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92_HB4056
LRB9211608DHgc
1 AN ACT in relation to vehicles.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
5 changing Sections 11-408 and 11-412 as follows:
6 (625 ILCS 5/11-408) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-408)
7 Sec. 11-408. Police to report motor vehicle accident
8 investigations.
9 (a) Every law enforcement officer who investigates a
10 motor vehicle accident for which a report is required by this
11 Article or who prepares a written report as a result of an
12 investigation either at the time and scene of such motor
13 vehicle accident or thereafter by interviewing participants
14 or witnesses shall forward a written report of such motor
15 vehicle accident to the Administrator on forms provided by
16 the Administrator under Section 11-411 within 10 days after
17 investigation of the motor vehicle accident, or within such
18 other time as is prescribed by the Administrator. Such
19 written reports required to be forwarded by law enforcement
20 officers and the information contained therein are privileged
21 as to the Secretary of State and the Department and, in the
22 case of second division vehicles operated under certificate
23 of convenience and necessity issued by the Illinois Commerce
24 Commission, to the Commission, and but shall not be held
25 confidential by the reporting law enforcement officer or
26 agency for a period of 60 days after the date the report is
27 filed, as provided in Section 11-412 of this Code. The
28 Secretary of State may also disclose notations of accident
29 involvement maintained on individual driving records.
30 However, the Administrator or the Secretary of State may
31 require a supplemental written report from the reporting law
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1 enforcement officer and such supplemental report shall be for
2 the privileged use of the Secretary of State and the
3 Department and shall be held confidential.
4 (b) The Department at its discretion may require a
5 supplemental written report from the reporting law
6 enforcement officer on a form supplied by the Department to
7 be submitted directly to the Department. Such supplemental
8 report may be used only for accident studies and statistical
9 or analytical purposes, and shall be for the privileged use
10 of the Department and shall be held confidential.
11 (c) The Department at its discretion may also provide
12 for in-depth investigations of a motor vehicle accident by
13 individuals or special investigation groups, including but
14 not limited to police officers, photographers, engineers,
15 doctors, mechanics, and as a result of the investigation may
16 require the submission of written reports, photographs,
17 charts, sketches, graphs, or a combination of all. Such
18 individual written reports, photographs, charts, sketches, or
19 graphs may be used only for accident studies and statistical
20 or analytical purposes, shall be for the privileged use of
21 the Department and held confidential, and shall not be used
22 in any trial, civil or criminal.
23 (d) On and after July 1, 1997, law enforcement officers
24 who have reason to suspect that the motor vehicle accident
25 was the result of a driver's loss of consciousness due to a
26 medical condition, as defined by the Driver's License Medical
27 Review Law of 1992, or the result of any medical condition
28 that impaired the driver's ability to safely operate a motor
29 vehicle shall notify the Secretary of this determination.
30 The Secretary, in conjunction with the Driver's License
31 Medical Advisory Board, shall determine by administrative
32 rule the temporary conditions not required to be reported
33 under the provisions of this Section. The Secretary shall,
34 in conjunction with the Illinois State Police and
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1 representatives of local and county law enforcement agencies,
2 promulgate any rules necessary and develop the procedures and
3 documents that may be required to obtain written, electronic,
4 or other agreed upon methods of notification to implement the
5 provisions of this Section.
6 (e) Law enforcement officers reporting under the
7 provisions of subsection (d) of this Section shall enjoy the
8 same immunities granted members of the Driver's License
9 Medical Advisory Board under Section 6-910 of this Code.
10 (f) All information furnished to the Secretary under
11 subsection (d) of this Section shall be deemed confidential
12 and for the privileged use of the Secretary in accordance
13 with the provisions of subsection (j) of Section 2-123 of
14 this Code.
15 (Source: P.A. 89-503, eff. 7-1-96; 89-584, eff. 7-31-96;
16 90-14, eff. 7-1-97.)
