{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-189.635","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 189.635","heading":"Vehicle accident reports by operators, law enforcement officers, and","body":"agencies -- Availability -- News-gathering organizations -- Contracts with\noutside entities to provide vehicle's accident history and electronic access to\nreports -- Administrative regulations -- Insurers of train engineers.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Department\" means the Department of Kentucky State Police; and\n(b) \"Law enforcement agency\" means any unit of government listed in KRS\n15.380 that employs a certified peace officer.\n(2) The department shall be responsible for maintaining a reporting system for all\nvehicle accidents which occur within the Commonwealth. These accident reports\nshall be utilized for purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the\nCommonwealth involving the collection, processing, storing, and dissemination of\naccident data and the establishment of procedures by administrative regulations to\nensure that uniform definitions, classifications, and other federal requirements are\nin compliance.\n(3) (a) Any person operating a vehicle on the highways of this state who is involved\nin an accident resulting in fatal or nonfatal personal injury to any person or\ndamage to the vehicle rendering the vehicle inoperable shall be required to\nimmediately notify a law enforcement officer having jurisdiction.\n(b) In the event the operator fails to notify or is incapable of notifying a law\nenforcement officer having jurisdiction, the responsibility to make the\nnotification under this subsection shall rest  with the owner of the vehicle or\nany occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident.\n(c) If the accident involves a fully autonomous vehicle, as defined in KRS\n186.760, the responsibility to make the notification under this subsection shall\nrest with the owner of the fully autonomous vehicle or a person on behalf of\nthe vehicle owner.\n(d) A law enforcement officer having jurisdiction shall investigate the accident\nand file a written report of the accident with his or her law enforcement\nagency.\n(4) (a) Every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident\nof which a report must be made as required in this chapter shall file a report of\nthe accident with the department within ten (10) days after investigation of the\naccident upon forms supplied by the department.\n(b) A law enforcement agency may retain a copy of the reports that the agency is\nrequired to submit to the department under paragraph (a) of this subsection.\nReports retained by a law enforcement agency under this subsecti on shall not\nbe considered open records under KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and shall remain\nconfidential, except as provided in this section. Nothing in this subsection is\nintended to impose greater limitations on disclosure of vehicle accident\nreports on law enforcement agencies than those imposed on the department by\nthis section.\n(5) (a) Any person operating a vehicle on the highways of this state who is involved\nin an accident resulting in any property damage exceeding five hundred\ndollars ($500) in which an in vestigation is not conducted by a law\nenforcement officer shall file a written report of the accident with the\ndepartment within ten (10) days of occurrence of the accident upon forms\nprovided by the department.\n(b) If the accident involves a fully autonom ous vehicle, as defined in KRS\n186.760, the responsibility to file the report under this subsection shall rest\nwith the owner of the fully autonomous vehicle or a person on behalf of the\nvehicle owner.\n(6) (a) All accident reports filed with the department  in compliance with subsection\n(5) of this section shall not be considered open records under KRS 61.870 to\n61.884 and shall remain confidential, except that the department may:\n1. Disclose the identity of a person involved in an accident when his or her\nidentity is not otherwise known or when he or she denies his or her\npresence at an accident; and\n2. Make the reports available:\na. To the persons named in paragraph (c) of this subsection; and\nb. In accordance with subsection (9) of this section.\n(b) All ot her accident reports required by this section, and the information\ncontained in the reports, shall be confidential and exempt from public\ndisclosure under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, except when:\n1. Produced pursuant to a properly executed subpoena or court order; or\n2. Disclosed as provided in this section.\n(c) Accident reports shall be made available to:\n1. The parties to the accident;\n2. The parents or guardians of a minor who is party to the accident;\n3. Insurers or their written designee for insurance busine ss purposes of any\nparty who is the subject of the report;\n4. The attorneys of the parties to the accident;\n5. Any party to litigation who files with the department a request for the\nreport and includes a copy of the first page of a District or Circuit Cou rt\nclerk-stamped complaint naming all parties;\n6. The Department of Workplace Standards in the Education and Labor\nCabinet if the accident report is pertinent to an occupational safety and\nhealth investigation; and\n7. A law enforcement agency, subject to t he limitations in subsections\n(4)(b) and (7) of this section.\n(7) (a) Except as provided for in paragraph (b) of this subsection, the department or a\nlaw enforcement agency shall not release accident reports for a commercial\npurpose.