The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN MIKE COX, ATTORNEY GENERAL
ACCIDENT REPORTING: Section 622 of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.622, requires a police
officer who receives a report of an accident involving a motor vehicle to
prepare and forward a report of the accident to the Director of the Department
of State Police on prescribed forms, if the accident results in death or injury
or if the officer reasonably believes that property was damaged to an apparent
extent totaling $1,000 or more. Opinion No. 7170 February 7, 2005 Honorable Rick Shaffer You ask if section 622 of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.622, requires a
police officer to prepare a motor vehicle accident report where the officer
reasonably believes that the accident involves less than $1,000 in damage to
property. Your question suggests a need for guidance involving the duty of a
police officer to prepare a report when there is a disagreement between the
officer and the driver of the vehicle regarding whether the value of the
property damage involved is less than $1,000. Michigan law requires the driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident
to report the accident if: (1) a person is injured; (2) a person is killed; or
(3) there is apparent property damage of at least $1,000: The driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident that injures or
kills any person, or that damages property to an apparent extent totaling
$1,000.00 or more, shall immediately report that accident at the nearest or
most convenient police station, or to the nearest or most convenient police
officer. [MCL 257.622.] Section 622 further requires a police officer to prepare and forward a report
of a reportable accident to the Director of the Department of State Police, who
is responsible for compiling the information received: The officer receiving the report, or his or her commanding officer, shall
immediately forward each report to the director of the department of state
police on forms prescribed by the director of the department of state
police. The forms shall be completed in full by the investigating officer.
The director of the department of state police shall analyze each report
relative to the cause of the reported accident and shall prepare information
compiled from reports filed under this section for public use. [MCL
257.622.] Moreover, section 622 requires the police agency to maintain a copy of the
report for at least three years: A copy of the report under this section and copies of reports required
under section 621 shall be retained for at least 3 years at the local police
department, sheriff's department, or local state police post making the
report. [MCL 257.622.] Section 621 of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.621, is the corresponding
reporting provision for a driver who causes damage to "fixtures" on or adjacent
to the highway, such as guardrails, signs, or light poles. MCL 257.621 does not
contain a minimum property value damage requirement for reporting purposes.
Thus, under MCL 257.621 and 257.622, the Department of State Police is required
to compile information regarding accidents for public use. The text of MCL 257.622 does not make clear whether the police officer may
make an independent assessment of the damage to property involved in the
accident or whether the judgment of the driver who makes the report is
determinative on this point. Where an ambiguity exists, it is proper to
effectuate the Legislature's intent by giving statutory language a reasonable
construction that best accomplishes the purpose and object of the statute.
Frankenmuth Mutual Ins Co v Marlette Homes, Inc, 456 Mich 511, 515; 573 NW2d
611 (1998). The purpose of MCL 257.622 is to apprise the police that an accident
has occurred and to provide statistical information concerning the number and
causes of accidents. People v Schmidt, 196 Mich App 104, 107; 492 NW2d
509 (1992), citing People v Morgan, 24 Mich App 604, 606; 180 NW2d 508
(1970). Section 622 of the Vehicle Code imposes two distinct duties. The first is on
the motorist to notify the police of any accident involving a death, injury, or
apparent damage to property totaling at least $1,000. A violation of this
provision is a misdemeanor under section 901 of the Vehicle Code, MCL 257.901.
Schmidt, 196 Mich App at 105, n 1. The second duty is imposed on the
responding officer to forward each report to the Director of the Department of
State Police on "forms prescribed" by the Director. The form currently in use,
commonly referred to as the "UD-10," instructs the reporting officer that the
criteria for a reportable crash are that the accident "resulted in death,
injury, or property damage of $1,000 or more (effective January 1, 2004)."
[UD-10 Traffic Crash Report Instruction Manual, 2004 Edition, p 11.] When the Vehicle Code was originally enacted in 1949, no reporting threshold
for property damage existed. Instead, the law required a report to be made
whenever a vehicle involved in an accident was "incapable of being propelled in
the usual manner." 1949 PA 300. The law was amended in 1967 to require a report
whenever the property damage caused by the accident totaled $200 or more. 1967
PA 3. In subsequent years, the statute was amended to increase the property
damage threshold reporting amount to $400 and then to the present $1,000 in 2003
PA 66. According to the House Fiscal Agency Legislative Analysis of the bill that
was passed into law as 2003 PA 66, the problem that 2003 PA 66 was apparently
enacted to address was that the former $400 reporting amount threshold did not
reflect inflation or the rising costs of new automobiles. To the extent
individuals were required to report relatively minor "fender benders" or low
impact accidents, police officers were filling out accident reports that would
not have been required had the rate of inflation been factored into the
threshold. The testimony received at the hearings on the bill and an identical
predecessor bill demonstrated that it had become increasingly evident that
police officers' time and resources could be better spent on more important
public safety issues. Moreover, testimony indicated that the "police can give
people an alternate accident reporting number to submit to their insurance
companies for insurance purposes, so raising the property damage threshold would
not mean that people involved in low impact auto accidents would have greater
difficulty in substantiating their auto insurance claims." House Legislative
Analysis, HB 4238, March 26, 2003, p 2. Information that you supplied with your request suggests that section 622
should not be read to authorize a responding officer to decline to complete a
traffic accident report if the driver estimates the value of property damage
involved to be $1,000 or more, even if the officer reasonably estimates the
damage is less than $1,000. To best effectuate the purpose and object of section
622, however, it is important to recall that two separate and distinct duties
are identified in this section � the duty of the driver to alert authorities to
an accident and the duty of the officer to assure that accidents meeting certain
criteria are accounted for in a system designed to collect statistical data used
to enhance public safety. These purposes would not be served by requiring an
officer to prepare and forward a report where the informed and experienced
judgment of that officer is that damage of less than $1,000 is involved.
Relieving officers of the time and expense of completing forms in relatively
minor low impact accidents is exactly what the higher threshold reporting amount
was enacted to accomplish. With respect to the driver's duty to report the accident in the first
instance, on the other hand, the estimation of property damage is one reasonably
vested in the driver alone, particularly where the driver assumes the risk of
prosecution for failure to report the accident if the threshold reporting amount
is later determined to have been met. See Schmidt, 196 Mich App at 108
(driver's conviction overturned where record failed to show proof that damage to
vehicle met threshold amount and extent of damage was apparent). Additional support for this interpretation is found in the language of
section 622 providing that the report is to be compiled on "forms prescribed by
the director of the department of state police." The Legislature has left the
manner in which the accident data is to be collected and the content of the
forms to the sound discretion of the Director. It would be unreasonable to
define the officer's duty to fill out the UD-10 form as one involving the mere
repetition of the driver's statements, at least with respect to data involving
independent observation of conditions or circumstances.
MICHIGAN VEHICLE CODE:
Responsibility for preparing
accident reports
State Representative
The Capitol
Lansing, MI
It is my opinion, therefore, that section 622 of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.622, requires a police officer who receives a report of an accident involving a motor vehicle to prepare and forward a report of the accident to the Director of the Department of State Police on prescribed forms, if the accident results in death or injury or if the officer reasonably believes that property was damaged to an apparent extent totaling $1,000 or more.
MIKE COX
Attorney General
1For
example, among the information included on the UD-10 is the type of road
involved, whether the accident involved alcohol or special circumstances, the
location of the greatest damage to the vehicle, the extent of damage, and the
weather.