How to Get a Car Accident Report in Colorado Springs

Legally reviewed by Alexander Begum, Personal Injury Attorney

Key Takeaways

• The agency that came to the crash holds your car accident report in Colorado Springs. Police (CSPD) reports come from CSPD, trooper reports from the State Patrol, and reports you filed yourself from the DMV.
• A CSPD traffic accident report costs $10 for the first five pages. Each extra page is $0.25 under the city’s fee schedule.
• State Patrol reports can take up to 10 working days. You need the driver’s name, crash date, case number and location.
• If no officer came, you file a “counter report” online with the state. The DMV asks you to allow 90 days for it to reach the system.
• Counter reports cannot be used as evidence at trial. Under C.R.S. § 42-4-1610, driver reports are confidential, while officer reports are public records.
• Waiting for the report does not pause your deadline. You have three years to sue over a car crash, but only 182 days to give notice of a claim against a government driver.

To get a car accident report in Colorado Springs, request it from the agency whose officer responded: CSPD’s Records and Identification Section for city police reports, the Colorado State Patrol’s records portal for trooper reports, or the Colorado DMV if you filed the report yourself online. Have your case number, the crash date, the location and the drivers’ names ready, and expect a small fee and a wait of days to weeks depending on the agency.

The report is usually the first document an insurance adjuster reads, and if you were hurt, the type of report you end up with can shape your claim. If you were injured, our Colorado Springs car accident lawyers can request the report for you as part of a free case review.

How to Look Up a Police Report in Colorado Springs

Start with the card the officer handed you at the scene. It names the agency and gives a case number, which tells you which route below applies. Troopers and sheriff’s deputies also work crashes in and around the city, so check rather than guess.

Sources: City of Colorado Springs, Police Records Release Requests and CSPD Schedule of Fees; Colorado State Patrol, Crash Information; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Records & Video Request; Colorado DMV, Report a Crash and Obtain a Crash Record. Checked November 5, 2026.

For a CSPD report, use the “Submit a Request” portal on the city’s Police Records Release Requests page; questions go to the Records and Identification Section at 719-444-7463. One trap catches many drivers: if you filed your report online or mailed it to the state, CSPD will not have it. For a trooper’s report, the State Patrol’s Crash Information page says reports “are not available immediately following a crash,” the copy is mailed after payment, and you should submit only one request to avoid duplicate charges.

Do You Have to Report a Car Accident in Colorado?

Yes. Under C.R.S. § 42-4-1606(1), the driver of a vehicle in a crash that causes injury, death or any property damage must give immediate notice of the location to the nearest police authority, after first meeting the duties to stop and exchange information. If police direct you to, you must return to the scene and stay until they finish. Violating the section is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense.

Under § 42-4-1603(1), each driver must also give their name, address and vehicle registration number, show their license on request, and give reasonable help to anyone injured. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime under § 42-4-1601, and a felony when the injury is serious or someone dies. If the other driver fled, read our guide to hit-and-run accidents in Colorado Springs.

When police may not investigate

Notifying police does not guarantee an officer will come. Section 42-4-1606(4)(b)(I) says an officer is not required to investigate or file a report when the officer reasonably believes property damage to any one person is $1,000 or less and no one was hurt or killed. Two exceptions matter: the officer must investigate and file a report if one of the drivers specifically asks, or if a driver cannot show proof of insurance.

The City of Colorado Springs’ Report a Minor Traffic Accident page lists when you may file a “cold report” instead of waiting for an officer:

• CSPD was on Accident Alert at the time of the crash.
• The crash happened on private property, such as a parking lot.
• No officer was called, no one died or was hurt, no drugs or alcohol were involved, and the drivers agreed to report it themselves and exchanged vehicle and insurance information.
• It was a hit-and-run with no usable suspect or vehicle information.

“Accident Alert” is declared when severe weather means officers cannot respond to every crash. Even then, the State Patrol says officers still come for injuries, deaths, disabled vehicles, alcohol or drugs, and hit-and-runs.

