An Act To Protect the Privacy of Persons Involved in Reportable Motor Vehicle Accidents
Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2251, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2003, c. 709, §4, is further amended to read:
A report or statement contained in the accident report, or a 48-hour report as required by former subsection 5 2, a statement made or testimony taken at a hearing before the Secretary of State held under section 2483, or a decision made as a result of that report, statement or testimony may not be admitted in evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of the accident.
A report may be admissible in evidence solely to prove compliance with this section.
The Notwithstanding subsection 7-A, the Chief of the State Police may disclose the date, time and location of the accident and the names and addresses of operators, owners, injured persons, witnesses and the investigating officer. On written request, the chief may furnish a photocopy of the investigating officer's report at the expense of the person making the request. The cost of furnishing a copy of the report is not subject to the limitations of Title 1, section 408, subsection 3.
Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §2251, sub-§7-A is enacted to read:
(1) "Data" means information existing in an electronic medium and contained in an accident report database.
(2) "Nonpersonally identifying accident report data" means any data in an accident report that are not personally identifying accident report data.
(3) "Personally identifying accident report data" means:
(a) An individual's name, residential and post office box mailing address, social security number, date of birth and driver's license number;
(b) A vehicle registration number;
(c) An insurance policy number;
(d) Information contained in any free text data field of an accident report; and
(e) Any other information contained in a data field of an accident report that may be used to identify a person.