Bill Text: FL S1782 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Traffic Accidents
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Transportation [S1782 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S1782-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1782 By Senator Steube 23-01225A-18 20181782__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to traffic accidents; amending s. 3 316.066, F.S.; authorizing a law enforcement agency to 4 contract with a private entity to send a licensed, 5 state-authorized claims adjuster to complete a short 6 form crash report or provide a driver exchange-of 7 information form, in lieu of having a law enforcement 8 officer investigate the crash; requiring the claims 9 adjuster to submit the short-form crash report or 10 driver exchange-of-information form to the Department 11 of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the law 12 enforcement agency; revising requirements for the 13 short-form crash report; conforming provisions to 14 changes made by the act; amending ss. 316.068, 15 324.051, and 456.072, F.S.; conforming provisions to 16 changes made by the act; providing an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20 Section 1. Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of subsection (1) 21 and subsection (4) of section 316.066, Florida Statutes, are 22 amended to read: 23 316.066 Written reports of crashes.— 24 (1) 25 (c)1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., in any crash 26 for which a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form is not 27 required by this section and which occurs on the public roadways 28 of this state, the law enforcement officer who in the regular 29 course of duty responds to a motor vehicle crash shall complete 30 a short-form crash report or provide a driver exchange-of 31 information form, to be completed by all drivers and passengers 32 involved in the crash, which requires the identification of each 33 vehicle that the drivers and passengers were in. 34 2. A law enforcement agency may contract with a private 35 entity to send a licensed, state-authorized claims adjuster to 36 complete the short-form crash report or provide the driver 37 exchange-of-information form. The claims adjuster shall submit 38 the short-form crash report or driver exchange-of-information 39 form to the department and the law enforcement agency upon its 40 completion. 41 3. The short-form report under this paragraph must include: 42 a.1.The date, time, and location of the crash. 43 b.2.A description of the vehicles involved. 44 c.3.The names and addresses of the parties involved, 45 including all drivers and passengers, and the identification of 46 the vehicle in which each was a driver or a passenger. 47 d.4.The names and addresses of witnesses. 48 e.5.If a law enforcement officer investigates the crash, 49 the name, badge number, and law enforcement agency of the 50 officerinvestigating the crash. 51 f. If a claims adjuster investigates the crash, the name of 52 the claims adjuster, proof of certification or licensure of the 53 claims adjuster, and the name of the private entity that holds 54 the contract with the law enforcement agency and that employs or 55 contracts with the claims adjuster. 56 g.6.The names of the insurance companies for the 57 respective parties involved in the crash. 58 (d) Each party to the crash must provide the law 59 enforcement officer or claims adjuster with proof of insurance, 60 which must be documented in the crash report. If a law 61 enforcement officer or claims adjuster submits a report on the 62 crash, proof of insurance must be provided to the officer or 63 claims adjuster by each party involved in the crash. Any party 64 who fails to provide the required information commits a 65 noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving 66 violation as provided in chapter 318, unless the officer or 67 claims adjuster determines that due to injuries or other special 68 circumstances such insurance information cannot be provided 69 immediately. If the person provides the law enforcement agency, 70 within 24 hours after the crash, proof of insurance that was 71 valid at the time of the crash, the law enforcement agency may 72 void the citation. 73 (e) The driver of a vehicle that was in any manner involved 74 in a crash resulting in damage to a vehicle or other property 75 which does not require a law enforcement or claims adjuster 76 report shall, within 10 days after the crash, submit a written 77 report of the crash to the department. The report shall be 78 submitted on a form approved by the department. 79 (4) Except as specified in this subsection, each crash 80 report made by a person involved in a crash and any statement 81 made by such person to a law enforcement officer or claims 82 adjuster for the purpose of completing a crash report required 83 by this section isshall bewithout prejudice to the individual 84 so reporting. Such report or statement may not be used as 85 evidence in anytrial,civil or criminal trial. However, subject 86 to the applicable rules of evidence, a law enforcement officer 87 or claims adjusterat a criminal trialmay testify at a criminal 88 trial as to any statement made to the officer or claims adjuster 89 by the person involved in the crash if that person’s privilege 90 against self-incrimination is not violated. The results of 91 breath, urine, and blood tests administered as provided in s. 92 316.1932 or s. 316.1933 are not confidential and are admissible 93 into evidence in accordance withthe provisions ofs. 94 316.1934(2). 95 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 316.068, Florida 96 Statutes, is amended to read: 97 316.068 Crash report forms.— 98 (2) Every crash report required to be made in writing must 99 be made on the appropriate form approved by the department and 100 must contain all the information required therein, including: 101 (a) The date, time, and location of the crash; 102 (b) A description of the vehicles involved; 103 (c) The names and addresses of the parties involved; 104 (d) The names and addresses of all drivers and passengers 105 in the vehicles involved; 106 (e) The names and addresses of witnesses; 107 (f) If a law enforcement officer investigates the crash, 108 the name, badge number, and law enforcement agency of the 109 officerinvestigating the crash; 110 (g) If a claims adjuster investigates the crash, the name 111 of the claims adjuster, proof of certification or licensure of 112 the claims adjuster, and the name of the private entity that 113 holds the contract with the law enforcement agency and that 114 employs or contracts with the claims adjuster; and 115 (h)(g)The names of the insurance companies for the 116 respective parties involved in the crash, 117 118 unless not available. The absence of information in such written 119 crash reports regarding the existence of passengers in the 120 vehicles involved in the crash constitutes a rebuttable 121 presumption that no such passengers were involved in the 122 reported crash. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 123 section, a crash report produced electronically by a law 124 enforcement officer or claims adjuster must, at a minimum, 125 contain the same information as is called for on those forms 126 approved by the department. 127 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 128 324.051, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 129 324.051 Reports of crashes; suspensions of licenses and 130 registrations.— 131 (1)(a) Every law enforcement officer or claims adjuster 132 who, in the regular course of duty either at the time of and at 133 the scene of the crash or thereafter by interviewing 134 participants or witnesses, investigates a motor vehicle crash 135 which he or she is required to report pursuant to s. 316.066(1) 136 shall forward a written report of the crash to the department 137 within 10 days afterofcompleting the investigation. However, 138 when the investigation of a crash will take more than 10 days to 139 complete, a preliminary copy of the crash report shall be 140 forwarded to the department within 10 days after the occurrence 141 of the crash, to be followed by a final report within 10 days 142 after completion of the investigation. The report shall be on a 143 form and contain information consistent with the requirements of 144 s. 316.068. 145 Section 4. Paragraph (y) of subsection (1) of section 146 456.072, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 147 456.072 Grounds for discipline; penalties; enforcement.— 148 (1) The following acts shall constitute grounds for which 149 the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may be 150 taken: 151 (y) Using information about people involved in motor 152 vehicle accidents which has been derived from accident reports 153 made by law enforcement officers, claims adjusters, or persons 154 involved in accidents under s. 316.066, or using information 155 published in a newspaper or other news publication or through a 156 radio or television broadcast that has used information gained 157 from such reports, for the purposes of commercial or any other 158 solicitation whatsoever of the people involved in the accidents. 159 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.