Counter Reports: What Happens When No Officer Comes

When you report a crash yourself, you file it through the state’s online system, and it goes to the Department of Revenue, not CSPD. The city’s page is blunt: “CSPD can’t accept the completed forms; you must send them to the State.” The Colorado DMV calls this a “counter report” because no law enforcement agency investigates it. You get a copy with form DR 2559, and the DMV keeps crash information for seven years.

Why a counter report is weaker if you were hurt

This is where Colorado law surprises people. C.R.S. § 42-4-1610 says accident reports that drivers and owners are required to file are “for the confidential use of the department” and, with a narrow exception for uninsured and underinsured motorist proceedings, “no such report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident.” The same section says reports made by sheriffs, police officers and other peace officers are not confidential; they are public records.

In practice, a counter report proves mostly that you met your duty to report, not who caused the crash. If anyone was hurt, call 911 and ask for an officer, even if the damage looks minor; under § 42-4-1606(4)(b)(I), a driver’s specific request obliges the officer to investigate and file a report. Then take photos and get witness names.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Crash Report in Colorado?

It depends on who took the report and whether the investigation is finished:

• Officers must submit their crash reports to the state within five days of receiving the information or completing the investigation, under § 42-4-1606(4)(a)(I).
• The State Patrol says its review and approval can take up to ten working days after an investigation ends.
• The DMV asks drivers to allow 90 days for a report to be received and entered into the driver license system.
• A 2026 law, HB 26-1127 (effective August 12, 2026), requires the officer to file an amended report within five days of learning that a person died within 30 days of a crash, so a fatal crash file can change after the first report.

Notify your own insurer promptly rather than waiting. The State Patrol notes that if you did not show the trooper current proof of insurance, you must file a financial responsibility form within ten days of the crash.

What If the Accident Report Is Wrong?

A wrong plate, insurer or street name is a factual error; ask the agency’s records unit how it handles corrections. A dispute over who caused the crash is different, because the officer’s opinion is not the final word on fault. In court, a judge or jury assigns each party a percentage of fault under C.R.S. § 13-21-111. You can recover reduced damages as long as your share is less than the other driver’s, but you recover nothing if your share is equal to or greater than theirs.

That 50% line is why an unfavorable report needs evidence in response: dashcam footage, scene photos and witness statements. Crashes involving rear-end collisions, drunk drivers and commercial trucks often turn on details that never make it into the officer’s narrative.

Your Deadline Keeps Running While You Wait

Colorado’s filing deadlines run whether or not you have the paperwork:

• Lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage from the use or operation of a motor vehicle must be filed within three years under C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n).
• Most other injury claims, such as a fall in a parking lot after the crash, fall under the two-year deadline in § 13-80-102(1)(a).
• If a city, county or state employee was driving, such as a city vehicle or a public bus, you must file written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury under C.R.S. § 24-10-109(1). Missing that notice “shall forever bar” the claim.

Section 24-10-106(1)(a) allows claims for injuries caused by a public employee driving a public vehicle on the job, with exceptions for emergency vehicles. If a public vehicle was involved, read about bus accident claims in Colorado Springs and talk to a lawyer early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hurt in a Colorado Springs Crash? Get The Giant on Your Side

Every week spent waiting for a report is a week the other side spends building its version of the crash. The Law Giant’s Colorado Springs personal injury lawyers help people hurt in car crashes, motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents gather the evidence and deal with the insurance companies, including insurers that delay or deny valid claims.

The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney’s fee unless we win. Call (719) 779-0090 or contact us online.

Sources and authorities

• Colorado Revised Statutes (2024 ed., Office of Legislative Legal Services): title 42, §§ 42-4-1601, 42-4-1603, 42-4-1606, 42-4-1610; title 13, §§ 13-21-111, 13-80-101, 13-80-102; title 24, §§ 24-10-106, 24-10-109.
• Colorado General Assembly, 2026 Digest of Bills, HB 26-1127.
• City of Colorado Springs, Police Records Release Requests, CSPD Schedule of Fees and Report a Minor Traffic Accident.
• Colorado State Patrol, Crash Information.
• Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, Report a Crash and Obtain a Crash Record.
• El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Records & Video Request.

This article is general information about Colorado law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its facts; talk to a lawyer about yours. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The Law Giant, Personal Injury & Accident Lawyers, Colorado Springs, (719) 779-0090, is responsible for this content.