Minnesota Session Laws - 2001, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 91-S.F.No. 2006 
                  An act relating to government data; authorizing 
                  certain accident data to be made public; amending 
                  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.09, subdivision 
                  13. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.09, 
        subdivision 13, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 13.  [REPORTS CONFIDENTIAL; EVIDENCE, FEE, PENALTY, 
        APPROPRIATION.] (a) All written reports and supplemental reports 
        required under this section shall be for the use of the 
        commissioner of public safety and other appropriate state, 
        federal, county, and municipal governmental agencies for 
        accident analysis purposes, except: 
           (1) the commissioner of public safety or any law 
        enforcement agency shall, upon written request of any person 
        involved in an accident or upon written request of the 
        representative of the person's estate, surviving spouse, or one 
        or more surviving next of kin, or a trustee appointed pursuant 
        to section 573.02, disclose to the requester, the requester's 
        legal counsel, or a representative of the requester's insurer 
        the report required under subdivision 8; 
           (2) the commissioner of public safety shall, upon written 
        request, provide the driver filing a report under subdivision 7 
        with a copy of the report filed by the driver; 
           (3) the commissioner of public safety may verify with 
        insurance companies vehicle insurance information to enforce 
        sections 65B.48, 169.792, 169.793, 169.796, and 169.797; 
           (4) the commissioner of public safety shall provide the 
        commissioner of transportation the information obtained for each 
        traffic accident involving a commercial motor vehicle, for 
        purposes of administering commercial vehicle safety regulations; 
        and 
           (5) the commissioner of public safety may give to the 
        United States Department of Transportation commercial vehicle 
        accident information in connection with federal grant programs 
        relating to safety. 
           (b) Accident reports and data contained in the reports 
        shall not be discoverable under any provision of law or rule of 
        court.  No report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil 
        or criminal, arising out of an accident, except that the 
        commissioner of public safety shall furnish upon the demand of 
        any person who has, or claims to have, made a report, or, upon 
        demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified 
        accident report has or has not been made to the commissioner 
        solely to prove compliance or failure to comply with the 
        requirements that the report be made to the commissioner. 
           (c) Nothing in this subdivision prevents any person who has 
        made a report pursuant to this section from providing 
        information to any persons involved in an accident or their 
        representatives or from testifying in any trial, civil or 
        criminal, arising out of an accident, as to facts within the 
        person's knowledge.  It is intended by this subdivision to 
        render privileged the reports required, but it is not intended 
        to prohibit proof of the facts to which the reports relate. 
           (d) Disclosing any information contained in any accident 
        report, except as provided in this subdivision, section 13.82, 
        subdivision 3 or 4, or other statutes, is a misdemeanor. 
           (e) The commissioner of public safety may charge authorized 
        persons a $5 fee for a copy of an accident report.  The 
        commissioner may also furnish copies of the modified accident 
        records database to private agencies as provided in paragraph 
        (g), for not less than the cost of preparing the copies on a 
        bulk basis.  
           (f) The commissioner and law enforcement agencies may 
        charge commercial users who request access to response or 
        incident data relating to accidents a fee not to exceed 50 cents 
        per report.  "Commercial user" is a user who in one location 
        requests access to data in more than five accident reports per 
        month, unless the user establishes that access is not for a 
        commercial purpose.  Money collected by the commissioner under 
        this paragraph is appropriated to the commissioner. 
           (g) The commissioner may provide a modified copy of the 
        accident records database that does not contain names, driver's 
        license numbers, vehicle license plate numbers, addresses, or 
        other identifying data to the public upon request.  However, 
        unless the accident records data base includes the motor vehicle 
        identification number, the commissioner shall include the 
        vehicle license plate number if a private agency certifies and 
        agrees that the agency: 
           (1) is in the business of collecting accident and damage 
        information on vehicles; 
           (2) will use the vehicle license plate number only for the 
        purpose of identifying vehicles that have been involved in 
        accidents or damaged in order to provide this information to 
        persons seeking access to a vehicle's history and not for the 
        purpose of identifying individuals or for any other purpose; and 
           (3) will be subject to the penalties and remedies under 
        sections 13.08 and 13.09. 
           Presented to the governor May 8, 2001 
           Signed by the governor May 10, 2001, 3:05 p.m.