Where to Report a Car Accident in Nebraska

Every link on this page was opened and read on the date at the bottom before it was listed, because the first thing I learned researching it is how much of what the internet says about Nebraska crash reporting is wrong. The driver’s report does not go to the DMV. There is no “DR Form 40.” The dollar threshold changed in July 2026 and several police departments still post the old one. And the report most people are looking for — the officer’s report — comes from a different place depending on which agency worked the crash. This page sorts it out in order: the law, the state agencies, Omaha, Lincoln, the county sheriffs, the rest of the state, and finally what you can look up for free. Iowa crashes are covered on the companion Iowa reporting page.

The Rule First: Who Must File What, and When

Nebraska has two reports. The officer’s report is written by whoever responded — a city police department, a county sheriff or the State Patrol — and is the document insurers rely on. The driver’s report is the one the statute puts on you. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-699, the operator of any vehicle in a crash that results in injury or death to any person, or damage to the property of any one person of $2,000 or more, must forward a report to the Department of Transportation within ten days; if the operator is unable, the owner files within ten days of learning of it. The statute makes the driver’s report confidential — not open to public inspection and not admissible in any civil or criminal trial except to prove it was filed — and makes failure to file a Class V misdemeanor.

The agencies read the duty narrowly, and you should follow their instructions. The Nebraska Department of Transportation’s crash reporting page says: “If the crash was not investigated by a law enforcement officer and someone is injured or killed or has at least $2,000 in damage, then all drivers involved are required to file a Driver’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report with our office within 10 days of the crash.” The DMV’s accident suspensions page says the same — if law enforcement investigated, no separate form is required — and adds the date that matters: the threshold is $1,500 for crashes before July 18, 2026 and $2,000 for crashes on or after that date. Several police department pages linked below still say $1,500; the DMV and the statute control.

The practical rule: call 911 from the scene. If an officer investigates, the officer’s report satisfies the reporting duty. If no officer came, file the NDOT driver’s report within ten days. Either way, get a copy of whatever report exists and read it.

State Agencies

Nebraska Department of Transportation — the driver’s report, and copies of any officer’s report

• NDOT Crash Reporting (Highway Safety Section) — the authoritative page: when the driver’s report is required, how to file it, and how to order a copy of a law-enforcement crash report. A copy of an investigator’s crash report is $13 plus tax. Highway Safety, NDOT, P.O. Box 94759, Lincoln, NE 68509-4759; 402-479-4645; NDOT.CrashReport@Nebraska.gov; in person at 1500 Nebraska Parkway, Room 14B, Lincoln.
• NDOT Driver’s Crash Report online portal — file the driver’s report online (desktop browser; the portal restates the $2,000 and ten-day rules). Help line 402-479-4645.
• Form NDOT 41 — Driver’s Motor Vehicle Crash Report (PDF) — the paper version, mailed within ten days to the address above.
• Nebraska DMV — accident suspensions — the DMV does not take the report, but this page explains the threshold dates and what happens to a license after an unreported or uninsured crash. DMV 402-471-3985.

Nebraska State Patrol — interstate and rural highway crashes

• NSP crash/accident report requests — the Patrol keeps no separate archive: “Accident reports for the State of Nebraska are kept by the Nebraska Department of Transportation.” Order NSP-investigated reports through NDOT above (402-479-4645). NSP general information 402-471-4545; headquarters 4600 Innovation Drive, Lincoln.
• NSP contact — Highway Helpline — to reach a trooper from the roadside on I-80 or any state highway, dial *55 from a cell phone or 1-800-525-5555; emergencies 911.

