How to Read a Florida Crash Report (2026 Guide)

The Florida crash report (HSMV 90010S) is where every injury case starts, but it’s also the most confusing document most crash victims will ever try to read. This guide breaks down Long Form vs. Short Form, how to get your report from the FLHSMV Crash Portal, the 60-day confidentiality rule under § 316.066(2)(b), and what every section actually tells you — including the contributing cause codes, injury classifications, and narrative details that decide how your claim gets built.

By Bobby Jones, Esq. | Published June 16, 2026

A Florida crash report is the official HSMV 90010S form completed by the law enforcement officer who responded to your accident. It comes in two versions — Long Form (with a narrative and diagram) and Short Form — and contains the crash date and location, the drivers and vehicles involved, insurance information, injury classifications, contributing causes, and the officer’s narrative. You can obtain your report through the Florida Crash Report Portal at flhsmv.gov for $10 per copy, but under Florida Statute § 316.066(2)(b), most requesters must wait 60 days from the crash date before the report becomes publicly available. Involved drivers, their attorneys, and insurers can access reports sooner with proper eligibility documentation.

This guide walks through what the report contains, how to obtain one, section by section how to read it, and what the report tells you (and what it does not) about fault and case value. If you were injured in a Florida crash and want help interpreting your report, call Bobby Jones at (727) 571-1333 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.

Key Takeaways

• The official Florida crash report is form HSMV 90010S, maintained by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).
• Long Form reports are required when the crash involves death, injury, complaints of pain, hit-and-run of attended property, DUI, a vehicle requiring a wrecker, or a commercial motor vehicle.
• Under Florida Statute § 316.066(2)(b), most requesters must wait 60 days from the crash date to obtain a crash report. Involved parties, their attorneys, and insurers can access it sooner with a sworn statement of eligibility.
• Reports cost $10 each through the FLHSMV Crash Portal at flhsmv.gov, with a limit of 10 reports per transaction.
• The officer’s fault determination on the report is not legally binding. A crash report is evidence, not a verdict.
• You have 2 years to file an injury lawsuit for any Florida crash on or after March 24, 2023, under Florida Statute § 95.11 as amended by HB 837.

What Is a Florida Traffic Crash Report?

A Florida Traffic Crash Report is the standardized form (HSMV 90010S) that Florida law enforcement officers complete when they respond to a reportable traffic crash. The report becomes the official record of the accident and is transmitted to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, where it becomes accessible through the FLHSMV Crash Portal.

Under Florida Statute § 316.066, a crash must be reported to law enforcement immediately when it involves:

• Injury or death
• Complaints of pain or discomfort by any party
• Property damage of at least $500
• Hit-and-run
• A commercial motor vehicle
• Driving under the influence

For crashes that do not meet reporting thresholds and where no officer responded, drivers can self-file using form HSMV 90011S (Driver Self Report of Traffic Crash). Self-filed reports carry less evidentiary weight than officer-completed reports, but they are better than no record at all.

Long Form vs. Short Form: Which One Applies to Your Crash

Both forms use the same base document (HSMV 90010S). The difference is whether the officer completed the full narrative and diagram sections.

Long Form

A Long Form report includes the officer’s narrative description of the crash and a diagram of the scene. The Long Form is required when the crash:

• Resulted in death, personal injury, or any complaint of pain or discomfort by any party or passenger
• Involved leaving the scene with damage to attended vehicles or property (F.S. § 316.061(1))
• Involved driving under the influence (F.S. § 316.193)
• Rendered a vehicle inoperable and requiring a wrecker
• Involved a commercial motor vehicle

If you were injured in a Florida crash, your report is almost certainly a Long Form. The narrative and diagram sections are where the officer’s understanding of what happened is documented, and they are often the most useful part of the report for an injury claim.

Short Form

The Short Form is used for reportable crashes that do not meet the Long Form criteria — typically low-damage, no-injury property damage crashes. Short Form reports contain the basic crash information but omit the narrative and diagram.

