(a) The department may require any driver of a vehicle involved in an accident of which report must be made as provided in this section to file supplemental reports whenever the original report is insufficient in the opinion of the department and may require witnesses of accidents to render reports to the department.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class B misdemeanorup to 6 monthsup to $500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
lawyer at desk

Ask a traffic law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified traffic lawyers.
Parking violations, accidents, DUI/DWI, licensing, registration, and more
Protect your vehicle and your rights with expert legal help now
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-10-108

  • accident: includes any collision or crash, regardless of the degree of care exercised by the drivers involved or whether it was the result of criminal conduct. See Tennessee Code 55-10-101
  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-1-111
  • Driver: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Operator: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Owner: means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof, with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Railroad: means a carrier of persons or property upon cars, other than streetcars, operated upon stationary rails. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) Every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident, whether the accident has occurred on a highway within this state or on privately owned real property, either at the time of and at the scene of the accident or thereafter, by interviewing the participants or witnesses, shall, within seven (7) calendar days after completing the investigation, forward a report of the accident to the department, and a copy thereof shall be kept in the various district offices of the Tennessee highway patrol. Any motor vehicle officer investigating any accident, at the time of and at the scene of the accident, may have the parties exchange insurance information, which would include the name of each party’s insurance company and the location of an agency of the insurance company. Reports prepared by a law enforcement officer shall include information pertaining to the insurance policy, including the name of the insurance company, if known, of each person involved in the accident. If a person has a certificate of compliance with the Tennessee Financial Responsibility Law of 1977, compiled in chapter 12 of this title, issued by the commissioner of safety, a copy of the certificate shall be included in the report.
(2) Every law enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident that occurs on a road or highway in Tennessee, including federal interstates and defense highways, shall note on the report of the accident if physical barriers are present at the site of such motor vehicle accident.
(c) Whenever an accident occurs involving operators of railroad locomotives, law enforcement officers making reports of such accidents shall enter the operating permit number issued by the employing railroad instead of the operator‘s motor vehicle license number.
(d) Upon written request to the commissioner of safety in Nashville by the driver or owner of a vehicle involved in such an accident, or the driver’s or owner’s agent or legal representative, a copy of any report of a motor vehicle accident investigated by the department shall be forwarded to the requesting party, the written request to be accompanied by four dollars ($4.00) which shall be expendable receipts of the department. Except for personally identifying information described in § 10-7-504(a)(31), the report under subsection (b) shall not be considered confidential within the meaning of § 55-10-114(a). Copies of any reports of a motor vehicle accident investigated by the department that are on file in the various district offices of the Tennessee highway patrol shall be made available for inspection by the parties set forth in this subsection (d), and may be obtained from the station by paying the fee of four dollars ($4.00).
(e) The department of safety shall monitor reports of accidents forwarded to the department by law enforcement agencies to ensure that the reports are being forwarded timely. The department shall notify any law enforcement agency that fails consistently to forward the reports within seven (7) calendar days pursuant to subsection (b).
(f)

(1) Any report of a motor vehicle accident investigated by the department or prepared pursuant to subsection (b) is open to public inspection as a public record under the public records laws compiled in title 10, chapter 7, with the exception of personally identifying information as provided in § 10-7-504(a)(31).
(2) It is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable only by fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per occurrence for any person to knowingly use the report or information contained in the report for solicitation that is prohibited by a standard of conduct or practice of any profession licensed by this state. Any person requesting the disclosure of personally identifying information who misrepresents that person’s identity or makes a false statement on any request submitted pursuant to this chapter commits a Class B misdemeanor, punishable only by a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per occurrence.
(g) A person who holds a professional license regulated by the executive branch of this state who uses information obtained pursuant to this section in violation of a statute, code of professional ethics, or rule of professional conduct applicable to that person commits a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by fine only of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per occurrence.
(h) In addition to any other remedies, a person whose personally identifying information is obtained in violation of subdivision (f)(2) or subsection (g) may bring a private right of action individually to recover actual damages against the person or entity committing such violation. The trial court may award a civil penalty up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per act or occurrence against such person or entity. The action may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the alleged violation took place or in the county in which the plaintiff resides. Upon a determination of a violation by the trier of fact, the court may award the plaintiff reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. The private right of action provided in this subsection (h) does not apply to contact by persons or entities allowed to obtain personally identifying information pursuant to § 10-7-504(a)(31)(B) or other applicable law.
(i)

(1) As used in this subsection (i):

(A) “Accident response service fee” means a fee imposed for the response or investigation by a law enforcement agency of a motor vehicle accident; and
(B) “Entity” includes a governmental entity or agency or a department of a governmental entity.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no person or entity shall impose an accident response service fee on or from an insurance company, the driver or owner of a motor vehicle, or any other person. Nothing in this part prevents any county, municipality or other local government from billing an insurance company, the driver or owner of a motor vehicle, or any other person for ambulance services provided in response to or in conjunction with emergency response to motor vehicle accidents.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Part 1 Contents