How to Report a Car Accident in Minnesota: A Minneapolis-St. Paul Guide

Minnesota Statute § 169.09 requires you to immediately stop and remain at the scene of any motor vehicle accident that results in injury to any person, death, or damage to any vehicle or property. Unlike many states, Minnesota does not set a minimum dollar threshold for property damage — if any damage occurred, you must stop and exchange information.

You must provide the other driver and any law enforcement officer with your name, date of birth, address, email address (if you have one), and the registration number of your vehicle. If anyone is injured or killed, you must also give reasonable assistance, including arranging for or providing transportation to a hospital or physician if needed (Minn. Stat. § 169.09, Subd. 1).

If you strike an unattended vehicle, you must stop and leave a written notice with your name, address, and a description of what happened in a conspicuous place on the vehicle. If you strike a fixture or property adjacent to a highway — a fence, mailbox, utility pole, or guardrail — you must immediately notify the property owner or the nearest law enforcement agency (Minn. Stat. § 169.09, Subds. 4-5).

Stop your vehicle at the scene or as close to it as safely possible. In Minneapolis, call 911 for any accident involving injuries, a vehicle that cannot be driven, or significant damage. For minor accidents where everyone is safe and vehicles are drivable, call the Minneapolis Police non-emergency line at (612) 348-2345 to request an officer. In St. Paul, the non-emergency line is (651) 291-1111. The Minnesota State Patrol handles accidents on interstate highways and state highways — call *HP (*47) from a cell phone or (651) 201-7100.

While waiting for police, move vehicles out of the travel lanes if it is safe to do so. Exchange names, dates of birth, addresses, driver license numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and insurance information with the other driver. Take photos of vehicle damage, the accident scene, road conditions, traffic signs and signals, license plates, and any visible injuries. Note the time, weather conditions, and the names and contact information of any witnesses.

If you are injured, get medical attention first. Your health is the priority. Minnesota's statute of limitations for most car accident claims is 6 years (Minn. Stat. § 541.05), so you have time to deal with the paperwork. But the officer's crash report captures facts while they are fresh, so having an officer respond to the scene is always better for your claim.

Before July 1, 2021, Minnesota required drivers to file their own crash report (Form PS 32001) with the Department of Public Safety within 10 days if property damage exceeded $1,000 or anyone was injured. That requirement was repealed (2021 Special Session, Chapter 5, Art. 4, § 151). Drivers are no longer responsible for filing crash reports with the state.

The responding law enforcement officer is now solely responsible for filing the crash report. Officers must submit reports within 10 days of the accident. For fatal crashes, reports must be submitted within 2 business days. The officer files the report through the MnCrash electronic reporting system, which feeds into the state's crash records database.

This change means one important thing: if police do not respond to your accident, there may be no official crash report on file. For minor fender-benders where you do not call police, you will not have a formal crash report. While you are no longer legally required to file one yourself, the lack of an official report can weaken an insurance claim or personal injury case. When in doubt, call police to the scene so an officer creates the report.

If the accident happened in Minneapolis, you can get your crash report for free from the Minneapolis Police Records Information Unit. Call (612) 673-2961, email Police-RecordsInformationUnit@minneapolismn.gov, or visit the Minneapolis Public Service Building at 505 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55415. Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can also request reports online through the city's ServiceNow portal.

If the accident happened in St. Paul, contact the St. Paul Police Records Unit at (651) 266-5700 or visit 367 Grove Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101 during business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.). St. Paul charges 25 cents per page. You can also request reports online through the city's GovQA portal.

For accidents investigated by the Minnesota State Patrol or other agencies, request your report through the Department of Public Safety's Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS). Mail a completed Crash Record Request Form (PS2503) with a copy of your driver's license or government-issued ID to DVS Records Unit, 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 161, St. Paul, MN 55101-5161. The fee is $5 per report. Reports are generally available 3 weeks after the accident. Only individuals involved in the crash (or their authorized agents) can obtain the report.

Leaving the scene of an accident without stopping (hit-and-run) carries serious criminal penalties in Minnesota. The penalties are tiered based on the severity of the accident under Minn. Stat. § 169.09:

For property damage only (failing to provide information), you face a misdemeanor charge with up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. If the accident causes substantial bodily harm, the charge is a gross misdemeanor with up to 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine. If the accident causes great bodily harm, it is a felony carrying up to 2 years in prison and a $4,000 fine. If the accident causes death, the charge is a felony with up to 3 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Beyond criminal penalties, the Commissioner of Public Safety may suspend the driver's license of anyone who willfully fails to report an accident or provide required information. For your personal injury claim, leaving the scene or failing to cooperate with law enforcement will almost certainly be used against you. Even if you were not at fault for the accident, failing to stop can turn you into the defendant in a criminal case.

The crash report is one of the most important documents in a personal injury claim. It records the date, time, location, road conditions, driver information, vehicle damage, injuries, and the officer's observations and conclusions about what happened. Insurance adjusters treat it as the foundational document when assessing liability and calculating settlement offers.

Minnesota follows a modified comparative fault rule (Minn. Stat. § 604.01). You can recover damages as long as your percentage of fault is not greater than the other party's — meaning you must be 50% or less at fault. If you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. The crash report's assessment of fault heavily influences how insurers allocate responsibility.

Minnesota's statute of limitations for most negligence-based personal injury claims — including car accidents — is 6 years from the date of injury (Minn. Stat. § 541.05, Subd. 1(5)). This is one of the longest deadlines in the country. For wrongful death, the deadline is 3 years (Minn. Stat. § 573.02). While 6 years sounds like a long time, evidence degrades, witnesses become harder to find, and memories fade. The sooner you act, the stronger your case.

Minnesota is a no-fault auto insurance state (Minn. Stat. § 65B.41 et seq.). This means your own auto insurance policy pays for your medical expenses and lost wages after an accident, regardless of who was at fault. Every Minnesota driver must carry at least $40,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage ($20,000 per person).

PIP covers reasonable medical expenses, 85% of lost income (up to $500 per week), replacement services (up to $200 per week for household tasks you cannot perform due to your injuries), and funeral expenses. You file a PIP claim with your own insurer, not the other driver's.

You can step outside the no-fault system and file a liability claim against the at-fault driver if your medical expenses exceed $4,000, or if the accident caused a permanent injury, permanent disfigurement, disability for 60 days or more, or death (Minn. Stat. § 65B.51). Most serious car accident claims meet this threshold. When you file a liability claim, you can recover for pain and suffering, which is not covered under PIP.

If you have been in an accident in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, get your free Injury Claim Check now. You will answer a few quick questions about your accident and injuries, and we will give you a personalized report that includes Minnesota's filing deadline for your specific claim, your legal options based on the circumstances of your crash, and whether connecting with a Minneapolis personal injury attorney makes sense for your situation.

Filing a crash report through law enforcement is an important first step, but it is not the only one. Our Injury Claim Check looks at the full picture — your injuries, your timeline, your coverage — and gives you clear, actionable information about what comes next. Free, confidential, and takes about 60 seconds.