How to Obtain Your Florida Crash Report

You have several ways to request your crash report. The most common:

Online Through the FLHSMV Crash Portal

Since July 1, 2019, the FLHSMV Crash Portal at flhsmv.gov has offered online crash report purchases. The fee is $10 per report under Florida Statute § 321.23, with a limit of 10 reports per transaction. To request a report, you will need:

• Crash date
• Crash county
• Driver last name OR crash report number OR driver’s license number of an involved party

Through the Florida Highway Patrol

Requests for 10 or fewer crash records can be fulfilled at the FHP Troop Station nearest to where the crash occurred, if your case involves an FHP-investigated accident.

Through the Local Investigating Agency

For crashes investigated by St. Petersburg Police Department, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Clearwater Police, or other local agencies, you can request the report directly from that agency during the initial period before it transmits to FLHSMV. Local agency procedures vary; most now direct requesters to the state portal after a short window.

Through a Third-Party Service

Services like LexisNexis, CrashDocs, and myaccident.org can retrieve Florida crash reports on your behalf, usually for a fee above the state’s $10. Attorneys typically use these services for volume access.

The 60-Day Confidentiality Period

One detail that catches many crash victims by surprise: under Florida Statute § 316.066(2)(b), most Florida crash reports are confidential for the first 60 days after the crash. During that window, only specific eligible parties can access the report:

• Parties involved in the crash (drivers, passengers, injured pedestrians and cyclists)
• The parties’ legal representatives (attorneys)
• The parties’ insurance companies
• Prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, and other authorized government entities
• Certified news media (in some cases)

The rule was tightened by Senate Bill 1614 in March 2023 to reduce solicitation of crash victims by attorneys, chiropractors, and other services who used to buy new crash reports in bulk to pitch services.

To access a report within the 60-day window, an eligible requester must submit a Sworn Statement to Obtain Crash Report (form HSMV 94010) attesting to their eligibility and providing driver’s license or other identifying information. Attorneys typically handle this on behalf of injured clients.

Need your report faster than 60 days? Jones Law Group can pull it for you as your attorney. Call (727) 571-1333.

Reading Your Report: Section by Section

The Florida crash report is a dense document. Here is what each major section contains and what to look for.

Header Section

The top of the report lists the crash date, time, reporting agency, agency case number, and HSMV crash report number. Verify these match your recollection. Errors here can create administrative headaches later.

Crash Characteristics (Event Page)

This section identifies where the crash happened. Look for:

• County code and city code: The location jurisdiction. Pinellas County is code 62; St. Petersburg has its own city code.
• Road system identifier: Classifies the road (interstate, U.S. highway, state road, county road, local street).
• Location description: The specific street, cross-street, milepost, or GPS coordinates of the crash.
• Environmental conditions: Weather, lighting, roadway surface condition, roadway grade.
• Crash type: Rear-end, angle, head-on, sideswipe, single-vehicle, etc.

Environmental conditions matter for liability arguments. A rain-slick crash on I-275 is a different case than a dry-pavement crash at the same location.

Vehicle Information

Each vehicle involved gets its own section, numbered sequentially. Look for:

• Vehicle year, make, model, and VIN: Identification information.
• License plate and state: Registration information.
• Owner information: Especially important when the driver is not the owner (rental car, employer-owned vehicle, family member’s car).
• Commercial vehicle status: If checked, the report will include commercial motor vehicle configuration, cargo body type, and gross vehicle weight rating. Commercial vehicles change the case entirely — different insurance layers, different regulations, different exposure.
• Motor vehicle status: “In transport” (being driven at the time), parked, or other.
• Damage description: Where the vehicle was hit and how severely.

Driver and Person Information

Each person involved gets a numbered entry. This includes drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Look for:

• Full name, date of birth, address, driver’s license number and state
• Insurance company and policy number: The most important field for anyone building an injury claim.
• Seatbelt / helmet usage: Recorded for each person.
• Air bag deployment: When applicable.
• Ejection status: Whether a person was ejected from the vehicle.
• Injury severity code: The officer’s classification of each person’s injuries.
• Medical facility: Where an injured person was transported.

