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Knowledge, experience, and dedication have brought the lawyers of The Epstein Law Firm to the forefront of their profession. From personal injury to civil litigation, they have built a strong record of success in achieving justice for their clients.
Our practice is diverse and well-established. Recognizing that every case is unique, we always begin by listening to you.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been successfully representing clients throughout New Jersey since 1973
Slug: how-do-i-get-my-crash-report-in-nj
To get your crash report in New Jersey, start with the law-enforcement agency that investigated the collision. Many New Jersey State Police non-toll reports and nonfatal New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway reports can be ordered through the combined NJSP and NJTA crash-report portal. Reports prepared by municipal police departments may have to be requested directly from that department.
The correct route depends on where the crash happened, who investigated, and whether it involved a serious or fatal injury. A basic police report is also different from photographs, videos, witness statements, and other investigative materials. Those additional records can require a separate request—and, in a serious or fatal case, a subpoena signed by an officer of the court or a court order.
If you were hurt and cannot locate the right report or determine what evidence may exist beyond it, contact The Epstein Law Firm or call 201-231-7847 for help reviewing the next step.
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First, identify the investigating agency rather than assuming every New Jersey report is stored in the same database. Check any incident card, summons, tow receipt, property receipt, hospital paperwork, or information-exchange sheet you received. The officer’s badge, agency name, incident number, or station telephone number may appear there.
The road is another clue. New Jersey State Police may investigate a collision on a state highway, while municipal police commonly handle crashes within their communities. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has its own procedures for the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. The Atlantic City Expressway follows a separate route.
If you are still unsure, call the police department serving the municipality where the collision occurred. Give the date, approximate time, exact location, involved names, and vehicle descriptions. Ask whether that department investigated or can identify the responding agency.
Crash location or investigating agency
Where to request the basic report
Key point
NJSP-investigated non-toll road
NJSP/NJTA crash-report portal
The NJTR-1 becomes searchable only after it is completed and approved. The current fee is $13.
Municipal or local police jurisdiction
The investigating department’s records unit or request system
Local reports are not automatically included in the state portal. Procedures and fees vary. See, for example, Hackensack’s Records and Evidence Management Unit and Paramus Police report information.
New Jersey Turnpike or Garden State Parkway, nonfatal crash
Select the toll-road option. The current electronic-report fee is $5.
Fatal New Jersey Turnpike or Garden State Parkway crash
NJTA OPRA process
The basic NJTR-1 for a fatal toll-road crash is available only through the NJTA OPRA route, not an ordinary portal purchase.
Serious or fatal crash—additional investigative material
Serious/fatal records request through the state portal
Photographs, digital media, statements, and associated reports are not part of the basic public NJTR-1. The portal requires a subpoena signed by an officer of the court or a court order.
Atlantic City Expressway
Written request to the Atlantic City Expressway Authority, P.O. Box 389, Hammonton, NJ 08037; 609-965-7200 ext. 108
The combined NJSP/NJTA portal does not fulfill Atlantic City Expressway report requests.
For an eligible state or toll-road report, open the New Jersey crash-report portal and choose “Request a Roadway Crash Report.” Select the non-toll or toll-road category, then follow the search prompts.
The portal permits searches using a case number, driver’s-license number, license-plate number, or involved party’s last name. An account is optional. When the report is ready, the system sends an email containing download instructions.
For a municipal report, go to the official website of the investigating police department and look for “Records,” “Police Reports,” “Traffic,” or “OPRA.” Some departments use an online vendor. Others accept email, mail, or in-person requests. Confirm the department’s current procedure instead of sending payment to an unofficial report-lookup website.
Subject: Request for New Jersey motor-vehicle crash report
I am requesting the motor-vehicle crash report for a collision that occurred on [date] at approximately [time] at or near [street, intersection, route, exit, or milepost] in [municipality and county].
The involved person’s name is [full name]. The vehicle was a [year, make, model, color] with license plate [plate and state, if known]. The incident or case number is [number, if known].
Please advise whether your agency investigated the collision, whether the report has been completed and approved, the applicable fee, and how it will be delivered. If your agency is not the records custodian, please identify the agency that maintains the report.
Thank you,
[requester’s name]
[email address]
[telephone number]
Use accurate placeholders only. Do not guess a case number, officer name, or location.
