An Act To ProteiJl the Privacy of Persons Involved in Reportable Motor Vehicle Accidents
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1167
Committee Amendment CA_B_H406 (House)
Amends: 29-A MRSA §2251

r:OMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·3" to H.P. 865, L.D. 1167, Bill, "An Act To 
ProteiJl the Privacy of Persons Involved in Reportable Motor Vehicle Accidents" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
S\lmmary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2251, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2003, c. 709,! §4, is 
further amended to read: 
7. Report information. An accident report made by an investigating officer ~r a 48-
flew: report made by an operator as required by fet:mef subsection ~ 2. is for the po/P0ses 
of statistical analysis and accident prevention. 
A report or statement contained in the accident report. or a 48 ROlli report as required by 
fflfmeF subsection ~ 2., a statement made or testim~ny taken at a hearing bef~re the 
Secretary of State held under section 2483, or a decision made as a result of that 'Ireport, 
statement or testimony may not be admitted in evidence in any trial, civil or cdminal, 
arhing out of the accident. 
i\ repon may be admissible in evidence solely to prove compliance with this sectio~. 
~ 
Nonyithstanding subsection 7-A, the Chief of the State Police may disclose t~e date, 
~ime and location of the accident and the names and addresses of operators, owners, 
injured persons, witnesses and the investigating officer. On written request, the chief 
may furnish a photocopy of the investigating officer's report at the expense of the person 
making the request. The cost of furnishing a copy of the report is not subject to the 
limitations of Title I, section 408, subsection 3. 
Sec. 2. 29-A MRS A §2251, sub-§7-A is enacted to read: 
7-A. Accident re ort database' 
ublic dissemination of accident re or data. 
patf! contained in an accident report database maintained administered or contrib ted to 
l:?yJhe De artment of Public Safe 
Bureau of State Police must be treated as folIo s. 
A. For purposes ofthis subsection, the following terms have the following me~nings. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITIEE AMENDMENT:13" to H.P. 865, L.D. 1167 
(1) "Data" means information existing in an electronic medium and contained in 
an accident report database. 
(2) 
"Nonpersonally identifying accident report data" means any data in an 
accident report that are not personally identifying accident report data. 
(3) "Personally identifying accident report data" means: 
(a) An individual's name, residential and post office box mailing addre~ 
social security number, date of birth and driver's license number; 
(P) A vehicle r~istration number; 
(QL.An insur~nc~ policy number; 
(QLJnformaticn cQJitained in any free text data field of an accident report; 
and 
(e) Any other infotmation contained in a data field of an accident report that 
may be used to identify a person. 
B. 
The Department o( PubU,9 Safety, Bureau of State Police may not publicly 
disseminate personally identifying accident report data that are contained in an 
accident report database maintained, records administered or contributed to by the 
Bureau of State Police. Such data are not public records for the purposes of Title 1, 
chapter 13. 
C. 
The Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police may publicly 
disseminate nonperson ally identifying accident report data that are contained in an 
accident report database maintained, administered or contributed to by the Bureau of 
State Police. The cost of furnishing a copy of such data is not subject to the 
limitations of Title 1, section 408.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report, strikes and replaces the bill. The 
amendment provides that the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police may 
not publicly disseminate personally identifying accident report data that are contained in 
an accident report database maintained, administered or contributed to by the Bureau of 
State Police, but may publicly disseminate nonpersonally identifying accident report data. 
This amendment also defines "data" as information existing in an electronic medium 
and contained in an accident report database. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT