| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to crash reports; amending s. 316.066, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing for release of crash reports by the |
| 4 | Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to victim |
| 5 | services programs; requiring the programs to maintain |
| 6 | confidentiality; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section |
| 11 | 316.066, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 12 | 316.066 Written reports of crashes.-- |
| 13 | (3) |
| 14 | (c) Crash reports required by this section which reveal |
| 15 | the identity, home or employment telephone number or home or |
| 16 | employment address of, or other personal information concerning |
| 17 | the parties involved in the crash and which are received or |
| 18 | prepared by any agency that regularly receives or prepares |
| 19 | information from or concerning the parties to motor vehicle |
| 20 | crashes are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. |
| 21 | 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution for a period of 60 days |
| 22 | after the date the report is filed. However, such reports may be |
| 23 | made immediately available to the parties involved in the crash, |
| 24 | their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents, |
| 25 | their insurers or insurers to which they have applied for |
| 26 | coverage, persons under contract with such insurers to provide |
| 27 | claims or underwriting information, prosecutorial authorities, |
| 28 | victim services programs, radio and television stations licensed |
| 29 | by the Federal Communications Commission, newspapers qualified |
| 30 | to publish legal notices under ss. 50.011 and 50.031, and free |
| 31 | newspapers of general circulation, published once a week or more |
| 32 | often, available and of interest to the public generally for the |
| 33 | dissemination of news. For the purposes of this section, the |
| 34 | following products or publications are not newspapers as |
| 35 | referred to in this section: those intended primarily for |
| 36 | members of a particular profession or occupational group; those |
| 37 | with the primary purpose of distributing advertising; and those |
| 38 | with the primary purpose of publishing names and other personal |
| 39 | identifying information concerning parties to motor vehicle |
| 40 | crashes. Any local, state, or federal agency, agent, or employee |
| 41 | that is authorized to have access to such reports by any |
| 42 | provision of law shall be granted such access in the furtherance |
| 43 | of the agency's statutory duties notwithstanding the provisions |
| 44 | of this paragraph. Any local, state, or federal agency, agent, |
| 45 | or employee or any victim services program receiving such crash |
| 46 | reports shall maintain the confidential and exempt status of |
| 47 | those reports and shall not disclose such crash reports to any |
| 48 | person or entity. As a condition precedent to accessing a crash |
| 49 | report within 60 days after the date the report is filed, a |
| 50 | person must present a valid driver's license or other |
| 51 | photographic identification, proof of status, or identification |
| 52 | that demonstrates his or her qualifications to access that |
| 53 | information, and file a written sworn statement with the state |
| 54 | or local agency in possession of the information stating that |
| 55 | information from a crash report made confidential by this |
| 56 | section will not be used for any commercial solicitation of |
| 57 | accident victims, or knowingly disclosed to any third party for |
| 58 | the purpose of such solicitation, during the period of time that |
| 59 | the information remains confidential. In lieu of requiring the |
| 60 | written sworn statement, an agency may provide crash reports by |
| 61 | electronic means to third-party vendors under contract with one |
| 62 | or more insurers, but only when such contract states that |
| 63 | information from a crash report made confidential by this |
| 64 | section will not be used for any commercial solicitation of |
| 65 | accident victims by the vendors, or knowingly disclosed by the |
| 66 | vendors to any third party for the purpose of such solicitation, |
| 67 | during the period of time that the information remains |
| 68 | confidential, and only when a copy of such contract is furnished |
| 69 | to the agency as proof of the vendor's claimed status. This |
| 70 | subsection does not prevent the dissemination or publication of |
| 71 | news to the general public by any legitimate media entitled to |
| 72 | access confidential information pursuant to this section. A law |
| 73 | enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10(1) may enforce this |
| 74 | subsection. This exemption is subject to the Open Government |
| 75 | Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and |
| 76 | shall stand repealed on October 2, 2006, unless reviewed and |
| 77 | saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 78 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |