No More Precinct Visits: New Yorkers’ Car Accident Reports Are Now Available Online

Those who have been in a car accident before know that dealing with mechanics, car insurance agencies, and the police can be rather anxiety-inducing.

The stress from fender benders is now a little less daunting with the launching of the Collision Report Retrieval Portal. The portal allows New Yorkers involved in collisions get their accident reports online for free. The former method of getting the report required folks to pick them up at the precinct — a task that can be difficult and painstakingly long.

City Councilmember Chaim Deutsch, who is on the Public Safety Committee, has been working with the NYPD to simplify this process. Earlier this year he introduced a bill that would require the reports be sent to the accident victims upon completion — almost exactly what this portal will accomplish, according to Deutsch.

“The existing method to obtain a physical copy of a collision report requires involved parties to coordinate a pickup with an officer and then wait on a sometimes lengthy line upon arrival at the precinct,” said Deutsch. “Oftentimes, the process causes more aggravation than the collision itself!”

This initiative will also save time for the officers in the precinct who would typically spend a lot of time drafting the reports, according to Deutsch.

“Our new initiative will remedy these flaws by providing senior-friendly, easily navigable online access to reports, freeing up NYPD officers to focus on important quality of life and criminal matters,” said Deutsch.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill is proud to streamline tedious methods that clog up policing processes.

“Instead of taking a paper form at the scene and then data entering the information at the command using an outdated computer program, officers can now take these reports electronically at the scene,” said O’Neill. “The information becomes available and shareable much faster, which allows us to analyze it for public safety purposes and get copies to the affected parties faster and easier.”

If you’ve filed an accident report with the NYPD after September 30, then you can find the information in the portal. The steps are simple to get a secure PIN, which will give you access to the electronic version of the report.