A police report is not necessarily required for every accident in New York City or New York State as a whole however it would be advisable to obtain an accident report done by the police if you were in an accident in NYC.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles states that if you are in an accident, you must stop your vehicle and exchange information with the other drivers. If the accident caused property damage only, then exchange information about your driver license, insurance, and registration with the other drivers. If a parked vehicle or other property is damaged, or if a domestic animal is injured, you must locate the owner or contact the police.

If the property damage of any person is $1,001 or more, all the involved drivers must file form MV-104 (Report of Motor Vehicle Accident). File form MV-104 with the DMV no more than 10 days after the accident. The DMV can suspend your driver license if you fail to report such an accident.This form can be found online at the NYS DMV site.

If a person is injured or killed, you are required by the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law to immediately notify the police. All the involved drives and the police must file an accident report with the NYS DMV. It is a crime to leave the scene of an accident that causes personal injury or death.

The NYS DMV specifically notes that when accidents are reported the accident will appear on the records of all involved drivers. An accident listed on your New York driving record does not indicate that you were at fault. The DMV does not try to determine fault in an accident, just list on your driver history that you were involved in an accident.

It is helpful to insurance companies for a police crash report to be done to get details of the accident from an outside observer, the law enforcement agent. Also many times a person will admit fault at the scene to the accident or other driver but then not want to admit fault to their insurance company.

An insurance company may require an accident report for certain types of collisions such as a hit and run. It is best to try and get a police report for all accidents if for nothing else then to have a written report of the other person's information in an official report in case their insurance comes back as expired, canceled or fake.In those types of instances you can then alert the police to the fact that the person gave incorrect information in hopes they will be penalized by the state.

So we are not aware of any laws specific to reporting accidents in NYC however the state of New York as a whole requires an accident report filed with the DMV if there is the property damage of $1,001 or more and police must be called to the scene of an accident if any person is injured or killed.You can contact the NYS DMV with any specific questions you have about police or accident reports in NYS.

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