You can often search without the report number. The state portal’s help page lists the case number, driver’s-license number, license-plate number, and involved party’s last name as available roadway-report search options.
Gather as many of these details as possible:
Be precise about the location. “Route 17 in Bergen County” may be too broad, while “Route 17 north near the Ridgewood Avenue exit in Paramus” gives a records employee a practical starting point. If the crash happened near a municipal boundary, contact both departments and ask which agency generated the report.
As of September 14, 2026, the combined state portal lists a $13 fee for non-toll roadway reports and a $5 fee for New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway reports. The fee for a serious or fatal investigation records package is $20, apart from charges for printed photographs. These are portal fees, not universal prices for every municipal report in New Jersey.
For roadway reports, the portal emails download instructions when the request is fulfilled. The document remains available for download for 14 days from the fulfillment email, so save it promptly in more than one secure location. A portal request made through real-time search may take up to 14 business days depending on the report’s processing stage, but that is not a guarantee that every report will be finished by a particular date.
The NJTA accident-report page also permits requests for physical Turnpike and Parkway reports by mail. Municipal departments may impose fees authorized by statute or regulation. New Jersey’s Government Records Council fee guidance also explains that “public record” does not necessarily mean “free record.”
A report will not appear in the state portal until the investigating agency has completed and approved it. The portal recommends searching again after a couple of days if the first search returns no result. This delay can be longer when officers are gathering medical-status information, reviewing diagrams, completing supplemental reports, or investigating a serious collision.
Check your search information before assuming the report is missing. A transposed plate digit, incorrect crash date, nickname, or wrong road category can produce no result. Search by a second available identifier, such as the involved party’s last name rather than the case number.
If an eligible NJSP report still cannot be found more than 15 business days after the collision, the portal help page directs requesters to NJSP Records at the email address listed there. For toll-road questions, contact the NJTA number on the same page. For a local crash, contact the municipal records unit directly.
If you used OPRA, distinguish the agency’s response deadline from the time required to complete a crash investigation. New Jersey’s current Open Public Records Act ordinarily requires a grant, denial, clarification request, or extension notice within seven business days when a record is currently available. It does not require police to finish an incomplete report within seven days.
A named requester who believes an OPRA request was improperly denied generally has 45 days to choose between a Superior Court action and a Government Records Council complaint. An anonymous requester may submit many OPRA requests but cannot bring that challenge. The GRC’s public FAQs explain these procedures and limitations.
If the report is unavailable, incomplete, or inconsistent with what happened, The Epstein Law Firm’s New Jersey car-accident practice can help identify other evidence and determine whether a supplemental or separate records request is appropriate.
No. The NJTR-1 is the basic police crash investigation report. It commonly identifies the vehicles, drivers, owners, passengers, insurance information, location, reported injuries, roadway conditions, diagram, narrative, apparent contributing circumstances, and investigating officer.
The NJTR-1 Crash Report Manual explains the report’s fields and codes. Those codes should be interpreted carefully. A marked box may describe what the officer observed, what someone reported, or a standardized data category—not necessarily a final legal finding.
The basic report may not include:
The state portal states that associated reports, digital media, photographs, and statements from a serious or fatal investigation are not ordinary public crash-report records. Obtaining them requires a subpoena signed by an officer of the court or a court order. Paying the $20 records-package fee does not eliminate that legal requirement.
For a fatal crash on the Turnpike or Garden State Parkway, remember the two-route distinction: the basic NJTR-1 must be requested through NJTA OPRA, while restricted associated investigative material follows the serious/fatal records process.
511NJ provides real-time traffic incidents, congestion, construction, weather information, and live camera views. It can help confirm that a road was closed or congested at a particular time, but it is not a crash-report database. Save the displayed timestamp if you capture a screenshot because conditions and listings change.
Do not assume every traffic camera creates a stored recording. NJDOT says its qualifying recorded camera images are ordinarily retained for seven calendar days, after which they are overwritten. Its video-log request form also states that NJTA cameras on the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are not recorded and that cameras mounted on top of traffic signals may not be recorded. Evidence requests should therefore be made quickly and directed to the correct camera owner.
Open the file immediately and confirm that it is complete and readable. Multi-page reports can include continuation pages, additional vehicle units, passenger information, diagrams, narratives, and later supplements. A one-page download is not necessarily the entire report.
