Maine Crash Reporting Requirements
In Maine, the crash reporting threshold is $2,000 in damage. Deadline to file: Immediately. Submit to: State, county or municipal police where the crash happened.
- Damage threshold
- $2,000
A crash is reportable if anyone is injured or killed, or apparent property damage reaches $2,000, judged by the market value of the necessary repairs rather than the value of the vehicle. The figure rose from $1,000 in 2023. The Maine State Police crash FAQ still prints the old $1,000 test.
- Deadline to file
- Immediately
Immediately, by the quickest means of communication — the statute sets no filing window. Maine abolished the driver's separate written report in 2003, so the duty is a call, not a form; the investigating officer files the report and the State Police send it to the Secretary of State. Knowingly failing to report is a Class E crime, and BMV may suspend the license and registration of anyone who does not.
- Submit to
- State, county or municipal police where the crash happened
Notify a state police officer or the nearest State Police field office, the sheriff's office for the county, or the police department of the municipality in which it happened. The absence of any notice to the agency with jurisdiction is prima facie evidence of failing to report. A copy of the finished report costs $10.
Maine sets $2,000 — higher than 32 of the 44 jurisdictions on this site. The range runs from $250 to $4,000.
How Maine compares with every other state
What this means after a crash
$2,000 is the number to keep in mind, and it is a damage figure rather than an injury one: a crash with no one hurt still has to be reported once the damage reaches it. Only 7 of the 44 that set a dollar figure start higher. Note what the threshold is measured against — apparent damage at the scene, not the final repair invoice — so the call has to be made before anyone has priced anything.
The deadline is not a number of days. Maine wants the report immediately, which in practice means from the scene or as soon as you are able. A clock that starts and ends the same day leaves no room to "get to it later", and that is the most common way an ordinary crash turns into a charge of its own.
Who receives it matters as much as when. In Maine the report goes to State, county or municipal police where the crash happened. An officer writing a report at the scene is not automatically the report the state is waiting for — where the two are separate, the table above says who receives yours.
What changed
October 25, 2023
Crash reporting threshold raised from $1,000 to $2,000
P.L. 2023, ch. 27 (L.D. 552) rewrote the definition of "reportable accident" in 29-A M.R.S. §2251(1), raising the apparent property damage trigger from $1,000 to $2,000. Signed on April 10, 2023, it took effect on October 25, 2023 — the date every non-emergency act of that special session took effect, ninety days after the session adjourned on July 26. The Maine State Police Vehicle Crashes FAQ still tells drivers a report is taken when combined damage is "in excess of $1000.00", and most third-party guides repeat the old figure.
P.L. 2023, ch. 27 (L.D. 552), §1 — chaptered law
Why the rule looks like this
- What Changed in 2026Liability minimums doubled in Hawaii, two states dropped pure comparative fault, New Hampshire stopped inspecting cars, and three crash reporting thresholds moved — a dated account of the 2026 changes, and the ones already signed for 2027 and beyond.
- The Crash You Are Required to Report Is Smaller Than You ThinkCrash-report triggers start at $500 in Georgia and New Jersey and reach $3,000 for a Virginia police report; Florida's is $500 before 1 October 2026 and $2,000 from that date, and Pennsylvania and Maryland use no dollar figure at all.
More on Maine
Checked against the primary sources above on September 29, 2026. If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it — what we have corrected so far is public.