In brief
- From October 1, s. 316.065 requires an immediate police report only if someone is hurt or killed or apparent damage reaches $2,000, up from $500 (SB 488, Chapter 2026-39). At any damage amount you must still report hitting an unattended vehicle or property, or a crash where no one can receive your information and no officer is present.
- Injury or death still means an immediate report at any damage level: to the local police department inside a city or town, otherwise to the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station. Skipping the notice s. 316.065 requires is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punished as a nonmoving violation.
- Below $2,000 you still must stop, give your name, address and registration number, show your license if asked, help anyone hurt and move a car that blocks traffic. For a damage crash that does not require a law enforcement report, you file your own written report with FLHSMV within 10 days.
What changed
| Topic | Before | After | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apparent damage that triggers the duty to notify police | At least $500. | At least $2,000. | Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488), Section 7 (s. 316.065(1), F.S.), $500 struck and $2,000 inserted; Section 47 makes the act effective October 1, 2026 (checked ) |
| Crash that injures or kills anyone | Immediate notice to police at any damage amount. | Unchanged: immediate notice at any damage amount. | Florida Statutes, s. 316.065 (2026) (checked ) |
| Who you notify, and the penalty for not doing it | Local police department inside a municipality, otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station, by the quickest means; a violation is a noncriminal, nonmoving infraction. | Unchanged. | Florida Statutes, s. 316.065(1) (2026) (checked ) |
| License plate frames and decorative borders | No express rule; s. 320.061 barred material on or around a plate that interferes with any feature or detail on the plate. | A frame or decorative border is not an offense if it leaves the plate number and the registration decal or validation sticker in the upper right corner visible; the ban now protects the number and sticker. | Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488), Section 9 (s. 320.061, F.S.), Section 12 adds the same frame rule to s. 320.262 on plate obscuring devices (checked ) |
| How FLHSMV can deliver a suspension or revocation order | Personal delivery or first class mail; notice complete 20 days after mailing (15 days for chapter 324 and personal injury protection notices). | Personal delivery, first class mail, or e-mail if you have authorized it; notice complete 20 days after the e-mail or the mailing (15 days for chapter 324 and personal injury protection notices). | Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488), Section 19 (s. 322.251, F.S.), failure to receive the order does not affect or stay the suspension (checked ) |
On your test: Florida
Florida's knowledge exam is 50 questions and you need 40 correct (FLHSMV figures we verified on August 27). Our Florida bank has no question on crash reporting today, so nothing in it goes out of date on October 1. Study material written before this change may still give $500; from October 1 the figure in s. 316.065 is $2,000, while the duties that never had a dollar amount (stop, stay, exchange information, help anyone injured, report any crash with an injury) are exactly as they were. If you meet a question on this, check the date of the material and answer with the rule in force on your test day. On the road test itself, any collision is an automatic failure.
The Figure That Moves: $500 to $2,000
A fender bender with another driver in Florida that looks like $1,500 of damage stops being a call-the-police crash on October 1, as long as nobody is hurt and the other driver can take your information. Section 7 of SB 488, now Chapter 2026-39, Laws of Florida, changes one figure in s. 316.065(1): the apparent damage that triggers the duty to notify law enforcement rises from $500 to $2,000.
The sentence around that figure stays as it was. The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person, or damage to any vehicle or other property in an apparent amount of at least $2,000, must immediately, by the quickest means of communication, give notice of the crash. Inside a municipality that notice goes to the local police department; anywhere else it goes to the county sheriff's office or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station. Breaking the rule is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punished as a nonmoving violation under chapter 318.
The governor approved SB 488 on April 21, it was filed with the Secretary of State that same day as Chapter 2026-39, and Section 47 sets October 1, 2026 as its effective date. Florida's online 2026 Statutes already print $2,000 in s. 316.065, so if you look the section up this week you are reading the law as it will stand on October 1, not the law in force today.
The statute says 'apparent amount', which points to what the damage looks like at the scene rather than a repair bill that arrives later, and it gives no further definition. It also does not say how to add up damage spread across several cars. If you cannot tell which side of $2,000 you are on, making the report is the choice that cannot leave you in violation.
SourcesFlorida Senate, SB 488 (2026) bill history, approved by the Governor April 21, 2026; Chapter No. 2026-39 on April 22; effective date 10/1/2026 (checked 2026-09-26); Florida Statutes, s. 316.065 (2026), already shows $2,000, with s. 7, ch. 2026-39 in the history note (checked 2026-09-26)
Crashes Where You Still Report to Police
The dollar figure only matters when nobody is hurt, and even then it is not the only trigger. Here are the conditions, taken from the statutes, under which a driver must still get the crash to law enforcement after October 1.
- Anyone is injured or killed, at any damage amount (s. 316.065(1)).
