SB2416 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 19276 WGH 45556 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2416

Introduced 2/15/2008, by Sen. Kirk W. Dillard

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

625 ILCS 5/11-412

from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-412

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the Department of Transportation shall supply vehicle-specific accident data to any person or entity in bulk electronic form after the name, address, telephone number, and social security number have been removed and only for the purpose of preparing vehicle-specific vehicle history reports. Provides that the person or entity must pay all reasonable costs associated with producing the accident records in bulk electronic form. Contains provisions regarding: setting rates; agreements regarding the data; circumstances under which the Department may cease providing the data; liability; and other matters.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing Section 11-412 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/11-412) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-412)

Sec. 11-412. Motor vehicle accident reports confidential.

(a) All required written motor vehicle accident reports and supplemental reports shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for the confidential use of the Department and the Secretary of State and, in the case of second division vehicles operated under certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission, of the Commission, except that the Administrator or the Secretary of State or the Commission may disclose the identity of a person involved in a motor vehicle accident when such identity is not otherwise known or when such person denies his presence at such motor vehicle accident and the Department shall disclose the identity of the insurance carrier, if any, upon demand. The Secretary of State may also disclose notations of accident involvement maintained on individual driving records. The Department may furnish copies of its written accident reports to federal and State agencies that are engaged in highway safety research and studies. Reports furnished to any agency other than the Secretary of State or the Illinois Commerce Commission may be used only for statistical or analytical purposes and shall be held confidential by that agency. No such written report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of a motor vehicle accident, except that the Administrator shall furnish upon demand of any person who has, or claims to have, made such a written report, or upon demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified written accident report has or has not been made to the Administrator solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that such a written report be made to the Administrator.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the Department shall supply vehicle-specific accident data to any person or entity in bulk electronic form after the name, address, telephone number, and social security number have been removed and only for the purpose of preparing vehicle-specific vehicle history reports. The person or entity must pay all reasonable costs associated with producing the accident records in bulk electronic form. The Department may set a bulk rate for access to the records in bulk electronic form. The Department, however, may not agree to grant to any person or entity an exclusive right to receive this information or data.

(c) The Department must require any person or entity that requests access to the accident data in bulk electronic form to agree, in a written agreement with the Department, to the following:

(1) that the person or entity may use the accident records only for the purpose of identifying vehicles that have been involved in accidents or damaged and not for the purpose of identifying or contacting individuals;

(2) that the person or entity assumes all responsibilities for the accurate use and portrayal of the accident data;

(3) that the person or entity may not use the accident data in a manner in which the integrity of the information in the accident data is compromised;

(4) that the person or entity is responsible for omissions or errors in the accident data committed by or on behalf of the person or entity;

(5) that the person or entity must remove or correct the accident data upon notification to the person or entity that the accident data was created in error or that certain data elements on an accident record were entered in error;

(6) that the person or entity intends to use the accident records only to the extent permitted under the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. 2721 et seq.

(d) The Department may cease providing the accident data to the person or entity if the Department concludes that the person or entity has failed to use the accident data in the manner prescribed by this Section. The person or entity shall have 90 days to cure the failure.

(e) Vehicle dealers and other third-party users who obtain access to accident data through persons who received the accident data under subsection (b) of this Section are not liable for errors or omissions in that accident data.

(f) The Department of Transportation at its discretion may provide for in-depth investigations of accidents involving Department employees. A written report describing the preventability of such an accident may be prepared to enhance the safety of Department employees. Such reports and any opinions expressed in the review of the accident as to the preventability of the accident shall be for the privileged use of the Department and held confidential and shall not be obtainable or used in any civil or criminal proceeding.

(Source: P.A. 89-503, eff. 7-1-96.)