HSB 297 (LSB 2921YC (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON JONES)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to motor vehicle accident reports, including the amount of property damage necessary for a report and the period in which a law enforcement officer must forward a report to the department of transportation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.266, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or total property damage to an apparent extent of one seven thousand five hundred dollars or more, shall, within seventy-two hours after the accident, forward a written report of the accident to the department within seventy-two hours after the accident. However, such report is not required when if the accident is investigated by a law enforcement agency.
   3.  Every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident of which report must be made as required in subsections 1 and 2, either at the time of and at the scene of the accident or thereafter by interviewing participants or witnesses shall, within twenty-four hours after completing such investigation, forward a written report of such accident to the department.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person, or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,500 or more, must forward a written report of the accident to the department of transportation (DOT) within 72 hours after the accident. However, such report is not required when the accident is investigated by a law enforcement agency. Every law enforcement officer who investigates a motor vehicle accident for which a report must be made is required to, within 24 hours after completing such investigation, forward a written report of such accident to the DOT.
   This bill increases the minimum amount of total property damage necessary before an accident report is required from $1,500 to $7,500. The bill strikes the 24-hour requirement for a law enforcement officer who investigated an accident to forward a written report to the DOT.
   By operation of law, a driver of a vehicle who strikes fixtures upon a highway is not required to report the accident to the DOT unless the apparent total property damage is $7,500 or more. A driver involved in such an accident is required to take reasonable steps to locate and notify the owner, a peace officer, or person in charge of the damaged property and provide the driver’s name and address, the registration number of the vehicle causing the damage, and, upon request and if available, exhibit the person’s driver’s license.
   The bill does not amend similar reporting requirements when a person is in an accident involving a snowmobile (Code section 321G.10) or all-terrain vehicle (Code section 321I.11) that causes total property damage of $1,500 or more. Such reports must be filed with the DOT or the natural resource commission (NRC) if the accident occurred on public land, ice, or a designated riding trail under the jurisdiction of the NRC.
   By operation of law, a person who fails to forward a written accident report to the DOT, as required under Code section 321.266(2) or (3), commits a simple misdemeanor punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855.