MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2005 Regular Session
To: Insurance
By: Senator(s) Hewes, Gollott, Lee (35th), Doxey, White, Davis, Brown, Pickering, Nunnelee, Albritton
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-3-417, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROMOTE HIGHWAY SAFETY BY PROVIDING CONSUMERS WITH ACCESS TO HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON VEHICLE-SPECIFIC ACCIDENT DATA; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 63-3-417, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-3-417. (1) All required accident reports and supplemental reports shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting. All information, excluding vehicle-specific information, shall be for the confidential use of the department; however, the department may, upon written request of any person involved in an accident or upon written request of the representative of his estate, his surviving spouse or one or more of his surviving next of kin, disclose to such requester or his legal counsel or a representative of his insurer any information contained in such report except the parties' version of the accident as set out in the written report filed by such parties, or may disclose the identity of a person involved in an accident when such identity is not otherwise known or when such person denies his presence at such accident. The admissibility of an accident report into evidence in any court shall be governed by the Mississippi Rules of Evidence. However, the department shall furnish, upon demand of any person who has, or 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 department solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that such a report be made to the department.
(2) The report required by Section 63-3-411 may be used in proving uninsured status of the owner and operator of a vehicle in any action to enforce a claim under the uninsured motorist provisions of an automobile liability policy, but only as provided in Section 13-1-124.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may furnish vehicle-specific accident data to any person or entity, in bulk electronic form, for the purposes of compiling vehicle history reports for use by businesses, consumers and law enforcement. A person or entity shall pay all reasonable costs associated with producing the accident record in bulk electronic form. In addition, the department shall require each person or entity requesting access to the accident records in bulk electronic form to stipulate, through a written agreement with the department, that the person or entity will only use the accident data for the purpose of identifying vehicles that have been involved in accidents and any damage to those vehicles and not for the purpose of identifying or contacting individuals.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2005.