September 19, 1952 

Hon. Hcmer Garrison, Jr., Dlreotor 

Texas Department of Public Safety 

Camp kbry 

Austin, Texas opinion go. V-1526 

Re: Legality of furnleh~lag 

copiee of acoldent rePorte filed pursuant to 

the Texas Hotor Vehicle 

Safety-Reepoueiblllty 

Act to County and DlsDear Sir: 

trlct Attorneys handling 

appaale under the Act. 

you hete requested of this office an opinion 

concerning the authority of the Deprteent of Ppbllu 

Safety to dlaclose Infomnation contained In the aocident 

report8 vhlch drivers are required to Bubnlt under Seotion 

4 of Artlole 67.01h, Vernon’s Civil Statutee, the Texas 

Motor Vehicle Safety-Reeponelblllty Act. Your request reads, 

in part, aa follovs: 

" . . . This Department Is reoelvlng requests from the county and district attorneys 

for ooples of the accldeat reports to assist 

in their preparation of the caecs. 

"In view of the above requeet and la view 

of the provisions of Sections 4 and 11 of Art. 

6701.h, v.c.s., Sections 39 and 42 of Art. 6687b, 

V.C.S., and Sections 44 and 49 of Art. 67016, 

V.C.Si, your oplnlon ia respectfully requested 

of the following: Can the Department of Public 

Safety lawfully provide coplee of aocident repOrta submitted In compliance rith Sec. 4 of 

Art. 67olh, V.C.S., to county and district attorneys for their use in repreaentlng the Department in appeals 

V.C.S.?" 

pursuant to Sec. 2 of Art. 67Qlh, 

If the driver of a motor vehicle is involved in 

an accident of suffioient gravity, Section 4 of Article 

6701h, V.C.S., requires that he submit a report containing 
lion. Homer Garrison, Jr., Page 2 (v-1526) 

Information vhich 0111 enable the Department of Public 

Safety to determine whether he has complied with the requirements of the Safety Responslbllltp Act. It IS 

further specified that any accident re 

suant to the requirements of Section 4 r 

rt submitted purof Article 6701d, 

V.C.S., the Uniform Traffic Code, shall be deemed sufflclent If It oontalna the necessary Information concerning 

the fiuanclal responalbllity of the driver. 

Section 44 of Article 6701d reads as follows: 

"Sec. 44. (a) The driver of a vehicle 

involved in an accident resulting in injury to 

or death of any person or total property damage 

to an apparent extent of Twenty-five'($25.00) 

Dollars or more shall, within tventy-four (24) 

hours after such accident, forward a written 

report of such acaident to the department. 

"(b) 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 accident8 

to render reports to the department. 

"(c) Every lav enforcement officer, who, 

In the regular course of duty, Investigates a 

motor-vehicle accident of which report must be 

made as required in this Section, either at the 

time of and at the scene of the accident or 

thereafter by interviewing participants or wltnesses shall, within tventy-four (24) hours after 

completing such Investigation, forward a wf;ltten 

report of such accident to the department. 

Section 39 of Article 6687b, V.C.S., the drivers' 

licensing law, contains substantially the same requirements. 

It also provides that "reports required by this Section shall 

be deemed privileged communications." 

The accident reports that Articles 6687b and 6701d 

require drivers to submit are for the confidential use of the 

Department only. They may not be used as evidence In any 

civil or crlmlnal trial, and the Department may divulge the 

Information contained therein for only a few specific purposes. 
Hon. Homer oarriaon, Jr., Page 3 (v-1526) 

Artlale 66&b, Sec. 42, provides: 

'All required accident report8 and supplemental reports ahall be without prejudice 

to the individual 80 reporting and shall be 

for the aonfldentlal use of the Departmeat 

except that the Department may disclose the 

identity of a person involved In an acoldent 

when 8uoh Identity Is not otherwise known or 

when euoh'pbrson denies his presence at such 

acoldent. Blo such report ahall be used as 

evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, ariaing out of such acoldent, except that the Department ehell furnish upon request of any 

person who has, or olalms to have, made such 

a report or upon demand of any oourt, a certlfloate ehowlng that a specified report has 

or has not been received by the Department, 

solely to prove a compliance or failure to 

comply with the requirement that suoh report 

be made to the Department." 

Article 6701d, Sec. 47, statem: 

"All aooldeat report8 made by pereons Involved in accidents, by garages, or peaoe 

officers shall be without prejudice to the lndlvidual 80 reporting and ahall be for the confidential use of the department or other State 

agencies having use for the reoords for aooident 

prevention purposes, except that the department 

may disclose the identity of a person involved 

in an accident when such identity is not otherwise known or when such person denies his preaence at such acoident." 

The manifest reason for these requirements of 

searecy Is to Insure the aonstitutlonal validity of the 

provielons that require drivers to submit reports of the 

accidents in vhleh they were involved. Without these restrictions, the requirement of such a report from a driver 

might well be tantamount to compelling him to give evldence against himself, thus in violation of the famlllar 

conetltutlonal eafeguards against compulsory aelf lncrtilnatlon. Tex. Conat. Art. I, Sec. 10. Thus it ha8 been 

held by thle office that the Department of Public Safety 

may not disclose the Information contained in drlver8' 

accident report8 to district and county attorneys. nowever, it wa8 also stated in that opinion that the Department may dlscloae to local proeecutors any other information 
Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr., Page 4 (v-1526) 

obtained from third persona or during the aourBe of it8 

own lnvestigatlons. Att'y. Gsn. Op. O-4402 (1942). The 

Information furnished by the driver himself may only be 

uSed to Identify a person involved in an acaldent when 

hi8 Identity la not othervise known or If he denies his 

presence at the aoaldent. Art. 6687b, Sec. 42, V.C.S.; 

Art. 6701d, Sec. 47, V.C.S. 