Review the document for:
A factual error does not automatically invalidate the entire report. Make a written list separating objective mistakes—such as the wrong plate, vehicle, address, or direction of travel—from disagreements with a witness statement or the officer’s view of fault. That distinction will help when you contact the records unit or gather evidence contradicting the disputed entry.
Save the original PDF without altering it. Create a backup in a separate secure location. Record the date you downloaded it and keep the fulfillment email. Confirm that every page opens and that the text, diagram, and codes are legible. Preserve any separate incident cards, photographs, videos, tow papers, medical records, and insurer correspondence with the report, but do not overwrite the original file.
If the portal says a supplement is pending or the report refers to an attachment you did not receive, contact the agency and ask whether that item requires a separate request.
You may send the report to the adjuster handling your claim, but keep the original and review the document first. Ordering the report does not notify your insurer that the collision occurred. Report the crash to the appropriate insurer promptly under the policy’s notice and cooperation requirements.
The report is only one part of the liability investigation. New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance explains that an insurer may consider the police report together with driver and witness statements, motor-vehicle laws, and an investigation of the roadway and scene. An officer’s report does not bind the insurer, the parties, or a court to one final allocation of fault.
When sending the report, do not casually adopt every statement in it. If a material entry appears wrong, identify the specific issue and provide reliable supporting material, such as dated scene photographs, vehicle images, dash-camera footage, an accurate witness contact, or a document confirming the correct vehicle or insurance information.
The Epstein Law Firm can review the evidence, insurance issues, and next steps that may matter in your car accident claim.
Getting the PDF is an administrative task. Understanding what it proves, what it leaves out, and what should be preserved next is a legal and investigative task. That is especially true when an insurer relies on one diagram or coded entry while photographs, physical damage, witness accounts, or electronic evidence point in another direction.
According to his firm biography, Michael J. Epstein has been admitted in New Jersey since 1996 and earned his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School that year. He clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Marie L. Garibaldi from 1996 to 1997 and U.S. District Judge Alfred M. Wolin from 1997 to 1998. He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. That certification concerns trial qualifications; it should not be confused with an award or a general claim that one lawyer is “best” statewide.
His professional roles also reflect sustained work with civil procedure, evidence, trial practice, and New Jersey courts. He served as president of the Bergen County Bar Association in 2016–2017, following earlier officer and trustee positions. He co-chaired its Civil Practice Committee from 2003 through 2023 and has co-chaired its Judicial Appointments and Prosecutorial Committee since 2023. The current Bergen County Bar Association committee directory provides association committee information.
At the statewide level, his biography reports service on the New Jersey Association for Justice Board of Governors from 2012 through 2022 and as co-chair of its Amicus Committee from 2013 to the present. It also reports that he has served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Charges since 2014 and has belonged to the American Board of Trial Advocates since 2019. These are distinct roles: NJAJ is a trial-lawyer association, the jury-charge committee works with instructions used in civil cases, and ABOTA is a separate trial-lawyer organization.
That experience is relevant when a crash report raises evidence questions. A lawyer must determine whether the officer personally observed a fact, repeated another person’s account, recorded an opinion, or used a standardized code. The lawyer must then compare the report with testimony, photographs, vehicle damage, medical documentation, dispatch records, and other available evidence.
The 2025 NJSBA Tort Law Conference identified Epstein as the program moderator and presenter of the “Top five tort cases of 2025” on October 8, 2025. The conference is now available as a replay; that replay should not be described as a separate live 2026 presentation.
His firm biography also links to commentary addressing topics closely related to accident evidence and insurance disputes. Those listed pieces include commentary about legal treatment of pedestrians struck by rideshare vehicles, preservation of disappearing evidence, transparency in New Jersey auto insurance, and lawyer advertising. The biography separately labels some publicity items as “Featured in,” distinguishing media coverage from authored commentary. That distinction matters because a media mention does not establish authorship.
Recognition directories provide additional background but require careful wording. The original Super Lawyers profile lists Rising Stars selections for 2006–2008 and Super Lawyers selections for 2009–2026. It also supports Top 100 recognition for 2014–2026. The Elite Lawyer directory recognized him in 2026. His biography reports membership in The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 for Civil Plaintiff lawyers in New Jersey, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel’s Nation’s Top One Percent since 2019. It also lists an Avvo “Top-Rated Lawyer by the Legal Community” recognition for 2021; that historical item should not be converted into a claim about a current Avvo review score.
