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How to Read Your Idaho Accident Report

In Idaho, you must immediately report a car accident to police if someone is injured or killed as a result of the crash or if the collision causes property damage to an apparent extent of more than $1,500. Police will respond to the accident to secure the scene and investigate the cause of the crash so that the investigating officer can generate an Idaho Vehicle Collision Report, or Form ITD 0090.

While this official document contains a lot of basic details about your accident, it also has a great deal of information about the factors that, in the investigating officer’s opinion, contributed to your crash. As such, your crash report can be an extremely critical piece of evidence when trying to determine fault for an accident, so it’s important to make sure everything inside it is accurate and factual.

Be mindful that Idaho has rules regarding comparative negligence and personal injury claims, meaning you can’t be more than 49% at fault for your crash to make a financial recovery and any percentage of fault you are assigned will result in your compensation being reduced by that same percentage. That’s why after you get a copy of your accident report from the Idaho Department of Transportation it’s important to review it for any errors that might unfairly pin the blame on you.

If you do find something in your accident report that isn’t correct or you simply believe the investigating officer’s interpretation of what happened doesn’t reflect the truth, take steps to protect your rights and learn your legal options by contacting an Idaho car accident lawyer near you. An attorney will also be able to help you obtain your accident report if you’re unable to.

Idaho Vehicle Collision Report (Form ITD 0090)

https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/id_crash_report_rev3_2011_sub3_2012_0.pdf

Idaho Accident Report page 1

Page 1 (Front Page)

A unique case number appears at the top of the page. This number is repeated at the top of every page and should be the same throughout the report. 

Click here to download a printable PDF of How to Read Your Idaho Accident Report.

Under collision information you will find basic details about your accident, such as the date, time, and location along with the weather and road conditions at the time of the crash. 
The bottom of the page is for the investigating officer to list information about any non-vehicle damaged property (e.g., mailbox, fence, etc.) along with the name and contact information of anyone who witnessed the collision. 

Idaho Accident Report page 2

Page 2 (Unit Information)

The investigating officer will complete this page for every “unit” involved in the crash and assign each a unit number, which can be found at the top left.

The first harmful event and most harmful event fields contain number codes that are defined on Page 4. Match up the numbers on the two pages to see what specific actions have been assigned to the unit.

Under Unit/Vehicle will be information regarding the year, make, model, and color of the unit along with its license plate number and VIN. The number codes in the fields under unit type and unit use are defined in the two boxes above Emergency Use. 

The Vehicle Owner section contains the name, contact information, and insurance details of the vehicle’s legal owner. 

The diagrams in the Damage section explain where the initial and primary points of impact occurred. There is also a field for the investigating officer to note the extent of the damage, from 0 (no damage) to 7 (very severe).

There will be up to three number codes entered in the boxes under Contributing Circumstances. These codes are explained immediately to the right. If the operator was driving distracted or had his or her vision obstructed at the time of the collision, there will be another number code (s) entered in the “Distracted By” and “Vision Obstructed By” fields to provide more detail. 

If your accident involved a commercial vehicle, the investigating officer would complete the bottom of the page and provide details about the vehicle’s cargo body, weight, motor carrier, and if it was transporting any hazardous materials. 

Idaho Accident Report page 3

Page 3 (Driver / Pedestrian / Bicyclist) 

This page is a continuation of Page 2 and will be completed for every “unit” involved in the crash, with each being defined by their unit number that’s listed at the top left.

The number code above “Operator Action” indicates the behavior of the driver or pedestrian/bicyclist involved in the crash. The codes are defined immediately to the right.
Details about the person’s name, contact information, license, and if they were transported to a hospital after the crash are listed next. This section also notes any violations or citations issued by police and if alcohol and/or drugs were involved, along with information about any tests that were administered by police.

Detailed information about every passenger can be viewed in the bottom section. Here you will find the name, contact information, seating position, and injury status of each passenger. The number codes used on this part of the page are defined at the bottom. 

Idaho Accident Report page 4

Page 4 (Event)

The upper portion of the page lists the number codes to define each unit’s “event,” or action, regarding the accident. 

Number codes are entered into the appropriate boxes to identify all the events of every unit.
The bottom half of the page is for the investigating officer to sketch a diagram of the crash scene. This drawing should paint an accurate picture of the collision by showing every vehicle/pedestrian involved, the direction of travel, and other details such as traffic signals, road names, intersections, crosswalks, etc. 

Idaho Accident Report page 5

Page 5 (Narrative)

Here the investigating officer will provide a narrative, or written overview, of how the crash occurred. The details the officer notes in the narrative should fall in line with the information that’s supplied throughout the entire accident report.

The names of both the investigating officer and the officer/supervisor who reviewed and approved the crash report are at the bottom, along with the report date and approval date. 

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