\n(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the department or a law\nenforcement agency may, as a matter of public safety, contract with an outside\nentity and release unredacted vehicle damage data extracted from accident\nreports to the entity if the data is used so lely for the purpose of providing the\npublic a means of determining a vehicle's accident history. The department or\na law enforcement agency may further contract with a third party to provide\nelectronic access to reports for persons and entities who are en titled to the\nreports under subsection (6) of this section.\n(8) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with\nKRS Chapter 13A to set out a fee schedule for accident reports made available\npursuant to subsections (6) and (9) of this section. These fees shall be in addition to\nthose charged to the public for records produced under KRS Chapter 61.\n(9) (a) The report shall be made available to a news -gathering organization, solely\nfor the purpose of publishing or broadcasting the  news. The news -gathering\norganization shall not use or distribute the report, or knowingly allow its use\nor distribution, for a commercial purpose other than the news -gathering\norganization's publication or broadcasting of the information in the report.\n(b) For the purposes of this subsection:\n1. \"News-gathering organization\" includes:\na. A newspaper or periodical if it:\ni. Is published at least fifty (50) of fifty -two (52) weeks during\na calendar year;\nii. Contains at least twenty -five percent (25%) news content in\neach issue or no more than seventy -five percent (75%)\nadvertising content in any issue in the calendar year; and\niii. Contains news of general interest to its readers that can\ninclude news stories, editorials, sports, weddings, births, and\ndeath notices;\nb. A television or radio station with a valid broadcast license issued\nby the Federal Communications Commission;\nc. A news organization that broadcasts over a multichannel video\nprogramming service as defined in KRS 136.602;\nd. A website published by or affiliated with any entity described in\nsubdivision a., b., or c. of this subparagraph;\ne. An online -only newspape r or magazine that publishes news or\nopinion of interest to a general audience and is not affiliated with\nany entity described in subparagraph 2. of this paragraph; and\nf. Any other entity that publishes news content by any means to the\ngeneral public or t o members of a particular profession or\noccupational group; and\n2. \"News-gathering organization\" does not include any product or\npublication with the primary purpose of distributing advertising or of\npublishing names and other personal identifying informat ion concerning\nparties to motor vehicle accidents which may be used to solicit for\nservices covered under Subtitle 39 of KRS Chapter 304.\n(c) A news-gathering organization shall not be held to have used or knowingly\nallowed the use of the report for a comm ercial purpose merely because of its\npublication or broadcast.\n(d) A request under this subsection shall be completed using a form promulgated\nby the department through administrative regulations in accordance with KRS\nChapter 13A. The form under this paragraph shall include:\n1. The name and address of the requestor and the news -gathering\norganization the requestor represents;\n2. A statement that the requestor is a news -gathering organization under\nthis subsection and identifying the specific subdivision of  paragraph\n(b)1. of this subsection under which the requester qualifies;\n3. A statement that the request is in compliance with the criteria contained\nin this section; and\n4. A declaration of the requestor as to the accuracy and truthfulness of the\ninformation provided in the request.\n(e) 1. The department shall redact all personal information from a report prior\nto making it available to a news -gathering organization as defined under\nparagraph (b)1.f. of this subsection.\n2. Reports may be provided to news -gathering organizations as defined\nunder paragraph (b)1.a. to e. of this subsection without redaction.\n3. For the purposes of this paragraph, \"personal information\" means:\na. The address, driver's license number, phone number, date of birth,\nand any other c ontact information contained in the report for each\nperson listed on the report; and\nb. The vehicle identification number (VIN) for each vehicle listed on\nthe report.\n(10) The motor vehicle insurers of any train engineer or other train crew member\ninvolved in an accident on a railroad while functioning in their professional\ncapacity shall be prohibited from obtaining a copy of any accident report filed on\nthe accident under this section without written consent from the individual the\ncompany insures. Insura nce companies issuing motor vehicle policies in the\nCommonwealth shall be prohibited from raising a policyholder's rates solely\nbecause the policyholder, in his or her professional capacity, is a train engineer or\nother train crew member involved in an accident on a railroad.\n(11) For reporting and statistical purposes, motor scooters and autocycles as defined in\nKRS 186.010 shall be listed as a distinct category and shall not be considered to be\na motor vehicle or a motorcycle for reports issued under this section.","path":["KRS Chapter 189"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54793","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:43Z","sha256":"a1f6fe24fbaa06e05bd1548618c83fc45b6b5d1de61c3c8567838cd9688c1755","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-189.632","next":"us-ky/krs-189.636"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}