An Assembly committee advanced legislation restricting access to unredacted accident reports and penalizing authorized recipients who release protected information.
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey Assembly committee has advanced a bill that would require police and other government agencies to remove personal identifying information from vehicle accident reports before releasing them to the public.
The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reported A1543 favorably with amendments Monday, moving the proposal forward in the legislative process. The measure has not yet passed the Legislature or been signed into law.
Sponsored by Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese, D-Bergen, the bill would change how accident reports are handled under the Open Public Records Act, commonly known as OPRA.
The Legislature’s official A1543 bill record identifies the proposal as legislation requiring the redaction of personal information from vehicle accident reports.
What Would Be Removed From Public Reports
Under the amended bill, public copies of vehicle accident reports would have personal identifying information and automobile insurance policy numbers removed.
The information subject to redaction could include names, residential street addresses, telephone numbers, driver’s license numbers, portions of birth dates, personal email addresses and other data capable of identifying a specific person.
The crash report itself would remain available through OPRA, but members of the general public would receive a redacted version.
The bill would also clarify that police accident reports and information contained in those records are privileged and confidential to the extent established by the legislation, regardless of which government agency maintains the report.
Who Could Obtain an Unredacted Report
Unredacted accident reports would remain available to a limited group of “authorized requestors.”
That group would include people involved in the crash, attorneys representing an involved party, insurance companies representing an involved party and third parties working on behalf of those insurers.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies could also obtain complete reports when employees or agents are acting within their official duties.
Other individuals or organizations could qualify if their access is permitted under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
The federal law permits motor vehicle information to be used for specified government, law enforcement, insurance, legal and motor vehicle safety purposes. The permissible uses and restrictions are detailed in 18 U.S.C. Section 2721.
Public Disclosure Would Require Consent
Receiving an unredacted report would not give an authorized requestor unlimited authority to publish the information.
The bill would restrict the use of unredacted reports to legitimate legal, investigatory, insurance or other federally authorized purposes.
An authorized recipient generally could not publicly disclose protected information without written consent from the person whose information would be released.
If that person is deceased or incapacitated, consent could come from the person’s legal next of kin, guardian or personal representative.
Internal sharing among attorneys, insurers, investigators, employees, agents and contractors would remain permissible when the information is used for a purpose allowed under the federal privacy law.
Committee Reduces Proposed Penalties
The committee substantially lowered the bill’s proposed civil penalties for unauthorized disclosure.
The original version called for a $1,000 penalty for a first offense, $2,500 for a second offense and $5,000 for every subsequent violation.
Under the committee amendments, an authorized requestor who knowingly and willfully releases protected accident-report information without the required consent would face a $250 penalty for a first offense.
A second offense would carry a $500 penalty, while each subsequent violation would result in a $1,000 penalty.
The amendments also changed the consent requirement. The original proposal required written consent from all parties involved in a crash. The revised version requires consent only from the person whose information would be publicly disclosed.
Agencies Would Track Unredacted Disclosures
Government records custodians would be required to maintain a log of every unredacted accident report they release.
The log would identify the requestor, the legal basis for providing access and the date of disclosure.
Those records would have to be provided to the Government Records Council or the New Jersey Attorney General upon request during an investigation.
The reporting requirement is intended to create an audit trail showing who received private crash information and why the information was released.
What the Bill Means for News Organizations
News outlets and other members of the public could continue requesting accident reports, but they would generally receive copies with protected personal details removed.
The legislation does not identify journalists as a standalone category entitled to unredacted reports. A newsroom seeking an unredacted copy would need to qualify under another authorized category or a permissible use recognized by federal law.
That provision could affect reporting on serious and fatal crashes when names, addresses or other identifying details appear only in the police accident report and have not been released separately by authorities.
The bill would not necessarily prevent police departments, prosecutors or family representatives from publicly identifying crash victims through news releases or other official statements. Its restrictions focus specifically on information contained in vehicle accident reports.
Proposal Returns From Previous Legislative Session
A similar measure, A5575, was introduced during the previous legislative session. Shore News Network reported in November 2025 that the earlier New Jersey crash-report privacy proposal included significantly higher penalties and narrower access language.
A1543 was prefiled for the 2026-2027 session and underwent a technical review before Monday’s committee action.
The amendments expanded access for insurance companies and their contractors, incorporated federal privacy-law exceptions, revised terminology and clarified how information could be shared internally.
If enacted in its current form, the legislation would take effect immediately and change the release of accident reports across state, county and municipal agencies.
The proposal adds another chapter to New Jersey’s continuing debate over government transparency, personal privacy and public access following broader changes to OPRA.
More coverage of New Jersey, politics, transportation and privacy is available from Shore News Network.