17 (625 ILCS 5/11-412) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-412)
18 Sec. 11-412. Motor vehicle accident reports
19 confidential.
20 (a) All required written motor vehicle accident reports
21 and supplemental reports shall be without prejudice to the
22 individual so reporting and shall be for the confidential use
23 of the Department and the Secretary of State and, in the case
24 of second division vehicles operated under certificate of
25 convenience and necessity issued by the Illinois Commerce
26 Commission, of the Commission, except that the Administrator
27 or the Secretary of State or the Commission may disclose the
28 identity of a person involved in a motor vehicle accident
29 when such identity is not otherwise known or when such person
30 denies his presence at such motor vehicle accident and the
31 Department shall disclose the identity of the insurance
32 carrier, if any, upon demand. The Secretary of State may also
33 disclose notations of accident involvement maintained on
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1 individual driving records. The Department may furnish
2 copies of its written accident reports to federal and State
3 agencies that are engaged in highway safety research and
4 studies. Reports furnished to any agency other than the
5 Secretary of State or the Illinois Commerce Commission may be
6 used only for statistical or analytical purposes and shall be
7 held confidential by that agency. No such written report
8 shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal,
9 arising out of a motor vehicle accident, except that the
10 Administrator shall furnish upon demand of any person who
11 has, or claims to have, made such a written report, or upon
12 demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified
13 written accident report has or has not been made to the
14 Administrator solely to prove a compliance or a failure to
15 comply with the requirement that such a written report be
16 made to the Administrator.
17 (b) The Department of Transportation at its discretion
18 may provide for in-depth investigations of accidents
19 involving Department employees. A written report describing
20 the preventability of such an accident may be prepared to
21 enhance the safety of Department employees. Such reports and
22 any opinions expressed in the review of the accident as to
23 the preventability of the accident shall be for the
24 privileged use of the Department and held confidential and
25 shall not be obtainable or used in any civil or criminal
26 proceeding.
27 (c) Accident reports required by this Article which
28 reveal the identity, home or employment telephone number, or
29 home or employment address of, or other personal information
30 concerning, the parties involved in the accident and which
31 are received or prepared by any agency that regularly
32 receives or prepares information from or concerning the
33 parties to motor vehicle accidents are confidential for a
34 period of 60 days after the date the report is filed. These
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1 reports, however, may be made immediately available to the
2 parties involved in the accident, their legal
3 representatives, their licensed insurance agents, their
4 insurers or insurers to which they have applied for coverage,
5 persons under contract with those insurers to provide claims
6 or underwriting information, prosecutorial authorities, radio
7 and television stations licensed by the Federal
8 Communications Commission, newspapers as defined in Section 1
9 of the Newspaper Legal Notice Act, and free newspapers of
10 general circulation, published once a week or more often,
11 available and of interest to the public generally for the
12 dissemination of news. For the purposes of this Section, the
13 following products or publications are not newspapers as
14 referred to in this Section: those intended primarily for
15 members of a particular profession or occupational group;
16 those with the primary purpose of distributing advertising;
17 and those with the primary purpose of publishing names and
18 other personally identifying information concerning parties
19 to motor vehicle accidents. Any State or federal agency that
20 is authorized to have access to accident reports by any law
21 shall be granted that access in the furtherance of the
22 agency's statutory duties. Any person attempting to gain
23 access to an accident report within 60 days after the date
24 the report is filed must present legitimate credentials or
25 identification that demonstrates his or her qualification to
26 gain access to that information.
27 (d) Any employee of a State or local agency in possession
28 of information made confidential by this Section who
29 knowingly discloses that confidential information to a person
30 not entitled to that information under this Section is guilty
31 of a Class 3 felony.
32 (e) Any person, knowing that he or she is not entitled to
33 obtain information made confidential by this Section, who
34 obtains or attempts to obtain that information is guilty of a
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1 Class 3 felony.
2 (Source: P.A. 89-503, eff. 7-1-96.)