Injury Classification Codes

Officers classify each injured person on a scale set by federal reporting standards:

• Fatal (K): Death from crash-related injuries.
• Incapacitating / Suspected Serious (A): Injuries preventing normal activity, requiring transport for treatment.
• Non-Incapacitating / Suspected Minor (B): Visible injuries not fitting the incapacitating criteria.
• Possible (C): Complaints of pain or discomfort with no visible injury.
• No Apparent Injury (O): No injuries reported or observed.

The classification affects PIP eligibility, subsequent evidence value, and case building. An “O” classification on someone who later develops severe symptoms is problematic. If you had any pain at the scene, insist the officer document it, even if you feel it is minor.

Contributing Cause Codes

The officer assigns one or more contributing cause codes to each driver, indicating what the officer believes contributed to the crash. Common codes include:

• Failure to yield right of way
• Careless driving
• Following too closely
• Improper turn
• Improper lane change
• Speeding
• Distracted driving (with sub-codes for phone use, in-vehicle distractions, etc.)
• Driving under the influence
• Failure to obey traffic signal or stop sign
• Improper backing

Contributing cause codes are the officer’s opinion based on the scene evidence and statements. They are not a legal fault determination. But they carry weight with insurance adjusters and, if the case goes to trial, can be introduced as evidence.

Narrative Section

On Long Form reports, the officer writes a narrative describing what happened based on witness statements, physical evidence, and the officer’s investigation. Read this section carefully.

Look for:

• Which driver the officer identified as the primary cause
• Statements attributed to each driver
• Witness accounts
• Physical evidence (skid marks, debris field, damage patterns)
• Anything that contradicts your recollection

Narratives are written from the officer’s perspective and can contain errors, omissions, or misinterpretations. If you find factual mistakes, document them and discuss them with an attorney.

Diagram Section

The diagram shows the crash scene as the officer understood it: vehicle positions before, during, and after the collision; direction of travel; roadway features; and impact points.

Diagrams are visual summaries, not scaled reconstructions. They can be wrong. Compare the diagram to your recollection and to any photographs you have from the scene.

What the Report Tells You — and What It Doesn’t

A Florida crash report is powerful evidence, but it has real limits.

What the report tells you

• Who was involved and their identifying information
• What insurance company covers each party
• Where the crash occurred, when, and under what conditions
• The officer’s contemporaneous assessment of fault based on scene evidence
• Witness names (when they gave statements)
• Injuries reported at the scene and medical transports

What the report does not tell you

• Who is legally at fault. The report is evidence, not a verdict. A jury or judge can reach a different conclusion.
• The full extent of injuries. Injuries that develop days later are not on the report.
• The full property damage picture. Repair estimates come later.
• Coverage details. The report shows the insurance company but not the policy limits.
• Video evidence. Surveillance footage, dashcam, and traffic cam footage exist separately.
• Cell phone records. If distracted driving is alleged, records must be obtained through discovery.

Under Florida Statute § 316.066(4), statements made to the investigating officer for the purpose of the crash report may be inadmissible in later civil proceedings (this is the accident report privilege). But the objective facts in the report — locations, vehicle information, insurance, witness identification — remain valuable.

How Attorneys Use Your Crash Report

The crash report is often the first document a Florida injury attorney reviews. From it, an experienced practitioner extracts:

• The insurance companies to notify
• The potential defendants (drivers, employers, commercial vehicle owners)
• Witness contact information to preserve
• The contributing cause codes and how they align with a viable theory of liability
• The environmental conditions that support or complicate the case
• Any discrepancies between the report and the client’s recollection that need to be addressed
• The location for surveillance video preservation efforts

The report is also the starting point for identifying what evidence still needs to be gathered: photos of the scene, dashcam video, phone records, medical records tying injuries to the crash, and expert witness needs.

Common Errors to Watch For in Your Report

Officers do their best under difficult conditions, but errors happen. Watch for:

• Misspelled names or wrong addresses. Creates administrative delays with insurers.
• Wrong insurance information. A common problem when drivers hand over expired cards or wrong policy numbers.
• Missing witness information. Bystanders who saw the crash but did not stay at the scene often do not appear in the report.
• Injury coding errors. A “no apparent injury” code on someone who later develops symptoms is a significant issue for claim building.
• Diagram errors. Vehicle positions, direction of travel, or impact points can be shown incorrectly.
• Contributing cause errors. The officer’s opinion of fault may be based on incomplete information.

