H.B. 243 Enrolled

PROTECTION OF ACCIDENT REPORT
2000 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Glenn L. Way
AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; PROVIDING FOR THE PROTECTION AND
CONFIDENTIALITY OF ACCIDENT REPORTS; PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN
DISCLOSURE; AND MAKING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
AMENDS:
41-6-35, as last amended by Chapter 30, Laws of Utah 1999
41-6-40, as last amended by Chapter 138, Laws of Utah 1987
41-12a-202, as enacted by Chapter 242, Laws of Utah 1985
63-2-304, as last amended by Chapter 234, Laws of Utah 1997
73-18-13, as last amended by Chapter 99, Laws of Utah 1987
73-18-14, as last amended by Chapter 197, Laws of Utah 1986
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 41-6-35 is amended to read:
41-6-35. Accident reports -- Duty of operator and investigative officer to forward or
render.
(1) The department may require any operator of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting
in injury to or death of any person or total property damage to the apparent extent of $1,000 or
more to [forward] file within ten days after the request:
(a) a written report of the accident to the department; and
(b) a supplemental report when the original report is insufficient in the opinion of the
department.
(2) The department may require witnesses of accidents to render reports to the department.
(3) A written accident report is not required under this section from any person who is
physically incapable of making a report, during his period of incapacity.
(4) (a) Every peace officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle

accident described under Subsection (1) shall file the original or an electronic copy of the report of
the accident with the department within ten days after completing the investigation.
(b) The report shall be made either at the time of and at the scene of the accident or later by
interviewing participants or witnesses.
(5) The written reports required to be filed with the department [by peace officers] under this
section and the information in them are [not privileged or] protected and confidential and may be
disclosed only as provided in Section 41-6-40 .
Section 2. Section 41-6-40 is amended to read:
41-6-40. Accident reports -- When confidential -- Insurance policy information -- Use
as evidence -- Penalty for false information.
(1) As used in this section, "agent" means a person's:
(a) attorney;
(b) insurer; or
(c) any other individual or entity with written permission from the person to receive the
person's written accident report.
[(1) All] (2) Except as provided in Subsection (3), all written reports required in this article
to be [forwarded to] filed with the department [by operators or owners of vehicles involved in
accidents or by garages]:
(a) are without prejudice to the reporting individual [and];
(b) are protected and for the confidential use of the department or other state, local, or
federal agencies having use for the records for official governmental statistical, investigative, and
accident prevention purposes; and
(c) may be disclosed only in a statistical form that protects the privacy of any person involved
in the accident. [However, the department may disclose the identity of a person involved in an
accident when the identity is not otherwise known or when the person denies his presence at the
accident. The]
(3) (a) The department shall disclose a written accident report and its accompanying data to:
(i) a person involved in the accident, excluding a witness to the accident;

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(ii) a person suffering loss or injury in the accident;
(iii) an agent, parent, or legal guardian of a person described in Subsections (3)(a)(i) and (ii);
(iv) a member of the press or broadcast news media;
(v) a state, local, or federal agency that uses the records for official governmental,
investigative, or accident prevention purposes;
(vi) law enforcement personnel when acting in their official governmental capacity; and
(vii) a licensed private investigator.
(b) In accordance with Subsection (3)(a), the department shall disclose whether any person
or vehicle involved in an accident reported under this section was covered by a vehicle insurance
policy, and the name of the insurer.
(c) Information provided to a member of the press or broadcast news media under Subsection
(3)(a)(iv) may only include:
(i) the name, age, sex, and city of residence of each person involved in the accident;
(ii) the make and model year of each vehicle involved in the accident;
(iii) whether or not each person involved in the accident was covered by a vehicle insurance
policy;
(iv) the location of the accident; and
(v) a description of the accident that excludes personal identifying information not listed in
Subsection (3)(c)(i).
[(2) Written] (4) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(b), written reports [forwarded]
filed under this section may not be used as evidence in any [trial,] civil or criminal[,] trial arising out
of an accident[, except that the department shall furnish upon].
(b) Upon demand of any party to the trial or upon demand of any court, the department shall
furnish a certificate showing that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the
department in compliance with law[, and if]. If the report has been made, the certificate furnished
by the department shall show the date, time, and location of the accident, the names and addresses
of the drivers, the owners of the vehicles involved, and the investigating officers. The reports may
be used as evidence when necessary to prosecute charges filed in connection with a violation of

