Sec. 14-108a. Uniform investigation of accident report. Requirements and policy for identifying and notifying person's family or household member of motor vehicle accident in which person was kill
Sec. 14-108a. Uniform investigation of accident report. Requirements and
policy for identifying and notifying person's family or household member of motor
vehicle accident in which person was killed. (a)(1) The Commissioner of Transportation shall prescribe for the Division of State Police within the Department of Public
Safety and for each police department and officer and other suitable agencies or individuals a uniform investigation of accident report, in such form as the commissioner shall
prescribe, which form shall be followed in filing all such reports.
(2) In each motor vehicle accident in which any person is killed or injured or in which
damage to the property of any one individual, including the operator, in excess of one
thousand dollars is sustained, the police officer, agency or individual who, in the regular
course of duty, investigates such accident, either at the time of or at the scene of the
accident or thereafter, by interviewing the participants or witnesses, shall, within five
days after completing such investigation, complete and forward one copy of such report
to the Commissioner of Transportation. Such report shall call for and contain all available detailed information to disclose the location and cause of the accident, the conditions then existing, the persons and vehicles involved and the names of the insurance
companies issuing their automobile liability policies, as well as the enforcement action
taken. The Commissioner of Transportation shall forward to the Commissioner of Motor
Vehicles one copy of each report of any accident involving a school bus. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may inquire into or investigate any accident reported pursuant
to this subsection and may request the assistance of the Division of State Police within
the Department of Public Safety for such purposes.
(b) (1) In each motor vehicle accident in which any person is killed, the police
officer, agency or individual who, in the regular course of duty, investigates such accident shall use reasonable efforts to identify and notify a member of the person's family
or household of the fatality as soon as practicable after the accident. Such notification
shall (A) indicate that the person was killed in a motor vehicle accident, the location of
the accident and the location of the person's body, and (B) on and after the date the
applicable police department, agency or individual adopts a policy under subdivision
(3) of this subsection, be made in accordance with such policy.
(2) Not later than October 1, 2008, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under section 7-294b shall establish a uniform policy for identifying and
notifying a member of a person's family or household with respect to any motor vehicle
accident in which a person is killed. The council shall make the uniform policy available
to each police department, agency or individual required to adopt a policy pursuant to
subdivision (3) of this subsection. The council shall design the uniform policy to ensure
that such notification is made promptly in a manner appropriate for the identified member of the person's family or household.
(3) Not later than January 1, 2009, each police department, agency or individual
that, in the regular course of duty, has responsibility for investigating motor vehicle
accidents shall consider the provisions of the uniform policy established by the Police
Officer Standards and Training Council pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection
and adopt a policy for identifying and notifying a member of a person's family or household with respect to any motor vehicle accident in which a person is killed. Each such
police department, agency or individual shall design its policy to ensure that such notification is made promptly in a manner appropriate for the identified member of the person's family or household.
(4) Policies established or adopted pursuant to this subsection shall not be considered regulations under section 4-166.
(5) For the purposes of this subsection, "police department" includes, but is not
limited to, the Division of State Police within the Department of Public Safety.
(1961, P.A. 318, S. 1, 2; February, 1965, P.A. 447, S. 4; 1971, P.A. 379, S. 2; P.A. 79-302, S. 3; P.A. 83-165, S. 2; P.A.
84-197, S. 2; P.A. 88-27, S. 2; P.A. 90-112, S. 2, 14; 90-143, S. 3; P.A. 99-181, S. 12; P.A. 08-67, S. 2.)
History: 1965 act increased property damage limitation from $100 to $200 in Subsec. (b); 1971 act increased property
damage limitation in Subsec. (b) to $400; P.A. 79-302 included reference to accidents involving school buses in Subsec.
(b); P.A. 83-165 required the uniform investigation of accident report to include the disclosure of names of automobile
liability carriers for persons involved in an accident; P.A. 84-197 increased property damage limitation from $400 to $600
in Subsec. (b); P.A. 88-27 increased property damage limitation to $1,000 in Subsec. (b); P.A. 90-112 amended Subsec.
(b) to require that accidents involving school buses be reported only if there is a fatality or injury or property damage
exceeding $1,000, where previously all such accidents were required to be reported; P.A. 90-143 transferred duties of
motor vehicles commissioner to transportation commissioner, expanding power to prescribe accident report form to include
state police, deleting requirement that form contain names of insurance companies issuing automobile liability policies to
those involved in accident and specifying that reports include accident location and adding provisions requiring that
transportation commissioner forward certain reports to motor vehicles commissioner and permitting motor vehicles commissioner to investigate accidents; P.A. 99-181 amended Subsec. (b) by changing the reports required to be forwarded to
the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles from reports of accidents in which any person is killed and accidents involving a
school bus or public service bus to only those accidents involving a school bus; P.A. 08-67 redesignated existing Subsecs.
(a) and (b) as Subsec. (a)(1) and (2) and added new Subsec. (b) re policy and requirement to identify and notify a member
of a person's family or household after the person is killed in a motor vehicle accident.
Cited. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 5.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 171 C. 705.