Georgia accident report: where to get your police copy

Where a Georgia accident report is sold

The Georgia Department of Transportation, GDOT, answers the question on its Crash Reporting page in two lines: "Police crash reports are available through Buycrash. Crash reports can be purchased directly via the BuyCrash website or by mailing a request to GDOT via the GDOT Request Form."

That gives Georgia drivers two state routes for a police report, online through BuyCrash or on paper through GDOT. Alongside them, the Georgia State Patrol releases its own reports through the Department of Public Safety, and city departments such as Atlanta police keep their reports at their own records office.

Read on each agency's own page on 12 November 2026.

The report itself: GDOT-523

A Georgia police crash report has an official name and number. GDOT calls the Georgia Motor Vehicle Crash Report, form GDOT-523, "the official document used in the collection and dissemination of crash data by Georgia's law enforcement agencies." Its page links the blank form, the instructions and a report overlay for the agencies that fill it in, along with a vehicle train supplement.

Where the reports are stored

GDOT says it is "the designated state agency for managing and storing the states crash reports in the GEARS database." GEARS is the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System. GDOT's technical team takes requests for access to GEARS crash data, support for local law enforcement and technical help at (866) 495-4206. That line is not for buying a report.

Which route to use

If a trooper came, EPORTS is the department's own route and its price is published. For a city or county officer's report, start with BuyCrash, which GDOT names for police crash reports, or mail GDOT's form.

What to have ready

None of the state pages we read lists the details a search needs. These are the facts that identify a crash on any of these routes, so gather them before you start.

• The agency's name. It is on the paper or card the officer gave you, and it decides which route applies.
• The report or case number, if the officer wrote one down.
• The date and the place of the crash, with the county.
• The names of the drivers involved.
• An email address you can open, since BuyCrash ties a purchase to an email address and an order number, and EPORTS delivers by electronic means.

Buying online through BuyCrash

BuyCrash is run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and GDOT links to it with a Purchase Crash Report button. Its home page describes the service as "supporting consumers with trusted, timely delivery of official crash reports," and offers the public a search for a new report and access to one already bought.

1. Open BuyCrash from GDOT's pageUse the Purchase Crash Report link on GDOT's Crash Reporting page.
2. Search for a new reportLook up the crash. The price is not stated on the pages we read, so check it on screen before paying.
3. Keep your order numberBuyCrash lets you open a report you bought in the last 30 days with the email address and the order number.

The same home page also offers a monthly account and a second service it describes as increasing efficiency and community service. Neither is needed to buy a single report.

GDOT also links a BuyCrash help guide. If you cannot find your report, GDOT's page says to contact BuyCrash customer support at 1-866-215-2771 or support.buycrash@lexisnexisrisk.com.

Asking GDOT by mail

If you would rather not buy online, GDOT offers its request form. The Start Request to GDOT link on the Crash Reporting page opens it as a PDF, and the request goes to GDOT by mail. The link sits beside the Purchase Crash Report button for BuyCrash, so both routes start from the same GDOT page, and you can try the online search before deciding to mail the form.

For questions about crash data reports, GDOT lists its Crash Reporting Unit:

GDOT Crash Reporting Unit
935 United Ave. SE, Bldg 24
Atlanta, GA 30316

GDOT's main office, at One Georgia Center, 600 West Peachtree NW, Atlanta, GA 30308, answers on (404) 631-1990.

The forms GDOT keeps for police

GDOT's Crash Reporting page also holds the papers police agencies use, under the heading Reporting Agency Vehicle Accident Forms:

• the Georgia Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report form, with its instructions and its report overlay
• the Vehicle Train Supplement
• the FARS Early Notification Form
• the GEARS Technical Request Form

GDOT links its Georgia Crash Reporting Instructions too, a guide for officers submitting crash reports. Laid next to your copy, the blank form shows what each box is called.

Crash numbers for your area

A single report tells you about one crash. For the wider picture, GDOT runs a Crash Data Dashboard with crash and vehicle data from crashes on Georgia's public roads. It maps crashes, lets you filter by city, county or region, and has crash type filters such as pedestrian or bicycle involved and distracted driver related. GDOT says the dashboard holds crashes from the last 5 years.

The dashboard is for counts and maps, not for personal copies. For your own report, use one of the routes above.

Georgia State Patrol reports in brief

The Georgia State Patrol is part of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, which handles requests for its records under the Open Records Act. It prefers to work electronically. Its EPORTS portal lets you "seek and receive copies of citations, incident reports, and crash reports by electronic means," and pay online from a cellphone or computer.

• Fee: $5.00 for each crash report, from the department's charging chart.
• Photos: $5.00 a set by download. Video and dashcam footage is $10.00 by download.
• Another way in: email openrecords@gsp.net, which is logged by hand and may take longer.
• Larger requests: an estimate comes first when the cost would pass $25.

The Georgia State Patrol page has the full charging chart, the rules on estimates and payment, and the mailing address.

Atlanta police reports

For a crash an Atlanta police officer worked, the report is with the department's Central Records Unit, which it calls "the main repository for all reports created by Atlanta Police Officers." Reports are picked up in person, and Atlanta police add that you "may also purchase accident reports online at www.buycrash.com."

The two closing times come from two pages of the same department, and we cannot tell which is current. If you are going late in the day, call Central Records first.

Atlanta police also take written requests through an online open records form, where Accident Report(s) is one of the choices. The Open Records Unit answers within 3 business days with an estimate, may charge $0.10 a page for copies, plus a possible research fee, and sends an invoice rather than asking for payment first. The Atlanta police page goes through the form field by field.

Central Records is not at police headquarters. Atlanta's Public Safety Headquarters is at 226 Peachtree St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, with a police information line at (404) 614-6544.

Atlanta's FAQ also covers drivers who left the scene before a report was made. For reporting an accident after you have left, it links to an accident report form on the Georgia Department of Driver Services website, dds.ga.gov.

What a Georgia accident report costs

The Department of Public Safety bases its chart on Georgia's Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. 50-18-72, and explains how it works out each figure from the time and the lowest salary of the staff needed for the task.

When it goes wrong

BuyCrash does not show the report

Call BuyCrash customer support at 1-866-215-2771, the number GDOT gives for exactly this problem, or mail GDOT's request form instead.

You lost the download

For a report bought in the last 30 days, go to Access a Previously Purchased Report on BuyCrash and enter the email address and order number.

You do not know who came

Look at the paper the officer gave you. A trooper's report is with the State Patrol, and an Atlanta officer's with Atlanta Central Records.

You asked the State Patrol twice

The Department of Public Safety warns that sending the same request in two ways, such as by mail and by email, brings two responses and two charges. Pick one channel.

Georgia pages on this site

• AgencyGeorgia State PatrolState Patrol crash reports through the EPORTS portal: the $5.00 fee, photos and video, email requests and payment by mail, estimates and the charging chart.
• AgencyAtlanta Police DepartmentAtlanta police crash reports three ways: BuyCrash, the Central Records counter at the Public Safety Annex, and the online open records form.

Georgia accident report questions