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Subsection [(3)] (5).
[(3)] (5) A person who gives information in oral or written reports as required in this chapter
knowing or having reason to believe that the information is false is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
Section 3. Section 41-12a-202 is amended to read:
41-12a-202. Access to accident reports.
(1) Accident reports and supplemental information as required under this chapter are
protected and are for the confidential use of the department and other state, local, or federal
government agencies and may be disclosed only as provided in Section 41-6-40 . [However, the
department shall disclose accident reports and accompanying data to persons suffering loss or injury
in any motor vehicle accident, whether or not they have deposited proof of owner's or operator's
security under this chapter.]
(2) (a) Any person entitled to the disclosure of an accident report, as provided in Section
41-6-40 , may obtain a photocopy by paying the department [$5] a fee established under Section
63-38-3.2 .
(b) These fees shall be deposited in the General Fund. [Bona fide representatives of persons
entitled to disclosure may also obtain copies of accident reports and any accompanying data.]
Section 4. Section 63-2-304 is amended to read:
63-2-304. Protected records.
The following records are protected if properly classified by a governmental entity:
(1) trade secrets as defined in Section 13-24-2 if the person submitting the trade secret has
provided the governmental entity with the information specified in Section 63-2-308 ;
(2) commercial information or nonindividual financial information obtained from a person if:
(a) disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to result in unfair competitive
injury to the person submitting the information or would impair the ability of the governmental entity
to obtain necessary information in the future;
(b) the person submitting the information has a greater interest in prohibiting access than the
public in obtaining access; and
(c) the person submitting the information has provided the governmental entity with the

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information specified in Section 63-2-308 ;
(3) commercial or financial information acquired or prepared by a governmental entity to the
extent that disclosure would lead to financial speculations in currencies, securities, or commodities
that will interfere with a planned transaction by the governmental entity or cause substantial financial
injury to the governmental entity or state economy;
(4) records the disclosure of which could cause commercial injury to, or confer a competitive
advantage upon a potential or actual competitor of, a commercial project entity as defined in
Subsection 11-13-3 (3);
(5) test questions and answers to be used in future license, certification, registration,
employment, or academic examinations;
(6) records the disclosure of which would impair governmental procurement proceedings or
give an unfair advantage to any person proposing to enter into a contract or agreement with a
governmental entity, except that this subsection does not restrict the right of a person to see bids
submitted to or by a governmental entity after bidding has closed;
(7) records that would identify real property or the appraisal or estimated value of real or
personal property, including intellectual property, under consideration for public acquisition before
any rights to the property are acquired unless:
(a) public interest in obtaining access to the information outweighs the governmental entity's
need to acquire the property on the best terms possible;
(b) the information has already been disclosed to persons not employed by or under a duty
of confidentiality to the entity;
(c) in the case of records that would identify property, potential sellers of the described
property have already learned of the governmental entity's plans to acquire the property; or
(d) in the case of records that would identify the appraisal or estimated value of property, the
potential sellers have already learned of the governmental entity's estimated value of the property;
(8) records prepared in contemplation of sale, exchange, lease, rental, or other compensated
transaction of real or personal property including intellectual property, which, if disclosed prior to
completion of the transaction, would reveal the appraisal or estimated value of the subject property,

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unless:
(a) the public interest in access outweighs the interests in restricting access, including the
governmental entity's interest in maximizing the financial benefit of the transaction; or
(b) when prepared by or on behalf of a governmental entity, appraisals or estimates of the
value of the subject property have already been disclosed to persons not employed by or under a duty
of confidentiality to the entity;
(9) records created or maintained for civil, criminal, or administrative enforcement purposes
or audit purposes, or for discipline, licensing, certification, or registration purposes, if release of the
records:
(a) reasonably could be expected to interfere with investigations undertaken for enforcement,
discipline, licensing, certification, or registration purposes;
(b) reasonably could be expected to interfere with audits, disciplinary, or enforcement
proceedings;
(c) would create a danger of depriving a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial hearing;
(d) reasonably could be expected to disclose the identity of a source who is not generally
known outside of government and, in the case of a record compiled in the course of an investigation,
disclose information furnished by a source not generally known outside of government if disclosure
would compromise the source; or
(e) reasonably could be expected to disclose investigative or audit techniques, procedures,
policies, or orders not generally known outside of government if disclosure would interfere with
enforcement or audit efforts;
(10) records the disclosure of which would jeopardize the life or safety of an individual;
(11) records the disclosure of which would jeopardize the security of governmental property,
governmental programs, or governmental recordkeeping systems from damage, theft, or other
appropriation or use contrary to law or public policy;
(12) records that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the security or safety of a correctional
facility, or records relating to incarceration, treatment, probation, or parole, that would interfere with
the control and supervision of an offender's incarceration, treatment, probation, or parole;