- Apparent damage to any vehicle or other property is $2,000 or more (s. 316.065(1)).
- None of the people entitled to your information is in a condition to receive it and no police officer is present: report the crash to the nearest office of a police authority and give it your name, address and registration number (s. 316.062(2)).
- You hit an unattended vehicle or other property, at any damage amount: stop, find the owner or securely attach a written notice in a conspicuous place with your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving, and notify the nearest office of a police authority without unnecessary delay. Failing to do so is a second degree misdemeanor (s. 316.063(1)).
SourcesFlorida Statutes, s. 316.062 (2026) (checked 2026-09-26); Florida Statutes, s. 316.063 (2026) (checked 2026-09-26)
How Officers Decide Between the Long and Short Form
Section 316.066 sets out what happens once an officer investigates, and it shows which small crashes the state still expects written up in full. The officer must complete a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form, within 10 days after finishing the investigation, when the crash resulted in death, personal injury or 'any indication of complaints of pain or discomfort' by anyone involved; involved leaving the scene of a damage crash under s. 316.061(1) or DUI under s. 316.193; left a vehicle so disabled a wrecker had to remove it; or involved a commercial motor vehicle.
For any other crash on a public road, the officer completes a short-form report or hands the drivers an exchange-of-information form to fill in. The pain rule is the practical point for you: when an officer investigates, a crash where someone says their neck hurts goes on the long form even if both cars drive away. Section 316.065 does not define injury, so the safe course is to treat a complaint of pain as an injury crash and report it.
If an officer does write a report, every party must give the officer proof of insurance. Failing to provide it is a noncriminal, nonmoving infraction unless the officer determines that injuries or other special circumstances mean it cannot be provided immediately, and the agency may void the citation if you provide proof, valid at the time of the crash, within 24 hours after the crash.
SourcesFlorida Statutes, s. 316.066(1)(a) to (d) (2026) (checked 2026-09-26)
Under $2,000: Stop, Exchange, Move, and File Within 10 Days
A crash below the threshold is not one you can drive away from. Section 316.061(1) requires every driver in a crash that damages only a vehicle or property driven or attended by someone to stop at the scene, or as close to it as possible, and stay until the duties in s. 316.062 are done. Leaving is a second degree misdemeanor, and if the driver who left caused or contributed to the crash, the court can order restitution for the damage that driver's vehicle caused.
Those duties are specific: give your name, address and the registration number of the vehicle you are driving; show your license or permit if asked; and give reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging a ride to a doctor or hospital when treatment is clearly needed or the person asks for it. Failing to do so is a noncriminal, nonmoving infraction.
Section 316.061(2) adds a traffic duty: stop without blocking traffic more than necessary, and if your damaged car is obstructing traffic, make every reasonable effort to move it or have it moved. Under s. 316.061(3), a driver who moves a car off the main traveled way under that section is not considered liable or at fault for the crash solely because the car was moved. Ignoring subsection (2) is a nonmoving citation.
Then the paperwork. Under s. 316.066(1)(e), the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that damaged a vehicle or other property and that does not require a law enforcement report must send FLHSMV a written report within 10 days, on a form the department approves. Missing it is a noncriminal, nonmoving infraction under s. 316.066(3)(a). The statute does not list which crashes require a law enforcement report, so if police were not called and no officer wrote up your damage crash, the safer reading is that the 10 day report is yours to file.
This is general information about the statutes, not legal advice.
SourcesFlorida Statutes, s. 316.061 (2026) (checked 2026-09-26); Florida Statutes, s. 316.066(1)(e) and (3)(a) (2026) (checked 2026-09-26)
Plate Frames and E-mailed Notices Ride Along
SB 488 is a long transportation bill, and several more of its changes reach ordinary drivers on October 1, including new ID requirements for individuals registering a vehicle (Section 8, s. 320.02). Two of them follow. Section 320.061 bars putting material on or around a license plate that interferes with reading it. The old text protected any feature or detail on the plate; the new text protects the plate number and the validation sticker, and a new subsection says a license plate frame or decorative border is not an offense as long as it does not obscure the plate number or the registration decal or validation sticker in the upper right corner. Knowingly violating the section is still a second degree misdemeanor.
The act also lets FLHSMV give notice of a license cancellation, suspension, revocation or disqualification by e-mail if you have authorized it, alongside personal delivery and first class mail. Notice is complete 20 days after the e-mail or the mailing, or 15 days for notices under chapter 324 and the personal injury protection statutes, and not receiving the order does not delay or stop the suspension. Applications for a replacement permit or license, and for an ID card, now list an e-mail address among the details you give.