If you find significant errors, discuss them with an attorney. Amending an official report is difficult, but the client’s version of events can be documented separately and used in negotiations and litigation.

Crash Report Practice in St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay

Most Pinellas County crash reports are filed by St. Petersburg Police Department, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Clearwater Police Department, or the Florida Highway Patrol depending on the location. Interstate crashes on I-275 and I-4 are typically FHP jurisdiction. Reports transmit to the FLHSMV Crash Portal within a few days of completion. Local agencies can sometimes provide a redacted copy sooner for eligible parties.

Bobby Jones is a Stetson Law graduate, an Air Force veteran, and has practiced personal injury law in Tampa Bay for more than 20 years. Jones Law Group has recovered more than $50 million for clients. Our office at 5622 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL 33707 handles injury cases arising from crashes throughout Pinellas County, Tampa, Clearwater, Largo, and across Florida. We review crash reports as the first step of every case.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official Florida crash report form number?

The official Florida crash report is HSMV 90010S, maintained by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It is used by all Florida law enforcement agencies to report traffic crashes. Both Long Form (with narrative and diagram) and Short Form use the same base form number.

How long does it take to get a Florida crash report?

Under Florida Statute § 316.066(2)(b), most requesters must wait 60 days from the crash date to obtain a report. Involved parties, their attorneys, and their insurance companies can access reports sooner by submitting a Sworn Statement to Obtain Crash Report (HSMV 94010). Officers typically submit their reports within a few days of the crash.

How much does a Florida crash report cost?

The state fee is $10 per report under Florida Statute § 321.23, purchased through the FLHSMV Crash Portal at flhsmv.gov. Third-party services may charge additional fees on top of the state cost.

Does the crash report determine legal fault?

No. The crash report contains the officer’s contemporaneous assessment of fault, but the report is evidence, not a legal verdict. Insurance companies, judges, and juries can reach different conclusions about fault. Contributing cause codes on the report carry weight but are not binding.

What if there was no crash report because the police didn’t come?

Drivers can self-file using form HSMV 90011S (Driver Self Report of Traffic Crash) online or by mail. Self-filed reports carry less evidentiary weight than officer-completed reports, but they establish an official record of the crash and are better than no report at all.

Can I amend errors in my crash report?

Amending an official crash report is difficult and often not possible after the initial submission window. If you find significant factual errors, document them in writing and discuss them with an attorney. Your version of events can be recorded separately for use in negotiations and litigation.

How do I look up a crash report by driver’s license number?

Through the FLHSMV Crash Portal at flhsmv.gov, you can search by crash date and county plus one of: driver last name, crash report number, or driver’s license number of an involved party.

Are statements I made to the officer admissible in court?

Under Florida’s accident report privilege at § 316.066(4), statements made to the investigating officer for the purpose of completing the crash report may be inadmissible in later civil proceedings. This is a narrow rule with important limits. Consult an attorney about how the privilege applies to your specific statements.

Do I need a lawyer to interpret my crash report?

For a minor property-damage crash with clear liability, you may be able to handle the claim yourself. For any case involving injuries, disputed fault, multiple defendants, commercial vehicles, or significant damages, an experienced Florida personal injury attorney will pull far more information out of the report than a layperson can. Most Florida injury attorneys, including Jones Law Group, work on contingency, so consultations cost nothing.

Get Help Interpreting Your Florida Crash Report

The crash report is where every Florida injury case starts, but reading it correctly takes practice. What looks like a straightforward rear-end collision on the report can turn out to involve a commercial vehicle, an employer defendant, and an insurance stack worth many times what the individual driver carries.

If you were injured in a Florida crash and want a straight read on what your report actually shows, Bobby Jones and the team at Jones Law Group can help. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.

Call (727) 571-1333 or email [email protected].

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Florida crash reporting requirements are set by statute and may change through legislation or agency rulemaking. Verify current requirements with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or a licensed Florida attorney. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Jones Law Group. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case.