The aooldent reports submitted by drivers are 

primarily used as a source of information from which the 

Department of Public Safety may make Intelligent atatlstloal atudiea of the cau8e and prevention of accidents. 

The Department 18 required to tabulate and analy8e the 

data contained in theae reports and publish Its ovn perlodlc trafflo surveys for the use of various state and 

local las enforaement agencies. Art. 6687b, Seo. 40, 43, 

V.C.S.; Art. 6701d, Sec. 48, V.C'.S. 

Section 4 of Article 6701.h, V.C.S., the Texas 

Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act, providea: 

"The operator of every motor vehicle vhlch 

la In any manner Involved in an accident within 

this State, In which any person Is killed or lnjured or in whioh damage to the property of any 

one (1) person, Including hlmself, In exce88 of 

One Hundred Dollars ($100) Is SuStained, Shall 

within ten (10) days after auoh aaoldent report 

the matter in writing to the Department. Such 

report, the form of which shall be prescribed by 

the Department, Shall contain Information to enable the Department to determine whether the requirements for the deposit of security under Section 5 are Inapplicable by reason of the existence 

of Insurance or other exception8 BpeCified In this 

Act. Any written report of accident in accordance 

vlth Article 6701d, Section 44, Texas Revised 

Statutes, If actually made to the Department,ehall 

be sufficient provided it also contains the lnformatlou required herein. The Department may rely 

upon the accuracy of the Information unless and 

until it has reason to believe that the lnformatlon is erroneous. If Buoh operator be physically 

incapable of making such report, the ovner of the 

motor vehicle Involved In such accident shall, 

within ten (10) days after learning of the acoldent, 

make such report. The operator or the owner ahall 

furnish suah additional relevant Information as the 

Department shall require." 
. . 

Hon. Homer Garrison, Jr., Page 5,(~-1526) 

It 18 apparent that'the above quoted 

rarely reiterates the requirements~of, Artloles 6 r 

ovlBlon 

87~ and 

67016 with referenoe to the accident report8 which muet be 

submitted by drivers. Neither this nor any other provlslon 

of the Safety Responsibility Act removes any of the reetrlctlons previously placed upon the Department's use of these 

reports. Section 11 of the Act prohibits thelr use in evldence in any tlvll trial. However, Article 670Ih makes the 

additional requirement that the driver submit proof of his 

financial IWBpOnBibllit~, and this information may be submitted aa a part of the acoldent report required by the 

older etatutes. 

The report required by Section 4 of the Safety 

Reeponsibllity Aot le more than a mere oentrlbutlon to the 

etatlstloal files of the Department of Public Safety. It 

18 the only souroe of information concerning the financial 

re8ponBlblllty of the driver. Regardlng~the authority of 

the Department to dlsolose the contents of the accident report required by Section 4 of the Safety ReBponslblllty Act, 

this office recently made the following statement In Attorney General's Opinion V-1440 (1952): 

'We are unable to find anything in this 

aot whloh vould authorlse the Department to 

furnish any more Information contained in the 

acoident report than you are authoriced to reveal from the accident reports required by 

Articles 6687b and 67Old, V.C.S. However, the 

Department Is authorised to advlee the person 

requesting the Information of the action taken 

by the Department, the type and amount of security filed, and any other matter In Its pOBsession by reason of a perstnls compliance with 

the provisions of this act. 

In other words, the driver's accident report required by Articles 6687l.1 and 670Id covers the nature and causes 

of the accident Itself, and It may not be released to local 

prosecutors. But the financial reBpon8iblllty report required 

by Article 670Ih 18 the only source of Information concerning 

the driver's compliance with this law. The Act vould be lmpOBsiblt? to enforce If the Department could not release this 

information to prosecuting attorneys handling appeals taken 

from the Department~s actions. You are accordingly advised 

that the only information which may be released to prosecuting attorneys Is that vhlch relates directly to the driver's 

compliance with the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility 

Act. This Includes the action taken by the Department, the 
HOU. xxomsr GBrr~son, Jr., Page 6 (v-1526) 

type srad amount of seourity filed, and any other matters 

conoernlng the financial reBpOmBibility of the driver. 

SUMMARY 

The Department of Public Safety m8y 

not f+urnlsh eoples of the aacldent report8 

which drivers are required to submit by 

Seotlon 4 of Article 6701.11, V.C.S., the 

Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Rcsponslbillty 

Aot. to prosecuting attorneys haru3ling 

appeals taken under the Act. It may, however, release lnformatlon conoexnlng the 

flnanolal responsibility of the driver and 

other matters relating to the driver'6 oompllanoe vlth the Safety-Responsibility Act. 

APPROVBD: 

Ullllam s. LotIt 

State Affairs Dlvielon 

E. Jacobson 

Reviewing Aeeistaat 

Your8 very truly, 

PRICE DAHIEL 

Attorney General 

By C&X. 6d ,\- - 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Calvin B. Garuood, Jr. 

Assistant 

CBO/rt