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(13) records that, if disclosed, would reveal recommendations made to the Board of Pardons
and Parole by an employee of or contractor for the Department of Corrections, the Board of Pardons
and Parole, or the Department of Human Services that are based on the employee's or contractor's
supervision, diagnosis, or treatment of any person within the board's jurisdiction;
(14) records and audit workpapers that identify audit, collection, and operational procedures
and methods used by the State Tax Commission, if disclosure would interfere with audits or
collections;
(15) records of a governmental audit agency relating to an ongoing or planned audit until the
final audit is released;
(16) records prepared by or on behalf of a governmental entity solely in anticipation of
litigation that are not available under the rules of discovery;
(17) records disclosing an attorney's work product, including the mental impressions or legal
theories of an attorney or other representative of a governmental entity concerning litigation;
(18) records of communications between a governmental entity and an attorney representing,
retained, or employed by the governmental entity if the communications would be privileged as
provided in Section 78-24-8 ;
(19) personal files of a legislator, including personal correspondence to or from a member
of the Legislature, but not correspondence that gives notice of legislative action or policy;
(20) (a) records in the custody or control of the Office of Legislative Research and General
Counsel, that, if disclosed, would reveal a particular legislator's contemplated legislation or
contemplated course of action before the legislator has elected to support the legislation or course
of action, or made the legislation or course of action public; and
(b) for purposes of this subsection, a "Request For Legislation" submitted to the Office of
Legislative Research and General Counsel is a public document unless a legislator submits the
"Request For Legislation" with a request that it be maintained as a protected record until such time
as the legislator elects to make the legislation or course of action public;
(21) research requests from legislators to the Office of Legislative Research and General
Counsel or the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and research findings prepared in response to

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these requests;
(22) drafts, unless otherwise classified as public;
(23) records concerning a governmental entity's strategy about collective bargaining or
pending litigation;
(24) records of investigations of loss occurrences and analyses of loss occurrences that may
be covered by the Risk Management Fund, the Employers' Reinsurance Fund, the Uninsured
Employers' Fund, or similar divisions in other governmental entities;
(25) records, other than personnel evaluations, that contain a personal recommendation
concerning an individual if disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy, or disclosure is not in the public interest;
(26) records that reveal the location of historic, prehistoric, paleontological, or biological
resources that if known would jeopardize the security of those resources or of valuable historic,
scientific, educational, or cultural information;
(27) records of independent state agencies if the disclosure of the records would conflict with
the fiduciary obligations of the agency;
(28) records of a public institution of higher education regarding tenure evaluations,
appointments, applications for admissions, retention decisions, and promotions, which could be
properly discussed in a meeting closed in accordance with Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and Public
Meetings, provided that records of the final decisions about tenure, appointments, retention,
promotions, or those students admitted, may not be classified as protected under this section;
(29) records of the governor's office, including budget recommendations, legislative
proposals, and policy statements, that if disclosed would reveal the governor's contemplated policies
or contemplated courses of action before the governor has implemented or rejected those policies or
courses of action or made them public;
(30) records of the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst relating to budget analysis,
revenue estimates, and fiscal notes of proposed legislation before issuance of the final
recommendations in these areas;
(31) records provided by the United States or by a government entity outside the state that

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are given to the governmental entity with a requirement that they be managed as protected records
if the providing entity certifies that the record would not be subject to public disclosure if retained
by it;
(32) transcripts, minutes, or reports of the closed portion of a meeting of a public body
except as provided in Section 52-4-7 ;
(33) records that would reveal the contents of settlement negotiations but not including final
settlements or empirical data to the extent that they are not otherwise exempt from disclosure;
(34) memoranda prepared by staff and used in the decision-making process by an
administrative law judge, a member of the Board of Pardons and Parole, or a member of any other
body charged by law with performing a quasi-judicial function;
(35) records that would reveal negotiations regarding assistance or incentives offered by or
requested from a governmental entity for the purpose of encouraging a person to expand or locate
a business in Utah, but only if disclosure would result in actual economic harm to the person or place
the governmental entity at a competitive disadvantage, but this section may not be used to restrict
access to a record evidencing a final contract;
(36) materials to which access must be limited for purposes of securing or maintaining the
governmental entity's proprietary protection of intellectual property rights including patents,
copyrights, and trade secrets;
(37) the name of a donor or a prospective donor to a governmental entity, including a public
institution of higher education, and other information concerning the donation that could reasonably
be expected to reveal the identity of the donor, provided that:
(a) the donor requests anonymity in writing;
(b) any terms, conditions, restrictions, or privileges relating to the donation may not be
classified protected by the governmental entity under this Subsection (37); and
(c) except for public institutions of higher education, the governmental unit to which the
donation is made is primarily engaged in educational, charitable, or artistic endeavors, and has no
regulatory or legislative authority over the donor, a member of his immediate family, or any entity
owned or controlled by the donor or his immediate family; [and]