The firm reports that Best Lawyers named Michael J. Epstein the 2026 “Lawyer of the Year” for Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs in Hackensack. That is a practice-area and metropolitan designation, not a finding that he is the best personal-injury lawyer in New Jersey. The firm has also announced his peer-selected inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for 2027.
Firm-level recognition must also be attributed to the firm rather than to one lawyer. A 2026 Best Law Firms announcement reports New Jersey metropolitan Tier 1 recognition for Personal Injury Litigation–Plaintiffs, Medical Malpractice Law–Plaintiffs, Product Liability Litigation–Plaintiffs, and Professional Malpractice Law–Plaintiffs, plus Tier 2 recognition for Commercial Litigation.
The firm’s reported verdicts and settlements include a $1.65 million settlement for a Paramus husband and wife severely injured in a Forest Avenue head-on collision and a $2.483 million settlement for a Ho-Ho-Kus pedestrian struck by a commercial truck while waiting for a bus on Route 17. Those are firm results and should not be attributed personally to Epstein without case-specific proof. Past results never guarantee what will happen in another matter.
The firm’s own testimonial page includes feedback from Brian W. praising the firm’s communication, friendliness, understanding, and responsiveness. That is a firm-hosted testimonial—not an independently verified rating or review count.
Awards and memberships use different selection methods and do not constitute government approval. The firm’s rating-methodology disclosures explain several of those processes, and the website states that no aspect of its advertising has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. To have the report, its codes, missing evidence, and the insurer’s position reviewed together, contact The Epstein Law Firm at 201-231-7847.
These answers provide general New Jersey information. The investigating agency, type of record, crash location, and available evidence can change the appropriate process.
Yes, a passenger can request a basic New Jersey crash report because the NJTR-1 is generally treated as a public record. The state portal permits a roadway-report search by an involved party’s last name, in addition to a case number, driver’s-license number, or license-plate number. If your name does not produce a result, try the case number or the plate of a vehicle involved in the collision.
A passenger should confirm that the downloaded report includes the passenger or injury section and any continuation pages. If the investigating agency was municipal, use that police department’s records procedure. Access to photographs, statements, video, or serious/fatal investigative material may be restricted even when the basic NJTR-1 is available.
Sources: NJSP/NJTA crash-report portal; NJ crash-report portal help and search options; New Jersey Government Records Council FAQs.
Use the same New Jersey request route, entering the rental or out-of-state plate information exactly as it appeared on the vehicle. The state portal accepts license-plate searches and does not require a New Jersey plate. OPRA records may also be requested by people who live outside New Jersey.
Keep the rental agreement, rental company’s incident number, and insurance information because the driver, registered owner, rental company, and applicable insurer may be listed differently. If the plate search fails, search by the involved person’s last name or case number. Notify the rental company and the appropriate insurers separately; requesting the police report does not satisfy contractual or insurance reporting obligations.
Sources: NJ crash-report portal search guidance; New Jersey Government Records Council FAQs; NJ MVC insurance requirements.
Yes, another person can generally request the basic public crash report when your injuries prevent you from handling the request personally. A family member, insurer, or attorney may be able to locate it using the case number, plate, driver’s-license number, or involved party’s last name. The state portal does not require the requester to create an account.
The rules change for protected material. Medical information, victim records, and serious or fatal investigative records may require authorization, redaction, a subpoena signed by an officer of the court, or a court order. The person helping you should identify the exact record sought rather than requesting an undefined “complete file.”
Sources: NJSP/NJTA crash-report portal; NJ crash-report portal help; New Jersey Government Records Council FAQs.
The online NJSP/NJTA service generally covers crash reports retained for six years from the year of the crash. Its help page states that the portal can be used for crashes occurring no more than six years before the current year. A report outside that period may not appear even when the search information is correct.
For an older report, follow the NJSP older-record guidance referenced by the portal and contact the investigating agency’s records custodian. Municipal departments may have different retention schedules or archival procedures. Provide the exact year, municipality, parties, road, and any available incident number, but do not assume an older report still exists or can be produced immediately.
Sources: NJSP/NJTA crash-report retention guidance; NJ crash-report portal older-report FAQ; New Jersey OPRA FAQs.
