How to Get a Copy of Your New Jersey Crash Report
After a crash, your accident report is one of the most useful documents in your file. It records the facts of the collision, and insurers and courts lean on it heavily, so it’s worth getting a copy and checking that every detail is right. The tricky part is that where you request it depends on who responded to your crash. This guide walks through each path.
First, Figure Out Who Holds Your Report
New Jersey crash reports aren’t all kept in one place. Which agency has yours depends on where the crash happened and who investigated it.
If a local police department responded, which is the case for most crashes on city and county streets, that department holds the report, and you request it from them rather than from the State Police. If you were on a state highway, a toll road, or in an area the New Jersey State Police patrol, the State Police likely hold it. Toll roads are their own category: crashes on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the Atlantic City Expressway are handled through separate systems. Start by identifying which of these fits your crash, and the rest is straightforward.
Getting a New Jersey State Police Crash Report
If the State Police responded, you can request the report online, by mail, or in person.
Online is fastest for crashes on non-toll roads that happened on or after January 1, 2013. You search using a case number, driver’s license number, license plate, or the last name of someone involved, and once the record is found you get an email with a download link that stays active for a couple of weeks. A few practical notes: allow at least 24 hours after the crash before searching, fulfillment can take anywhere from the same day to a few weeks (and longer if you’re searching by crash details alone), and there’s a per-report fee payable by card. Crashes before January 1, 2013 aren’t online but can be requested by mail or in person.
To request by mail, download and complete the State Police report request form, check the box for a crash report, and mail it with the required fee (by certified check, business check, or money order made payable to the New Jersey State Police, never cash) to the Division of State Police, Criminal Justice Records Bureau, P.O. Box 7068, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0068.
In person, reports aren’t handed out at State Police headquarters, but the local investigating station can usually provide an uncertified copy to drivers and registered owners, often at no charge, within about two weeks.
One more thing worth knowing: reports pulled online or in person are uncertified copies. Certain legal proceedings require a certified copy, which you request in writing from the same Criminal Justice Records Bureau address above.
Getting a Toll-Road Crash Report
Crashes on the Turnpike and Parkway fall under the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, though online requests now run through the same State Police portal described above.
For the New Jersey Turnpike or Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority directs online requests to the State Police crash-report portal, for a small per-report fee. You can also request a copy by mail using the Authority’s request form, with payment by certified check or money order. Note that reports involving fatalities or government vehicles on the Turnpike or Parkway aren’t available through the online system and have to be requested from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority directly.
Crashes on the Atlantic City Expressway are handled by the Atlantic City Expressway authorities. You can order online through the secure crash-report portal (crashdocs.org) or by mail to the Expressway authority, again for a small fee.
Getting a Local Police Crash Report
If a city police department worked your crash, you’ll go to that department, and the process varies from town to town. We’ve put together step-by-step guides for several of the areas we serve:
- How to get your Newark police accident report
- How to get your Jersey City accident report
- How to get your Elizabeth, NJ police accident report
- How to get your Woodbridge police accident report
- How to get a Freehold police accident report
Check the Report, Then Talk to a Lawyer
Once you have the report, read it closely. Look at how the officer described the sequence of events, whether any citations were issued, and whether the basic facts (vehicles, directions, road conditions) are accurate. Errors happen, and an error in the report can echo through an insurance claim. If something is wrong, an attorney can help you address it.
If you were injured, the report is a starting point, not the whole case. Our New Jersey car accident lawyers can obtain the report for you, review it for problems, and handle the claim while you focus on recovering. Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation at (908) 928-9200.