Iowa Code 321.271 – Reports confidential — without prejudice — exceptions
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1. All accident reports filed by a driver of a vehicle involved in an accident as required under section 321.266 shall be in writing. The report shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for the confidential use of the department, except that upon the request of any person involved in the accident, the person’s insurance company or its agent, or the attorney for such person, the department shall disclose the identity and address of other persons involved in the accident and may disclose the name of the insurance companies with whom the other persons have liability insurance. The department, upon written request of the person making the report, shall provide the person with a copy of that person’s report. The written report filed with the department shall not be admissible in or used in evidence in any civil or criminal case arising out of the facts on which the report is based.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 321.271
- Department: means the state department of transportation. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Driver: means a person who operates a motor vehicle for the transportation of railroad workers in the motor vehicle on behalf of a railroad worker transportation company, whether the person is employed by the company for wages or drives for the company as an independent contractor. See Iowa Code 327F.39
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Motor vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle purchased or leased in this state, except as provided in section 322G. See Iowa Code 322G.2
- Person: includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint adventure, or association, and the plural as well as the singular number. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Vehicle: means any vehicle as defined in chapter 321. See Iowa Code 321H.2
2. All written reports filed by a law enforcement officer as required under section 321.266 shall be made available to any party to an accident, the party’s insurance company or its agent, the party’s attorney, the federal motor carrier safety administration, or the attorney general, on written request to the department and the payment of a fee of four dollars for each copy. If a copy of an investigating officer’s report of a motor vehicle accident filed with the department is retained by the law enforcement agency of the officer who filed the report, a copy shall be made available to any party to the accident, the party’s insurance company or its agent, the party’s attorney, the federal motor carrier safety administration, other law enforcement agencies, or the attorney general, on written request and the payment of a fee. However, the attorney general and the federal motor carrier safety administration shall not be required by the department or the law enforcement agency to pay a fee for a copy of a report filed by a law enforcement or investigating officer.
3. Notwithstanding subsections 1 and 2, the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding a crime or incident shall not be kept confidential under this section, except in those unusual circumstances where disclosure would plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear and present danger to the safety of an individual.