Most drivers assume a crash is reportable when it is serious. In practice the trigger is a dollar figure, it is low, and in several states it is measured in apparent damage at the scene — a judgement made in the first few minutes, by people who have just been in a collision.
Below that figure, nothing is owed to the state. Above it, a duty attaches, and in several states failing to meet it has consequences of its own.
The thresholds
| State | Property damage trigger | Driver’s own report |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | $2,000 from 1 Oct 2026 ($500 before) | 10 days, only if no law enforcement report |
| Georgia | $500 | None — police write it |
| Texas | $1,000 | 10 days, only if police did not investigate |
| New York | $1,000 | 10 days |
| California | $1,000 | 10 days |
| North Carolina | $1,000 | None — police write it |
| Michigan | $1,000 | None — report immediately |
| Ohio | over $1,000 | None — the agency files within 5 days |
| Illinois | $1,500 (or $500) | None since 2021 |
| Pennsylvania | No dollar threshold | 5 days, only if police did not investigate |
Every one of these also triggers on injury or death, whatever the damage.
Florida’s figure depends on the date of the crash
This is the single most confusing entry in the table, so it is worth being exact.
Florida’s reporting threshold is $500 for crashes before 1 October 2026 and $2,000 for crashes on or after it. SB 488 (ch. 2026-39) made the change and set that date.
The published 2026 Florida Statutes printed $2,000 ahead of the effective date, so for weeks the statute text showed a figure that did not yet govern anything. Anyone who copied it in that window wrote down the wrong number. A crash with $800 of apparent damage on 20 September 2026 is reportable. The same crash on 20 October 2026 is not.
Florida also splits the duty in two. Notice to law enforcement must be given immediately, by the quickest means of communication, under § 316.065(1). The driver’s own written report — the 10-day one — is due only when the crash did not require a law enforcement report, under § 316.066(1)(e). See Florida’s reporting page and Florida’s change history.
Five states have no driver-filed form at all
The table’s right-hand column is the part people miss. In several states there is nothing for the driver to mail in, because the obligation is discharged at the scene.
Georgia: report immediately, by the quickest means available — the local police department inside a municipality, otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest State Patrol post. Georgia has no driver-filed form; law enforcement writes the report and files it with the Department of Transportation.
North Carolina: the driver must notify law enforcement immediately, by the quickest means of communication, and the investigating officer writes the report. There is also a separate duty that does not depend on the threshold at all — a driver who hits a parked or unattended vehicle must report to that owner within 48 hours, even when the crash is not reportable. NCDMV may separately require the driver to furnish proof of financial responsibility.
Michigan: the statute says immediately, with no filing window. You report to the nearest or most convenient police station or police officer, the officer forwards the report to the Michigan State Police, and the local department keeps a copy for at least three years.
Illinois: the driver’s 10-day written crash report to IDOT was repealed on 20 August 2021. If no officer is at the scene, the driver gives notice by the fastest available means — local police inside a municipality, otherwise the nearest sheriff’s office or Illinois State Police headquarters — and the investigating officer files the report. Guides describing an Illinois driver’s written report are describing a form that no longer exists. See Illinois’ reporting page.
Ohio belongs here too, with a wrinkle: a crash involving a fatality, personal injury, or property damage of more than $1,000 is reported to the Ohio Director of Public Safety within five days, and that five-day deadline falls on the investigating law enforcement agency, not on the driver. Ohio does have one driver-initiated filing, but it is about insurance rather than the crash: anyone involved may send the BMV a report within six months alleging that another driver or owner was uninsured (ORC 4509.06).
Illinois has two thresholds, not one
Illinois is the only state here whose figure moves depending on who was insured. Notice is required for injury or death, or property damage over $1,500 — but the threshold drops to $500 if any vehicle in the crash was required to carry liability insurance and did not. Any school bus crash with damage or injury must also be reported, whatever the amount.
That structure means an uninsured driver in Illinois is reportable at a third of the damage an insured one is.
Pennsylvania uses no dollar figure
Pennsylvania does not set a damage amount. The duty is triggered by injury or death, or by damage severe enough that a vehicle has to be towed — a physical test rather than a financial one.
The sequence is the same two-step as Florida’s. A reportable crash goes to police immediately under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3746. Only when police did not investigate does the driver file their own written report, Form AA-600, within five days under § 3747, by mail to the PennDOT Bureau of Operations Crash Unit in Harrisburg. There is no fee, PennDOT sends no acknowledgement, and it does not investigate crashes — which is a reason to keep your own copy. See Pennsylvania’s reporting page.
Two details that catch people out
New York counts your own property. The threshold is damage in excess of $1,000 to the property of any one person — including your own. A single-vehicle crash where you damage nothing but your own car can be reportable. The MV-104 goes to DMV within 10 days, by mail or at reportcrash.dmv.ny.gov, and DMV may suspend your driving privilege until the report is on file.
Texas changed where the form goes. The driver’s CR-2 is due within 10 days when police did not investigate — but since 1 September 2017 (SB 312), TxDOT no longer accepts or retains it. It goes to the local police department instead, and you keep a copy. Guides still directing Texas drivers to send the CR-2 to TxDOT are nine years out of date. See the Texas reporting page.
California’s SR 1 goes to the DMV office in Sacramento within 10 days, personally or through your insurance agent, broker or legal representative. In both New York and California, the driver’s report is separate from any police report — one does not substitute for the other.
The common thread
The number is lower than instinct suggests, it is judged on appearances at the scene, and the filing rules underneath it differ more than the numbers do. Five of these ten states have no driver-filed form; three more have one only when police did not attend. Each state page carries the statute the figures come from and the date we last checked them.