SourcesLaws of Florida, Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488), Sections 8, 9, 12, 17, 18 and 19 (checked 2026-09-26); Florida Senate, Transportation Committee, 2026 bill summary for SB 488 (checked 2026-09-26)
What to do now
- From October 1, after any crash, check everyone for injuries first. If anyone is hurt or says they are in pain, notify police immediately by the quickest means you have, whatever the damage looks like.
- If nobody is hurt, look at the damage. At an apparent $2,000 or more, notify police immediately by the quickest means you have: the local police inside a city or town, otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station.
- Under $2,000, stop, move the car out of the travel lanes if it is blocking traffic, and exchange names, addresses and registration numbers, showing your license if asked. If you hit an unattended vehicle or other property, stop, find the owner or securely attach a written note with your name, address and registration number where it will be seen, and notify police whatever the damage.
- If police were not called and no officer wrote up the crash, send your written crash report to FLHSMV within 10 days of the crash, on the department's approved form.
- Keep proof of insurance in the car. If an officer writes a report you must show it, and proof that was valid at the time of the crash, given to the police agency within 24 hours after the crash, may get the citation voided.
- Look at your plate frame: from October 1 a frame is not an offense under the plate obscuring laws (s. 320.061 and s. 320.262) as long as the plate number and the sticker in the upper right corner stay fully visible, but s. 316.605(1) still requires everything printed on the plate to be legible from 100 feet.
- If you authorize FLHSMV to e-mail you, read those messages: a suspension notice sent by e-mail is complete 20 days after it is sent (15 days for notices under chapter 324 and the personal injury protection statutes) whether or not you open it.
Frequently asked
Do I have to call the police after a minor car accident in Florida?
From October 1, 2026, s. 316.065 requires it if someone is injured or killed or the apparent damage is $2,000 or more; before that the figure is $500. At any damage amount, you must also notify police if you hit an unattended vehicle or other property (s. 316.063(1)), or if nobody at the scene can take your information and no officer is present (s. 316.062(2)). You must still stop, exchange information and help anyone hurt, and a damage crash that does not require a law enforcement report needs your own written report to FLHSMV within 10 days.
When does Florida's $2,000 crash reporting threshold start?
October 1, 2026, under Section 47 of Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488). The governor approved the bill on April 21, 2026.
What if nobody at the crash can take my information?
If none of the people entitled to your information is in a condition to receive it and no officer is present, s. 316.062(2) requires you to report the crash to the nearest office of a police authority and give it your name, address and registration number.
Are license plate frames legal in Florida?
From October 1, 2026, a frame or decorative border is not an offense under s. 320.061 or s. 320.262 as long as it does not obscure the plate number or the registration decal or validation sticker in the upper right corner. SB 488 did not change s. 316.605(1), which still requires the letters, numerals, printing, writing and registration decal on a plate to be plainly visible and legible from 100 feet.
What is the penalty for not reporting a crash in Florida?
Failing to notify police when s. 316.065 requires it, and failing to file the driver's written report under s. 316.066, are each noncriminal traffic infractions punished as nonmoving violations. Leaving the scene of a crash that damages an attended vehicle or property before giving your information and any needed help is a second degree misdemeanor under s. 316.061(1), and hitting unattended property without leaving your details and notifying police is a second degree misdemeanor under s. 316.063(1).
Sources
- Florida Senate, SB 488 (2026): Transportation, bill page and history (Primary source), The Florida Senate, published , accessed . Approved by the Governor April 21, 2026; Chapter No. 2026-39 recorded April 22; effective date October 1, 2026.
- Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-39 (SB 488) (Primary source), Florida Department of State, published , accessed . Final text, filed with the Secretary of State on April 21, 2026. Section 7 amends s. 316.065(1) from $500 to $2,000; Section 8 changes the ID needed to register a vehicle; Sections 9 and 12 cover plate frames; Sections 17 to 19 cover e-mail addresses and e-mail notices; Section 47 sets October 1, 2026.
- Florida Senate, Transportation Committee, 2026 bill summary for SB 488 (Primary source), The Florida Senate, published , accessed . Confirms the $500 to $2,000 change, the plate frame clarification and wider e-mail use by FLHSMV. Written before approval.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.065, Crashes; reports; penalties (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; the page carries no edition date, only the date it was served (September 25, 2026). Already reflects s. 7, ch. 2026-39.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.066, Written reports of crashes (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; date is the day the page was served. Not amended by SB 488.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.061, Crashes involving damage to vehicle or property (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; date is the day the page was served.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.062, Duty to give information and render aid (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; date is the day the page was served.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.063, Duty upon damaging unattended vehicle or other property (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; date is the day the page was served. Not amended by SB 488.
- Florida Statutes, s. 316.605, Licensing of vehicles (Primary source), The Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine), published , accessed . 2026 Florida Statutes; date is the day the page was served. Not amended by SB 488; subsection (1) requires plate lettering and the decal to be legible from 100 feet.