Reporting an accident

Reporting an accident. (1) In this section, “reportable” refers to an accident in which the minimum damage requirements of s. 346.70 , Stats., are met or exceeded, and for which reporting the accident is mandatory under that section, or an accident to which the safety responsibility law applies under s. 344.12 , Stats. (1m) A law enforcement agency investigating a reportable accident involving a vehicle shall report the accident to the department as required under s. 346.70 (4) , Stats. If a law enforcement agency does not investigate and report the accident within 10 days after the accident, the operators of the vehicles involved in the accident shall report the accident to the department as required under s. 346.70 (2) , Stats. The department may accept or require a report of the accident to be filed by the occupant or the owner in lieu of a report by the operator. (2) Persons misidentified as an operator in a law enforcement report may file a written report with the department regarding that fact. Upon receipt of such a report, the department shall require the person claiming to have been misidentified to do either of the following: (a) Have the agency that filed the report file an amended law enforcement agency report with the department. (b) Provide the department with a copy of court findings meeting any of the following criteria: 1. From any type of proceeding that identifies the true operator of the vehicle at the time of the accident. 2. From a criminal, traffic forfeiture or civil proceeding that concludes the person was not a vehicle operator involved in the accident. 3. From a civil court proceeding related to establishing liability issues related to the accident that the court cannot determine whether the person was the operator of a vehicle involved in the accident. (2m) If a person filing a report under sub. (2) does not meet one of the requirements of sub. (2) (a) or (b) , the department shall accept the identification of the operator in the original police report as correct. If all operators involved in an accident that was reported by a person other than a police agency and all owners of vehicles involved in that accident stipulate that a person was misidentified in an accident report and identify another person as the actual operator, the department may accept the newly identified person as the actual operator of the vehicle and release the misidentified person from further responsibility under this chapter. In all other cases involving the identification of an operator in an accident report, the department shall make a determination of the accuracy of the identification of the operator based on the credibility of the evidence submitted at hearing. (3) The department shall assume that all accident reports it receives from enforcement agencies or operators meet the reporting criteria of s. 346.70 (1) , Stats., or the minimum requirements for safety responsibility act under s. 343.12 , Stats. An accident report filed by a police agency for an accident that is not reportable shall be returned to the reporting agency. A report from another source for an accident that is not reportable shall be discarded. If the department determines from credible evidence received, which could include property damage estimates or signed statements, that an accident that has been abstracted as part of a driver’s record is not reportable, the accident will not be included in a public abstract of the driver’s driver record maintained under s. 343.23 , Stats. (4) The department may not suspend a person’s operating privilege or motor vehicle registration for failure to file an accident report, under s. 344.08 , Stats., if no further information is needed from the person who failed to file the report.