Legislative findings regarding motor vehicle accident reports.
Oklahoma City Municipal Code § 43-14.1
in effect§ 43-14.1. - Legislative findings regarding motor vehicle accident reports.
For purposes of this division, the Council of The City of Oklahoma City makes the following findings:
(1) motor vehicle accident reports (which includes reports of motor vehicle collisions and pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions) are prepared pursuant to State law on forms developed by the Department of Public Safety ("DPS") and are forwarded to the DPS as required by 47 O.S. § 40-102.
(2) motor vehicle accident reports are law enforcement records and do not fall within one of the eight categories of crime related documents required to be made available for public inspection under 51 O.S. § 24A.8(A) of the Oklahoma Open Records Act. Under § 24A.8(B) of the Act, motor vehicle accident reports can be withheld except where a court finds that the public interest or the interest of an individual outweighs the reason for denial of access.
(3) Congress has determined in the enactment of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 ("DPPA"), Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 2099-2102, codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2721-2725, in order to protect personal privacy and safety of licensed drivers, State motor vehicle records should be protected from disclosure to third parties. Although DPPA is not applicable specifically to the disclosure of traffic accident reports, it is the specific finding of the Council that there is an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of persons involved in vehicular accidents resulting in commercial solicitation and harassment by medical and legal practitioners by continuing to allow disclosure to third parties except as provided herein.
(4) it is further the legislative finding of the Council that legitimate legal newspapers and news media ("press") currently do not reveal the personal information of individuals involved in traffic accidents and there is a legitimate need for the press to have access to such information when conducting the balancing test.
(Ord. No. 21897, § 2, 1-2-02)
Source: City of Oklahoma City, Municipal Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/ok/oklahoma_city/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=OKMUCO2020_CH43PODE_ARTIINGE_DIV2MOVECORE_S43-14.1LEFIREMOVEACREFetched: 10/28/2026