Wash. Rev. Code » Title 46 · Chapter 46.52
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 46.52.080 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section WA-LEGapp.leg.wa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
All required accident reports and supplemental reports and copies thereof shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for the confidential use of the county prosecuting attorney and chief of police or county sheriff, as the case may be, and the director of licensing and the chief of the Washington state patrol, and other officer or commission as authorized by law, except that any such officer shall disclose the names and addresses of persons reported as involved in an accident or as witnesses thereto, the vehicle license plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles involved, and the date, time and location of an accident, to any person who may have a proper interest therein, including the driver or drivers involved, or the legal guardian thereof, the parent of a minor driver, any person injured therein, the owner of vehicles or property damaged thereby, or any authorized representative of such an interested party, or the attorney or insurer thereof. No such accident report or copy thereof shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident, except that any officer above named for receiving accident reports shall furnish, upon demand of any person who has, or who claims to have, made such a report, or, upon demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the chief of the Washington state patrol solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that such a report be made in the manner required by law: PROVIDED, That the reports may be used as evidence when necessary to prosecute charges filed in connection with a violation of RCW 46.52.088.
[ 1979 c 158 s 162; 1975 c 62 s 15; 1967 c 32 s 58; 1965 ex.s. c 119 s 3; 1961 c 12 s 46.52.080. Prior: 1937 c 189 s 140; RRS s 6360-140.]

Notes:

Severability—1975 c 62: See note following RCW 36.75.010.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases, 1966–2012 · leading case: Guillen v. Pierce Cnty., 181 A.L.R. Fed. 741 (Wash. 2001).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Guillen v. Pierce Cnty., 181 A.L.R. Fed. 741 (Wash. 2001). · cites it 14× “Petitioners claim that all accident reports are nondiscoverable, since RCW 46.52.080 declares them “confidential” and inadmissible.”
Guillen v. Pierce Cnty., 31 P.3d 628 (Wash. 2001). · cites it 13× “Petitioners claim that all accident reports are nondiscoverable, since RCW 46.52.080 declares them "confidential" and inadmissible.”
Rice v. Offshore Sys., Inc., 272 P.3d 865 (Wash. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 3× “In response to OSI’s summary judgment motion, Rice moved to strike these excerpts and reports because (1) the reports violate RCW 46.52.080 and lack authentication and (2) the evidence consists of hearsay, conclusion, and speculation contrary to CR 56(e).”
Gendler v. Batiste, 274 P.3d 346 (Wash. 2012). · cites it 3× “Yet, the State now argues in its petition for review that the records are confidential under RCW 46.52.080, which provides that "accident reports and supplemental reports and copies thereof shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be for the…”
City of Fed. Way v. Koenig, 217 P.3d 1172 (Wash. 2009). “, RCW 46.52.080 (creating confidentiality in automobile accident reports and limiting access to them); [2] RCW 68.”
City of Fed. Way v. Koenig, 167 Wash. 2d 341 (Wash. 2009). “, RCW 46.52.080 (creating confidentiality in automobile accident reports and limiting access to them); 6 RCW 68.”
Burmeister v. State Farm Ins., 966 P.2d 921 (Wash. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 2× “State Farm argues that the trial court erred in admitting the police report because it was not properly authenticated as required by ER 901 and because the report is inadmissible as evidence in civil trials under RCW 46.52.080. In addition, State Farm argues that the statement…”
Superior Asphalt & Concrete Co. v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 578 P.2d 59 (Wash. Ct. App. 1978). “Unlike RCW 46.52.080, which mandates confidentiality of reports made by persons involved in an accident, Gooldy v.”
Gooldy v. Golden Grain Trucking Co., 419 P.2d 582 (Wash. 1966). “The plaintiffs’ further contention that there was a waiver of the privilege under RCW 46.52.080, supra, by reason of the admission of exhibit 21, is without merit.”
City of Seattle v. Gerry, 458 P.2d 548 (Wash. 1969). · cites it 2× “He said this was done in spite of the fact that the governing statute (RCW 46.52.080) and the Seattle ordinance expressly provide that "No such accident report or copy thereof shall be *693 used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.