No, New Jersey’s confidential SR-1 driver report is different from the police-prepared NJTR-1 crash report. The SR-1 is a self-report submitted by a driver in qualifying circumstances when a law-enforcement officer has not filed the required report. The form states that these driver reports are not available for public information and are not admissible in proceedings arising from the crash.
The NJTR-1, by contrast, is the investigating officer’s standardized crash report and is ordinarily available through the appropriate records route. Filing or retaining an SR-1 does not mean you already possess the police report. Check the heading, preparer, agency information, and form number before sending either document to an insurer or relying on it during a claim.
Sources: New Jersey SR-1 Motor Vehicle Accident Report; NJTR-1 Crash Report Manual; NJSP/NJTA crash-report portal.
You can ask the investigating New Jersey police agency to address an objective error, but you usually cannot require an officer to adopt your opinion about fault. Contact the traffic or records unit and identify the exact page, box, and incorrect fact. Provide documentation supporting a wrong plate, address, insurance company, vehicle, or similar verifiable entry.
A disagreement about speed, right of way, or responsibility is different from a clerical error. Preserve your account and supporting photographs, video, physical damage, or witness information even if the agency does not amend the report. Insurers conduct their own fault investigations, and a court may separately evaluate whether particular observations, statements, or opinions are admissible and reliable.
Sources: NJTR-1 Crash Report Manual; NJ Department of Banking and Insurance comparative-negligence FAQs; New Jersey Rules of Evidence—Hearsay.
Some information may be redacted when New Jersey law protects it from disclosure. A basic NJTR-1 is generally a public record, but public access does not guarantee that every address, license number, medical detail, victim record, or other protected item will appear in an unredacted copy.
Under OPRA, a records custodian may remove protected information while disclosing the nonexempt portions of a record. The custodian should identify the legal basis for a denial or redaction. If a redaction prevents you from identifying a witness, insurer, or involved party needed for your claim, keep the response and determine whether another lawful request, authorization, discovery demand, or court process is available.
Sources: Current New Jersey Open Public Records Act; New Jersey Government Records Council FAQs; Government Records Council access and complaint guidance.
No, ordering a New Jersey crash report does not notify your insurance company that the collision occurred. You must separately report the crash to the appropriate insurer under the policy’s notice and cooperation provisions. The SR-1 form likewise warns drivers to report the accident directly to their insurance representative.
Keep the claim number, adjuster’s name, and date of notice. If you are pursuing vehicle damage through your own carrier and a separate claim against another driver’s insurer, those may be different claim files with different adjusters. Send a copy rather than your only report, and identify any material error rather than silently allowing the insurer to treat it as undisputed.
Sources: New Jersey SR-1 Motor Vehicle Accident Report; NJ DOBI—Filing an auto-damage claim with your insurer; NJ DOBI—Filing an auto-damage claim with another insurer.
No, a New Jersey police crash report is not automatically admissible in its entirety. The evidence rules distinguish an officer’s own public-record observations from statements supplied by drivers or witnesses. When a report contains hearsay within hearsay, each layer needs an applicable basis for admission.
An officer’s technical or expert opinion can raise additional reliability questions, particularly when the officer did not witness the collision. Authentication, notice, trustworthiness, and the purpose for which a specific entry is offered can also matter. The report remains valuable for investigation and claim handling, but obtaining it is not the same as establishing that every narrative statement, diagram, or fault opinion will reach a jury.
Sources: New Jersey Rules of Evidence—Hearsay Rules 803, 805, 807, and 808; New Jersey evidence rules on authentication; NJTR-1 Crash Report Manual.
Bring the complete NJTR-1, every continuation or supplemental page, and the original download email. Also bring incident cards, summonses, exchange slips, photographs, videos, witness information, tow and repair records, medical documents, insurance declarations, claim correspondence, and any written denial or fault determination.
Do not organize the file by deleting documents that seem unhelpful. A lawyer needs to compare the officer’s codes, narrative, and diagram with the physical evidence and with the statements being used by each insurer. Include a short timeline of the crash, medical care, insurer contacts, and report requests. Mark factual concerns on a separate copy so the original PDF remains preserved and unchanged.
Sources: NJTR-1 Crash Report Manual; NJ DOBI comparative-negligence investigation guidance; New Jersey Rules of Evidence—Hearsay.
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