How to get a car accident report in Georgia

Georgia provides crash reports statewide through BuyCrash Georgia (GDOT / GEARS statewide crash report retrieval) — including crashes handled by local police and county sheriffs.

Official source

BuyCrash Georgia (GDOT / GEARS statewide crash report retrieval)

Official Georgia crash-report source — Online via BuyCrash: about $11-$13 by credit/debit card (state report fee plus a card/convenience fee). By mail from GDOT: $5 per report, $7 for a certified copy (cashier's check or money order only).. Covers agencies statewide.

Open the official portal→

Source: Georgia — BuyCrash Georgia (GDOT / GEARS statewide crash report retrieval). Checked 2026-07-24. Details can change — always confirm with the official source.

Step by step

Wait for the report to be filed. Give the investigating agency time to submit the crash report. Local police/sheriff reports usually appear on BuyCrash within a few hours to a few days; Georgia State Patrol reports can take several days to about two weeks.
Pick your path by who worked the crash. City police department or county sheriff -> use BuyCrash. Georgia State Patrol / Highway Patrol (or Motor Carrier Compliance / Capitol Police) -> use the DPS EPORTS portal instead.
Search on BuyCrash. Go to buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com, select State = Georgia and the investigating agency, then search by the report/case number, or by driver first and last name plus the crash date and location (city, street, or highway).
Certify need, pay, and download. Confirm you are an interested party (statement of need) as required by O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(5), pay about $11-$13 by credit/debit card, and download the report PDF immediately.
Mail alternative (either path). Instead of paying online you can mail the GDOT Request Form with a $5 cashier's check or money order ($7 for a certified copy) to the GDOT Crash Reporting Unit, 935 United Ave SE, Bldg 24, Atlanta GA 30316. Allow up to about two weeks; GDOT stores every Georgia agency's report in the GEARS database.

State police / highway patrol crashes

Georgia State Patrol / Highway Patrol crashes (and Motor Carrier Compliance Division and Capitol Police reports) go through the DPS Open Records Unit via the EPORTS portal at https://eports.gamccd.net/orportal. Step 1: submit the online request (free to submit) - reports are generally processed within about three business days and you get an email with a Request # that begins with 'CRAS'. Step 2: click 'Search by Request #' and enter that number. Step 3: click 'Review and Pay' to pay by card and download the report. Mail/phone alternative: DPS Open Records Unit, 959 United Avenue SE, Atlanta GA 30316, phone (404) 624-7591, fax (404) 624-7529. Many GSP-investigated reports are also retrievable through BuyCrash.

Crashes handled by local police or sheriffs

Crashes worked by city police departments and county sheriffs are pulled through BuyCrash (buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com) - the LexisNexis vendor GDOT uses as the public front end for its statewide GEARS crash database. Select Georgia and the investigating agency, search by report/case number or by name + crash date + location, certify your statement of need, and pay roughly $11-$13 by card for an immediate PDF (support: 1-866-215-2771, support.buycrash@lexisnexisrisk.com). If a specific agency is not listed on BuyCrash, request the report directly from that agency's records unit, or order it by mail from the GDOT Crash Reporting Unit (935 United Ave SE, Bldg 24, Atlanta GA 30316) using the GDOT Request Form for $5 ($7 certified) - GDOT holds every Georgia agency's crash report in GEARS.

Who can get the report: Georgia crash reports are government records under the Open Records Act but are NOT freely open to the general public. An individual Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report is released only to a requester who submits a written statement of need under O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(5) - i.e., someone whose name is on the report or who fits one of nine 'need' categories: a party to the crash, an injured person, a property owner/leaseholder involved, a witness, an insurer of a party, a prosecutor or law-enforcement officer, a person alleged to be liable, an attorney (for a party, or investigating a criminal case or unsafe roadway condition), or a news-media representative/researcher (researchers only for crashes 60+ days old with PII redacted). O.C.G.A. 33-24-53 further makes it unlawful to solicit, release, or sell accident-party information for personal financial gain. The site must therefore stay process-only: explain who qualifies and how to request, and never offer a public name/plate lookup, bulk access, or reproduce report contents.

Georgia counties (158)

Pick the county where your crash happened for every local agency and its exact request process:

Plus 271 statewide or specialty agencies: 78 Security Forces, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Police Department, Academy for Classical Education Police Department, Adrian Pd, Agnes Scott College Pd, Albany State University, Andrew College Police Department, Arcade, Armstrong State College Pd, Athens-Clarke Police Department, Atlanta Independent School System, Atlanta Metropolitan State College Dept of Public Safety, and more.

After you get the report

Use the report to open your auto-insurance claim (adjusters routinely ask for the report or its report/case number) and to support any injury or liability claim. Read it carefully for errors - spelling of names, driver's license and insurance details, date/time/location, vehicle info, the collision diagram, and the officer's narrative and any fault or contributing-factor codes. If something is wrong or missing, contact the investigating officer or that agency's records unit to request a correction or a supplemental/amended report, since insurers and attorneys will rely on what the report says.