The driver of a vehicle involved in a reportable accident must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, notify the appropriate law enforcement agency of the accident.  If the accident occurred in a city or town, the appropriate agency is the police department of the city or town.  If the accident occurred outside a city or town, the appropriate agency is the State Highway Patrol or the sheriff's office or other qualified rural police of the county where the accident occurred.
(b)	Insurance Verification. –When requested to do so by the Division, the driver of a vehicle involved in a reportable accident must furnish proof of financial responsibility.
(c)	Parked Vehicle. –The driver of a motor vehicle that collides with another motor vehicle left parked or unattended on a highway of this State must report the collision to the owner of the parked or unattended motor vehicle.  This requirement applies to an accident that is not a reportable accident as well as to one that is a reportable accident.  The report may be made orally or in writing, must be made within 48 hours of the accident, and must include the following:
(1)	The time, date, and place of the accident.
(2)	The driver's name, address, and drivers license number.
(3)	The registration plate number of the vehicle being operated by the driver at the time of the accident.
If the driver makes a written report to the owner of the parked or unattended vehicle and the report is not given to the owner at the scene of the accident, the report must be sent to the owner by  certified mail, return receipt requested, and a copy of the report must be sent to the Division.

	(e)	Investigation by Officer. –The appropriate law enforcement agency must investigate a reportable accident.  A law-enforcement officer who investigates a reportable accident, whether at the scene of the accident or by subsequent investigations and interviews, must make a written report of the accident within 24 hours of the accident and must forward it as required by this subsection.  The report must contain information on financial responsibility for the vehicle driven by the person whom the officer identified as at fault for the accident.
If the officer writing the report is a member of the State Highway Patrol, the officer must forward the report to the Division.  If the officer is not a member of the State Highway Patrol, the officer must forward the report to the local law enforcement agency for the area where the accident occurred.  A local law enforcement agency that receives an accident report must forward it to the Division within 10 days after receiving the report.
When a person injured in a reportable accident dies as a result of the accident within 12 months after the accident and the death was not reported in the original report, the law enforcement officer investigating the accident must file a supplemental report that includes the death.
(f)	Medical Personnel. –A county medical examiner must report to the Division the death of any person in a reportable accident and the circumstances of the accident.  The medical examiner must file the report within five days after the death.  A hospital must notify the medical examiner of the county in which the accident occurred of the death within the hospital of any person who dies as a result of injuries apparently sustained in a reportable accident.
(g)	Repealed by Session Laws 1987, c. 49.
(h)	Forms. – The Division must provide forms to persons required to make reports under this section and the reports must be made on the forms provided.  The forms must ask for the following information about a reportable accident:
(1)	The cause of the accident.
(2)	The conditions existing at the time of the accident.
(3)	The persons and vehicles involved.
(i)	Effect of Report. –A report of an accident made under this section by a person who is not a law enforcement officer is without prejudice, is for the use of the Division, and shall not be used in any manner as evidence, or for any other purpose in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of the accident.  Any other report of an accident made under this section may be used in any manner as evidence, or for any other purpose, in any trial, civil or criminal, as permitted under the rules of evidence.  At the demand of a court, the Division must give the court a properly executed certificate stating that a particular accident report has or has not been filed with the Division solely to prove a compliance with this section.
The reports made by persons who are not law enforcement officers or medical examiners are not public records.  The reports made by law enforcement officers and medical examiners are public records and are open to inspection by the general public at all reasonable times.  The Division must give a certified copy of one of these reports to a member of the general public who requests a copy and pays the fee set in G.S. 20-42.
(j)	Statistics. – The Division may periodically publish statistical information on motor vehicle accidents based 
on information in accident reports.  The Division may conduct detailed research to determine more fully the cause and control of accidents and may conduct experimental field tests within areas of the State from time to time to prove the practicability of various ideas advanced in traffic control and accident prevention.
(k)	Punishment. – A violation of any provision of this section is a misdemeanor of the Class set in G.S. 20-176."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 20-179(d)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	Negligent driving that led to a reportable accident."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 20-279.4 is repealed.
Sec. 5.  G.S. 20-279.5(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	When the Division receives a report of a reportable accident under G.S. 20-166.1, the Commissioner must determine whether the owner or driver of a vehicle involved in the accident must file security under this Article and, if so, the amount of security the owner or driver must file.  The Commissioner must make this determination at the end of 20 days after receiving the report."
Sec. 6.  G.S. 20-279.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-279.11.  Matters not to be evidence in civil suits.
Neither the information on financial responsibility contained in an accident report, the action taken by the Commissioner pursuant to this Article, the findings, if any, of the Commissioner upon which the action is based, or the security filed as provided in this Article shall be referred to in any way, nor be any evidence of the negligence or due care of either party, at the trial of any action at law to recover damages."
Sec. 7.  G.S. 20-279.31 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-279.31.  Other violations; penalties.
(a)	The Commissioner shall suspend the license of a person who fails to report a reportable accident, as required by G.S. 20-166.1, until the Division receives a report and for an additional period set by the Commissioner.  The additional period may not exceed 30 days.
(b)	Any person who does any of the following commits a Class 1 misdemeanor:
(1)	Gives information required in a report of a reportable accident, knowing or having reason to believe the information is false.
(2)	Forges or without authority signs any evidence of proof of financial responsibility.
(3)	Files or offers for filing any evidence of proof of financial responsibility, knowing or having reason to believe that it is forged or signed without authority.
(c)	Any person willfully failing to return a license as required in G.S. 20-279.30 is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
(c1)	Any person who makes a false affidavit or knowingly swears or affirms falsely to any matter under G.S. 20-279.5, 20-279.6, or 20-279.7 is guilty of a Class I felony.
(d)	Any person who shall violate any provision of this Article for which no penalty is otherwise provided is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."
Sec. 8.  G.S. 20-42(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The Commissioner and officers of the Division designated by the Commissioner may prepare under the seal of the Division and deliver upon request a certified copy of any document of the Division for a fee.  The fee for a document, other than an accident report under G.S. 20-166.1, is five dollars ($5.00).  The fee for an accident report is four dollars ($4.00).  A certified copy shall be admissible in any proceeding in any court in like manner as the original thereof, without further certification.  The certification fee does not apply to a document furnished for official use to a judicial official or to an official of the federal government, a state government, or a local government."
Sec. 9.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1996, and applies to accidents and offenses occurring on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 7th day of June, 1995.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives