State page ยท Texas
The Texas blue form (CR-2): what a driver does now that it is gone
Texas no longer takes a driver's crash report. Since September 1, 2017 TxDOT has not kept the Driver's Crash Report (Form CR-2), which many drivers call the blue form, and it destroys any sent to it. You must still tell police at once if anyone is hurt or killed, or a vehicle cannot be safely driven (Transportation Code 550.026).
| Driver's written report to the state | None since September 1, 2017 |
|---|---|
| What ended it | Senate Bill 312, 85th Legislature, which repealed Transportation Code 550.061 and 601.004 |
| The old form | Driver's Crash Report (Form CR-2). TxDOT no longer hosts or provides copies |
| If you send one to TxDOT | It is destroyed under TxDOT's records retention policy |
| Tell police at once when | Anyone is hurt or killed, or a vehicle cannot be normally and safely driven (550.026) |
| The only state written report | The officer's: injury, death, or $1,000 or more of damage to one person's property, filed by the 10th day (550.062) |
| A city may still ask | By ordinance, at injury, death or total damage of $25 or more (550.067) |
What was the Texas blue form?
It was the driver's own crash report. TxDOT's pages call it the Driver's Crash Report (Form CR-2). Many drivers know it as the blue form, though the TxDOT pages we read never use that name.
A driver filled it in after a crash that police did not investigate. TxDOT still describes those drivers in the same breath as the form: "Drivers involved in a crash not investigated by a police officer who were provided a CR-2 or similar local agency form".
We have not read the two repealed sections at an official source, so we do not state the damage amount or the deadline the old rule used. Both are history now.
When did it end, and why can you not find the form?
It ended on September 1, 2017. Senate Bill 312 of the 85th Texas Legislature repealed the two sections of the Transportation Code that required a driver's report, 550.061 and 601.004. Section 74 of the bill lists them among the repealed provisions, and section 81 reads: "This Act takes effect September 1, 2017."
TxDOT then stopped keeping the forms, and says so on its crash reports page:
That is why a search for the blue form on TxDOT's site finds nothing to download. A CR-2 you find elsewhere online did not come from TxDOT, and TxDOT will not take it: "any CR-2 or similar local agency form submitted to TxDOT will be destroyed as required by our records retention policy."
What must a Texas driver do after a crash now?
The written report is gone. The duties at the scene are not. Chapter 550 of the Transportation Code still sets them, and the code now says collision where it used to say accident.
| Your crash | What you must do | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone hurt or killed | Stop, stay, give your details, help the injured, and tell police at once by the quickest means of communication | 550.021, 550.023, 550.026 |
| A vehicle cannot be normally and safely driven | Tell police at once. The code means a vehicle that needs towing or cannot move under its own power in its usual manner | 550.026, 550.022(d) |
| Damage only, and the other driver is there | Stop, stay, and give your name, address, registration number and the name of your liability insurer. Show your license if asked | 550.022, 550.023 |
| You hit a parked car with nobody in it | Find its owner, or leave a written notice in plain view with your name and address, the vehicle owner's name and address, and what happened | 550.024 |
| You hit a fence, a sign or landscaping by the road | Take reasonable steps to find the owner and give your name, address and registration number | 550.025 |
Who you tell depends on where it happened. Section 550.026 names the local police department inside a city, the police or the sheriff within 100 feet outside the city limits, and otherwise the sheriff's office or the nearest office of the Department of Public Safety.
Who writes the report, then?
An officer, when the crash is serious enough. Section 550.062 says an officer who investigates a collision "shall make a written report of the collision if the collision resulted in injury to or the death of a person or damage to the property of any one person to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more." The officer files it electronically with TxDOT "not later than the 10th day after the date of the collision."
Below that line, nobody owes the state a report. A dented bumper in a parking lot, with no one hurt and both cars driving away, leaves no state record at all.
That is the gap a record of your own fills. TxDOT itself tells drivers who were handed a CR-2 or a local form to "retain this information for their records." A page written the same day, with the place, the plates, the other driver's insurer and a drawing, is what you will want when an insurer calls three weeks later.
Does your city still want a report?
It can. Section 550.067 lets a Texas city pass its own rule: "A municipality by ordinance may require the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision to file with a designated municipal department" a report of the collision "if the collision results in injury to or the death of a person or the apparent total property damage is $25 or more".
We have not read which cities have such an ordinance, so we name none. Ask the police department of the city where the crash happened whether it takes a driver's report, and on which form.
What about a driver with no insurance?
The old report under chapter 601 is gone as well, but the consequence it fed is not. Section 601.152 says the Department of Public Safety "shall suspend the driver's license and vehicle registrations of the owner and operator of a motor vehicle" when the vehicle was in a collision and the department "finds that there is a reasonable probability that a judgment will be rendered against the person as a result of the collision." Section 601.151 limits that to a collision with bodily injury, death, or damage to one person's property of at least $1,000.
That process starts from the collision, not from a form you send. Your own insurer has its own notice rule in the policy, and we do not read policies.
What if something goes wrong?
- Police did not come. If the crash was one section 550.026 covers, the duty to tell police is yours and it is immediate. If it was not, write your own record the same day.
- The other driver left. Report it to police. Section 550.021 makes leaving a crash with an injury a crime punishable by up to five years in prison or one year in county jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and a felony when someone is killed or seriously hurt. Our hit and run guide lists what to write down.
- An officer handed you a blue form. Keep it. TxDOT's words are that drivers "should retain this information for their records." Do not mail it to TxDOT.
- You need proof that no police report exists. Our sister site covers that in its guide to a minor crash with no police report.
- You want the officer's report. That is the CR-3, and it is a different job: getaccidentreport.org shows where to get a copy.
What the builder gives a Texas driver
A Crash Record: one page in your own words, with the date, the place, both drivers, both vehicles, the insurance details, what happened and a diagram, and a line for your signature. It is our own document. It is not a state form and not a police report, and no Texas agency asks for it.
The paper carries no due date for Texas, because the state sets none for drivers. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Questions about the Texas blue form
Is the Texas blue form still required?
No. Senate Bill 312 of the 85th Texas Legislature repealed Transportation Code sections 550.061 and 601.004, the two sections that required a driver's report, effective September 1, 2017. TxDOT no longer keeps the Driver's Crash Report (Form CR-2).
Where can I download the Texas CR-2 form?
Not from the state. TxDOT says it no longer hosts or provides copies of the CR-2 form, and that the retention period for all CR-2 forms expired on January 1, 2019.
What happens if I mail a CR-2 to TxDOT?
TxDOT says any CR-2 or similar local agency form submitted to it will be destroyed as required by its records retention policy. It tells drivers who were given one to keep it for their records.
Do I have to report a car accident in Texas?
Not in writing to the state. You must tell police immediately, by the quickest means of communication, when a collision causes injury, death, or damage to a vehicle so that it cannot be normally and safely driven (Transportation Code 550.026). A city may also require a driver's report by its own ordinance (550.067).
Who files a crash report in Texas now?
The investigating officer. Section 550.062 requires an officer's written report when a collision results in injury, death, or damage to one person's property to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more, filed electronically with TxDOT not later than the 10th day after the collision.
What does normally and safely driven mean in Texas?
Section 550.022(d) says a vehicle can be normally and safely driven only if it does not require towing and can be operated under its own power and in its usual manner, without additional damage or hazard to the vehicle, other traffic, or the roadway.
Can a Texas city still require a driver's crash report?
Yes. Section 550.067 lets a municipality require one by ordinance when a collision results in injury, death, or apparent total property damage of $25 or more. We have not read which cities have such an ordinance.
What should I write down after a minor crash in Texas?
The date, the time and the exact place; the other driver's name, address, plate and liability insurer, which section 550.023 requires them to give you; what happened in order; and a simple drawing. The builder on this site puts those on one page, a Crash Record, for your insurer and your files.
Related pages
- Driver crash report rules by stateTexas beside every other state we have read. Eight of them take no driver report.
- Free car accident report formThe builder itself, with what it makes for each state.
- Report a hit and runWhat Texas and nine other states require of a driver, and what to write down.
- How long do you have to report an accident?Every written deadline we have read, and how fast police must be told.
- Report an accident to the DMVWhich states send a driver's report to their motor vehicle agency. Texas is not one.
- Florida: the self report formThe opposite rule: a state form, 10 days, and an address in Tallahassee.
- A copy of a Texas police crash reportOur sister site getaccidentreport.org shows where to get the officer's report, the CR-3.
Facts on this page were last checked on . This page is not legal advice. Not a government website.