Omaha

• Omaha Police Department — accident report search and purchase — crashes within Omaha city limits during the past three years; $5 plus a convenience fee, paid by card or e-check, delivered by email, fax or mail. Reports can take up to five days to appear. In person: OPD Headquarters, 505 S. 15th St., Omaha, NE 68102; 402-444-5600.
• OPD — reporting a traffic crash — Omaha does not let drivers self-report crashes online. Call 911 if you cannot exchange information at the scene; if you have already left the scene, call the Telephone Report Squad at 402-444-4877. Impound lot 402-444-5784. (This page still cites the old $1,500 figure for the state driver’s report; use $2,000.)
• Douglas County Sheriff’s Office — for crashes deputies investigated outside Omaha city limits. The Sheriff’s accident-report page refused every connection when this page was written and is not linked; call the Sheriff’s Office records line or ask me to obtain the report.

Lincoln and Lancaster County

• Lincoln Police Department — crash reports online (free) — Lincoln is the exception on price: LPD crash reports can be viewed and printed at no charge, by case number or by last name, first name and date of birth. Reports transfer to the system after NDOT processing and can take up to five working days to appear.
• LPD Police Records — other reports — the records counter, 555 S. 10th St., Lincoln, Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; 402-441-6000.
• Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office — online report lookup — incident reports online; crash reports are routed to NDOT for purchase, or obtained at the Sheriff’s service desk in the Hall of Justice, 575 S. 10th St., Lincoln.

Sarpy County: Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista

• Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office — crash report requests — completed reports are obtained through the CrashDocs online vendor (the page links directly to Sarpy’s agency listing). Sheriff’s Office 402-593-2288.
• Bellevue Police Department — Front Desk and Records, 1510 Wall St., Bellevue, NE 68005; non-emergency 402-593-4111. The city’s fee page could not be verified; call before you go.
• Papillion Police Department — services — the “Accident Reports” link goes to CrashDocs. 1000 E. 1st St., Papillion; 402-597-2035.
• La Vista Police Department — obtaining a police or accident report — $5 in person or by mail (Records Bureau, 7701 S. 96th St., 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.) or $10 online through the LexisNexis BuyCrash service; allow five working days. City Hall 402-331-4343.

Central and Western Nebraska

• Grand Island Police Department — online accident reports — normally available within two days, searched by report number, date or driver last name, through CrashDocs. 111 Public Safety Dr.; 308-385-5400. (Page still cites $1,500 for the state report.)
• Kearney Police Department — how to obtain an accident report — no fee online through the department’s public portal, or in person at the Law Enforcement Center, Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
• North Platte Police Department — Records Division — processes accident reports; 308-535-6789, Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; 701 S. Jeffers St.
• Norfolk Police Division — police reports — Records 402-844-2140, Monday–Friday 8–5; non-emergency 402-644-8700; 202 N. 7th St.
• Fremont Police Department — Records — $5 picked up, $6 mailed or faxed; allow three working days. 725 N. Park Ave., 2nd floor; 402-727-2685.
• Columbus Police Department — no online accident-report page; contact the department, 2330 14th St., Monday–Friday 8–5, 402-564-3201, or use the city’s public-records request.
• Hastings Police Department — accident reports online (free) — view, print or save reports from the last two years by accident number (format PACC######).
• Scottsbluff Police Department — records requests — download the “Request for Motor Vehicle Crash Report” form. City Hall 308-632-4136.
• Gering Police Department — accident reports picked up in person, $2 per copy; 1025 P St., 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; 308-436-5089.

If the crash happened on I-80, I-29, U.S. 81, U.S. 83 or another state highway outside a city, the State Patrol almost certainly worked it, and the report comes from NDOT regardless of which town was nearest.

Which Agency Worked Your Crash?

The report comes from whoever responded, and that follows the map more than the mailing address. Inside city limits — Dodge Street, 72nd Street, O Street, Second Avenue in Kearney — it is the city police department. On county roads and in the unincorporated stretches between towns it is the county sheriff. On the interstates and the numbered state and U.S. highways it is almost always the State Patrol, even when the crash happened within sight of a city. The responding officer’s card, the agency name at the top of the exchange-of-information slip, and the format of the report number all tell you which list above to use. When you are not sure, NDOT holds every officer’s report in the state, and the $13 request works regardless of the agency.