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(38) accident reports, except as provided in Sections 41-6-40 , 41-12a-202 , and 73-18-13 ;
and
[(38)] (39) the following records of a public institution of education, which have been
developed, discovered, or received by or on behalf of faculty, staff, employees, or students of the
institution: unpublished lecture notes, unpublished research notes and data, unpublished manuscripts,
creative works in process, scholarly correspondence, and confidential information contained in
research proposals. Nothing in this Subsection (39) shall be construed to affect the ownership of a
record.
Section 5. Section 73-18-13 is amended to read:
73-18-13. Duties of operator involved in accident -- Notification and reporting
procedures -- Use of accident reports -- Giving false information as misdemeanor.
(1) As used in this section, "agent" has the same meaning as provided in Section 41-6-40 .
[(1)] (2) It is the duty of the operator of a vessel involved in an accident, if he can do so
without seriously endangering his own vessel, crew, or passengers, to render aid to those affected by
the accident as may be practicable. The operator shall also give his name, address, and identification
of his vessel in writing to any person injured or to the owner of any property damaged in the accident.
[(2)] (3) The board shall adopt rules governing the notification and reporting procedure for
vessels involved in accidents. [Such] The rules shall be consistent with federal requirements.
[(3) All] (4) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(b), all accident reports:
(i) are protected and shall be for the confidential use of the division or other state, local, or
federal agencies having use for the records for official governmental statistical, investigative, and
accident prevention purposes[, except that the division may disclose the identity of a person involved
in an accident when the person's identity is not otherwise known or when the person denies his
presence at the accident. No]; and
(ii) may be disclosed only in a statistical form that protects the privacy of any person involved
in the accident.
(b) The division shall disclose a written accident report and its accompanying data to:
(i) a person involved in the accident, excluding a witness to the accident;

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(ii) a person suffering loss or injury in the accident;
(iii) an agent, parent, or legal guardian of a person described in Subsections (4)(b)(i) and (ii);
(iv) a member of the press or broadcast news media;
(v) a state, local, or federal agency that uses the records for official governmental,
investigative, or accident prevention purposes;
(vi) law enforcement personnel when acting in their official governmental capacity; and
(vii) a licensed private investigator.
(c) Information provided to a member of the press or broadcast news media under Subsection
(4)(b)(iv) may only include:
(i) the name, age, sex, and city of residence of each person involved in the accident;
(ii) the make and model year of each vehicle involved in the accident;
(iii) whether or not each person involved in the accident was covered by a vehicle insurance
policy;
(iv) the location of the accident; and
(v) a description of the accident that excludes personal identifying information not listed in
Subsection (4)(c)(i).
(5) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (5)(b), an accident report [shall] may not be used
as evidence in any [trial,] civil or criminal trial, arising out of an accident[, except that the division
shall furnish upon].
(b) Upon demand of any person who has, or claims to have, made the report, or[,] upon
demand of any court, the division shall furnish a certificate showing that a specified accident report
has or has not been made to the division solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the
requirement that a report be made to the division. [Reports] Accident reports may be used as
evidence when necessary to prosecute charges filed in connection with a violation of Subsection [(4)]
(6).
[(4)] (6) Any person who gives false information, knowingly or having reason to believe it
is false, in an oral or written report as required in this chapter, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
Section 6. Section 73-18-14 is amended to read:

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73-18-14. Transmittal of information to official or agency of United States.
In accordance with any request duly made by an authorized official or agency of the United
States, any information compiled or otherwise available to the division under [Subsection] Section
73-18-13 [(2)] shall be transmitted to the official or agency of the United States.

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