Highway Safety

Contacts

Highway Safety serves as the state repository for motor vehicle traffic accidents. Law enforcement officers who investigate accidents and drivers who are involved in accidents are required by state law to report to the Department of Roads on standard report forms. These forms can be obtained free of charge by contacting Highway Safety.

Randy Peters	Manager	402-479-4645
Carole L. Gasper	Accident Records Supervisor	402-479-4645
Robert A. Grant	Risk Management Supervisor	402-479-4645
	Highway Safety FAX	402-479-3637

Accident Records Section

Responsible for receiving, processing, and storing all accident reports. Information from these reports is entered into a computerized database, where it is available for analysis. About 145,000 reports, representing nearly 50,000 reportable accidents, are received each year. Up to four years of hard copy reports are filed within the office, before being converted to microfilm. Certified copies of accident reports are available to the public at a cost of $6.00 per report.

Frequently Asked Questions

NOTE: As of January 1, 2004, some of the criteria for filling a report has changed. Please read the questions and answers below carefully.

• When do I have to file an accident report? If someone is injured or killed, or someone has over $1000 in damage then all drivers involved are required to file a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report with our office within 10 days of the accident.

• Who is required to file a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report? All drivers involved in an accident in which someone is injured or killed, or someone has damage over $1000 are required to file a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report with our office, no matter who is at fault, within 10 days of the occurrence.

• Where do I get a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report? You can get a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Accident Report from: the officer that investigated your accident, the police or sheriff’s department, your insurance agent, or by calling our office at (402) 479-4645.

• How do I get a copy of the investigating officer’s report? The officer’s report is public information. You may purchase a certified copy for $6.00. To request a copy of an officer’s report send the following information:

  • Accident date

  • Accident location, including county

  • Driver’s Name

  • The request and $6.00 should be sent to:

    Highway Safety
    PO Box 94669
    Lincoln, NE 68509

• Can I get a copy of the other driver’s report?
  No. All driver’s reports are confidential by law.
• Can the Highway Safety Office suspend a person’s driver’s license because of an accident?
  Only the Department of Motor Vehicles can suspend a person’s driver’s license.

Risk Management Section

Responsible for analysis of accident data. This includes the production of standard reports, such as the annual Nebraska Traffic Accident Facts booklet, published each July for the preceding year,  and the "Standard Summaries of Nebraska Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents" the production of specialized reports from the database when requested by sources within the Department of Roads, other agencies, or the general public, and the completion of accident studies at specific locations. The Location Analysis Unit does accident studies for all highway projects, and regularly monitors the state highway system to identify accident trouble spots. This information is used by department engineers to develop highway projects and safety improvements. The Risk Management section also:

•  Link to FARS website. Maintains Nebraska’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data. This system was developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help identify and measure national safety problems and to provide an objective basis to evaluate the effectiveness of motor vehicle safety standards and highway programs.
  
  Nebraska’s FARS office generates two motor vehicle fatality reports daily:

  • Nebraska Traffic Fatality Toll Comparison

  • Report of Motor Vehicle Traffic Deaths

• Provides commercial truck accident data for the Federal Highway Administration’s SAFETYNET database.
• Oversees the State Property Damage System.
• Maintains the Department of Roads’ Employee Accident Reporting System.