What the Officer’s Report Contains, and How to Read It

A Nebraska officer’s crash report runs several pages: the identities of drivers, owners, passengers and witnesses; the vehicles and their insurers; a diagram of the crash; the officer’s narrative; coded fields for road conditions, lighting, weather, and — most importantly — the contributing factors assigned to each driver; and any citations issued. Insurers read the diagram and the contributing-factor codes first, and those two items decide how the adjuster opens the file. Read them the day you receive the report. If the diagram shows your car somewhere it was not, if a factor such as “following too closely” or “failure to yield” is coded against you when the facts say otherwise, or if a witness who stopped is missing, contact the investigating agency promptly and ask about a supplemental report; officers correct genuine errors far more readily in the first weeks than after an insurer has built a position on the original.

How to Look Up Nebraska Crashes for Free

“Look up a crash for free” means three different things, and only two of them are actually free in Nebraska.

• A specific crash report — free only where the local department posts its own reports without charge: Lincoln, Kearney and Hastings above. Everywhere else the officer’s report is a purchase ($13 plus tax from NDOT, $5 plus fee from Omaha, $2–$10 from the smaller departments), and the driver’s own report is confidential by statute.
• Crash statistics and locations — genuinely free. NDOT’s crash data page publishes the annual Traffic Crash Facts report, statewide monthly summaries, county reports and summaries for the 32 largest cities, plus a data portal and dashboard. This is how I show a jury that an intersection has a history.
• Fatal crashes — the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) covers every fatal crash since 1975, and the FIRST query tool builds custom state, county and city queries.
• Court cases arising from a crash — not free. Nebraska’s JUSTICE court case search charges $17 per search, payable even when nothing is found. If you need to know whether the other driver was charged, ask me; it is part of the case file.

Why I Bother With All This

The officer’s report is the first thing the other driver’s insurer reads, and it hardens into the official version of events within weeks. Reports contain errors — a diagram drawn from one driver’s account, a contributing-factor code assigned to the wrong car, a witness left off — and an error corrected in the first month is a footnote, while one discovered a year later is the defense. I obtain the report, the 911 audio, the body-camera footage and the dispatch log in every case I take, from every department on this list, including the ones whose websites would not open the day I wrote this.

If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in Nebraska, call (402) 378-9208 or send a message. The consultation is free and there is no fee unless I win. For the full first-two-weeks checklist, read what to do after a car accident in Nebraska; for how I handle the case itself, the Omaha car accident lawyer page.

Links verified September 20, 2026. Agencies change their pages; if one no longer works, call the records line listed beside it.

Your Attorney

Frank Younes

Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.

More about Frank → · Free consultation: (402) 378-9208

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I file my Nebraska crash report with the DMV?

No. The driver’s report goes to the Nebraska Department of Transportation, Highway Safety Section — online through NDOT’s portal or on Form NDOT 41 — within ten days. The DMV does not take it.

Do I have to file a driver’s report if the police came?

NDOT and the DMV both say the driver’s report is required only when no law enforcement officer investigated. If an officer investigated, the officer’s report is filed with NDOT.

What is the damage threshold, and did it change?

Yes. $1,500 for crashes before July 18, 2026 and $2,000 for crashes on or after, for damage to the property of any one person — or any injury or death. Some police pages still show the old figure.

How do I get the police report for my crash?

From the agency that investigated: Omaha PD online ($5 plus fee), Lincoln PD online (free), a sheriff or city department per the list above, or NDOT ($13 plus tax) for State Patrol and many county reports.

Can I look up a Nebraska crash report for free?

Only where the department posts reports free — Lincoln, Kearney and Hastings. Crash statistics from NDOT and fatal-crash data from NHTSA are free; court case searches cost $17.

Is my driver’s report public?

No. By statute it is not open to public inspection and cannot be used as evidence in a civil or criminal trial except to prove it was filed.