Asheville · Asheville Police Department
Getting Your Asheville Police Department Crash Report
An Asheville Police Department crash report costs nothing. You can download it from the city's Police to Citizen tool, pick it up from the Records Unit in the Municipal Building lobby, or request it by mail. The online copy leaves out private details, and licensed businesses such as attorneys' offices can request the full version.
An Asheville crash report is the written record an Asheville Police Department officer makes of a collision, and which version you receive depends on who asks for it. I would rather you have the report yourself by the time we sit down.
What follows takes up the four ways to reach the Asheville Records Unit, finding a case number, the public copy against the full copy, which crashes produce a report at all, Blue Ridge Parkway reports, and how the city's timing compares with the state and federal routes.
01
Four ways to reach the Asheville Records Unit, all at no cost
Asheville's police and crash reports cost nothing to obtain, according to the City of Asheville, and its APD Records Unit takes requests online, by phone, at the counter and through the mail. The city names Police to Citizen as the fastest way to get a record.
| Route | How it works, per the City of Asheville |
|---|---|
| Police to Citizen online | Search by case number, or find the report by date and location, then download it as a PDF |
| Phone | APD Records Unit, (828) 259-5870 |
| In person | Lobby of Police Department Headquarters in the Municipal Building, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm |
| Send the request with a stamped envelope bearing your own address to the Asheville Police Department Records Unit, whose box is PO Box 7148, Asheville, North Carolina 28802 |
The city's copy of an Asheville crash report is free. The fee set by G.S. 20-42(b) comes into play only when you order the copy from the state.
02
Finding an Asheville case number without the officer's paperwork
Anyone missing an Asheville case number can look the incident up on the Community Crime Map or on Simplicity, according to the City of Asheville, and then carry that number back into the Police to Citizen tool. The city describes its online tools as reaching most police reports, arrest records and crash reports back as far as 2003.
Locate the crash on a city map
Search the city's Community Crime Map, or Simplicity, for the incident by its place and date.
Copy the Asheville case number
The city says to copy the case number from the incident on the map.
Pull the report from Police to Citizen
Enter the number, then download and save the report as a PDF.
Officers hand every party to an Asheville collision a copy of an exchange slip under Policy 1301. Keep that slip with the report once you have both.
03
What the Police to Citizen copy leaves out, and who gets more
The City of Asheville says crash reports on the Police to Citizen website are missing certain information that cannot be released to the public, and it points to a federal law from 1994 and a North Carolina law from 1997 that protect that privacy. In its section on full copies, the city's page cites by name the Driver's Privacy Protection Act.
The public Asheville copy
The city lists the items kept from the general public as a person's photo, Social Security number, driver's license number, name and home address, phone number and medical history.
The full Asheville version
Licensed businesses and organizations such as insurance companies, attorneys' offices, government agencies and private investigators can request the report with all information included, through the Crash Report Request Form.
The city says information shared for those limited reasons cannot be published or used to contact you for unrelated purposes. A person who gives written permission can let someone else see the records, according to the same page.
The free download is the public copy of an Asheville report. The full version carries the withheld details and goes only to requesters the law allows.
04
Which Asheville crashes produce a DMV-349 report at all
Under APD Policy 1301, an Asheville officer fills out the DMV-349 only when a wreck on a city street or highway meets one of the policy's listed triggers, the first two being a death or injury and at least $1,000 in damage. A crash that meets none of the conditions in the table can leave you with an exchange slip and no state report.
| Policy 1301 report trigger | Applies in Asheville |
|---|---|
| Death or injury | Yes |
| $1,000 or more of property damage | Yes |
| Hit and run with injury, death or investigative leads | Yes |
| Impaired driving or a revoked license | Yes |
| Hazardous materials spill or a city-owned vehicle | Yes |
Exception. A property damage crash reported late gets an Asheville report when it was reported within 48 hours and all parties are present and come to the scene. A delayed report of a crash with serious injury or death goes to the Traffic Safety Unit supervisor for investigation and review.
Policy 1301 also directs officers to submit a crash report before their shift ends unless exigent circumstances prevent it. Whether that report is on Police to Citizen by the time you search is a question for the Records Unit.
05
Blue Ridge Parkway crash reports near Asheville come from the Park Service
Blue Ridge Parkway crash reports from National Park Service rangers are requested through the Park Service's own accident report process, not through the Asheville Records Unit. The Park Service's Driving Safety page credits its law enforcement rangers with an average of two hundred accident investigations each year on the Parkway, and its Parkway Visitor Center lists an Asheville street address.
Skip FOIAOnline
The Park Service says that since May 8, 2023, FOIAOnline should not be used to ask for a report of an accident you were in.
Use the accident report instructions
The Park Service sends crash report requests to the U.S. Park Police only for the Washington, San Francisco and New York City areas, and sends a request about any other police incident to its Office of Public Trust.
Attach form DI-4016
The Park Service asks for its ID and consent form, Request for Individual Access to Records, with the request.
The Park Service lists involved people, injured people, verified insurance companies, personal representatives, estate administrators and attorneys among those who can receive a report. Its system manager makes a record available within 10 to 20 workdays after receiving the request.
06
Asheville, NCDMV and Park Service report timing side by side
G.S. 20-166.1(e) gives the local agency that receives an accident report a 10-day window for sending it to the state, so the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles becomes another place to get an Asheville police crash report. The NCDMV takes those requests on form TR-67A and states a processing time of 10 business days after receipt, and its charge under G.S. 20-42(b) comes to $6.50 for each report.
| Source | Cost | Timing stated by the source |
|---|---|---|
| Asheville Police Department Records Unit | No cost | None given by the city |
| NCDMV, form TR-67A | $6.50 under G.S. 20-42(b) | Allow 10 business days |
| National Park Service | Not stated on the Park Service page | 10 to 20 workdays |
Per the NCDMV, individuals cannot order online, and anyone who was part of the crash orders the redacted version through the mail or at one of the two NCDMV locations its page names. For a crash inside Asheville, the city's free copy is the place to start.
Once you have it, the Asheville city page covers where a case goes next, and the Asheville crash statistics page puts the report in the city's numbers. The contact page starts a visit request.
Questions
Common questions
Can my insurance company get the full Asheville crash report?
Yes. The City of Asheville lists insurance companies among the licensed businesses that can request the full version of a crash report through its Crash Report Request Form, and its page lists insurance claims among the special cases in which the law lets the DMV share accident report details.
What if the Asheville report is not on Police to Citizen yet?
Call the Asheville Police Department Records Unit at (828) 259-5870, or visit the Records Unit in the Municipal Building lobby on a weekday between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. The city also accepts a request by mail that includes a stamped return envelope.
Can someone else request my Asheville crash report for me?
The City of Asheville says your information can be shared when you give written permission for someone else to see your records. The city also lists attorneys' offices among the licensed businesses that can ask for the full version through its Crash Report Request Form.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (10)
- City of Asheville, Find an incident or crash report (last updated or reviewed September 14, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Asheville, Police reports (Asheville Police Department), verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-42(b), fee for an accident report, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- Asheville Police Department Policy 1301, Traffic Crash Investigations, last revised January 27, 2026, verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, Driving Safety, verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, Milepost 384, verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, How to Request an Accident Report (last updated October 9, 2024), verified October 18, 2026.
- National Park Service, FOIA page, accident reports and form DI-4016 (last updated March 3, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-166.1(e), officer's report forwarded to the Division, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Reports (form TR-67A, processing time, redacted copies), verified October 18, 2026.
Have your Asheville report? Talk first.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video, and then I can come to you.