Wisconsin Department of Transportation

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Accident reporting

(en espaņol)

When to report an accident

Any accident must be reported when it results in:

  • Injury or death of a person.
  • $1,000 or more total damage to property owned by any one person.
  • Damages of $200 or more to government property (except motor vehicles).

Call the police immediately. They will report it for you. If they cannot file the report, you will need to.

To file an accident report, complete a Wisconsin Driver Report of Accident form MV4002 and mail it to:

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT)
Accident Records Unit
P.O. Box 7919
Madison, WI 53707-7919

An accident entry will be put on the record of each driver shown on the accident report. Accident entries remain on the driver record for 4 years from the date of the accident.

Accident entries on your driver record

Regardless of fault, accidents appear on the driver record of all drivers involved in a reportable accident.

The driver record only shows involvement in an accident on a specific date, the severity and the county of occurrence. It does not show who was at fault.

Insurance companies secure information from your driver record and other sources to determine if any claims have been paid out under your policy.

You can obtain an official copy of your driver record. There is a $5 fee for each record requested.

If the information on your driver record does not agree with the information that your insurance company has, you will need to contact your insurance company for further information and clarification.

Those who have access to accident data are:

  • WisDOT for analysis of highway safety.
  • DMV for administration of the safety responsibility law.
  • Law enforcement agencies for selective enforcement.
  • Traffic safety commissions and traffic engineers for safety and elimination of hazards.
  • Driver educators, legislators, insurance companies and other interested parties.
  • County highway safety commissions to meet their duties under S. 83.013, Wis. Statutes.
  • Local units of government to target specific accident locations.
Questions? Contact us: Wisconsin DMV email service
Call: (608) 266-8753

Last modified: April 6, 2011

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