Do not file a CR-2 blue form — Texas abolished it. Senate Bill 312 repealed the driver’s crash report requirement effective September 1, 2017, and TxDOT no longer hosts, accepts, or retains the form. If police didn’t investigate your crash, no state report exists; document the scene yourself and notify your insurer. One legal duty survives: §550.026 still requires immediately reporting a crash with injury, death, or an undrivable vehicle to law enforcement.
The blue form, factually
Key Facts (verified July 2026)
Last updated
- Status
- Discontinued. Repealed by SB 312 (Acts 2017, 85th Leg., ch. 533) effective September 1, 2017; TxDOT holds zero CR-2s since retention expired January 1, 2019.
- What it was
- The Driver's Crash Report: a 10-day self-report required by former §550.061 for non-investigated crashes with injury or $1,000+ apparent damage.
- What replaced it
- Nothing official — self-documentation plus your insurer's claim file. Officer-filed CR-3s are now Texas's only state crash records.
- The duty that survives
- §550.026: immediately notify police (quickest means) when a crash causes injury, death, or leaves a vehicle unable to be safely driven.
- Who to notify
- City police inside a municipality; police or sheriff within 100 feet outside one; otherwise the sheriff or nearest DPS office.
- The trap
- Form mills and outdated law-firm posts still host or sell CR-2 PDFs. Filing one has no legal effect — there is no repository to receive it.
- If police DID investigate
- The officer files a CR-3 with TxDOT within 10 days; buy your copy for $6 ($8 certified) from the CRIS portal.
- Old CR-2s
- Unrecoverable from the state — your own copy or your insurer's claim file from the era is the only surviving record.
What the blue form was — and the gap it used to fill
For decades, Texas kept two crash-reporting lanes. Officers filed the CR-3 for crashes they investigated; drivers filed the CR-2 — the Driver’s Crash Report, universally called the blue form — for crashes officers never saw. Under the former Transportation Code §550.061, a driver had 10 days to submit one whenever a non-investigated crash caused injury or apparent damage of $1,000 or more, so the state’s crash records covered fender-benders and private-lot collisions no officer attended.
That design meant even a minor crash left an official paper trail a driver could later point to. Texas’s choice to abolish it is not universal — Florida, for instance, still lets drivers in minor crashes self-report to the state online or by mail. Texas went the other way, which is why the question behind most blue-form searches — “how do I get something on record when police didn’t come?” — now has a genuinely different answer here, covered below.
How the blue form died: the documented timeline
The repeal wasn’t a policy memo — it’s statute, with dates. Every row below traces to the legislature’s chapter text or TxDOT’s own crash-records pages.
| Date | Event | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Before Sept. 1, 2017 | CR-2 required by former §550.061 | Driver had 10 days to self-report any non-investigated crash with injury or $1,000+ apparent damage |
| Sept. 1, 2017 | SB 312 repeal takes effect | Acts 2017, 85th Leg., ch. 533 repeals the driver's-report duty; TxDOT stops retaining CR-2s |
| Jan. 1, 2019 | Retention period expires | TxDOT purges remaining CR-2s — the agency holds none in its custodial records |
| Today | No form, no repository, no duty to file | Officer-filed CR-3s are the only state crash records; §550.026's immediate-notice duty (injury/death/undrivable vehicle) still applies |
Sources: Tex. Transp. Code ch. 550 (current text noting §550.061’s repeal by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., ch. 533); TxDOT crash-records pages. See Sources below.
The stale-internet trap: who's still telling you to file it
Nine years after the repeal, the blue form leads a healthy afterlife online. Law-firm blog posts from the mid-2010s still rank for “Texas blue form” with step-by-step filing instructions; document mills host fillable CR-2 PDFs, and some charge for the download. None of it works: since September 2017 there has been no state office that accepts the form and, since January 2019, none that even holds the old ones.
Filing a dead form is worse than harmless clutter. Drivers who believe they’ve “reported” a crash by mailing a CR-2 skip the steps that actually protect them now — the immediate-notice duty where it applies, scene documentation, and prompt insurer notice — and discover the gap only when a dispute surfaces months later.
A reliable tell for stale advice: any Texas crash page that mentions filing a CR-2, or mailing a CR-91 to buy a report (also discontinued, January 2025), is working from a pre-repeal snapshot of the system. Our CR-3 reference guide maps which forms in the Texas crash family are alive and which are dead.
What Texas still requires: the §550.026 immediate-notice duty
The repeal killed the paperwork, not the phone call. Transportation Code §550.026 still requires the driver of a vehicle in a crash that injures or kills someone — or damages a vehicle so it “cannot be normally and safely driven” — to give notice immediately, by the quickest means of communication, to the right agency for the location: the city police department inside a municipality; the police or sheriff’s office within 100 feet outside city limits; otherwise the sheriff or the nearest DPS office.
Notice the trigger is practical, not a dollar figure: anyone hurt, or any car that can’t safely drive away. A crash that airbags a vehicle into undrivability must be called in even if everyone feels fine — and the call usually produces the thing the blue form used to provide, because the responding officer’s investigation generates a CR-3.
Below the §550.026 line — a drivable-car, no-injury fender-bender — Texas asks nothing of you in reporting terms. Which is exactly why the self-documentation playbook matters: from here, the record is whatever you build.
The replacement playbook: six steps after a non-investigated crash
This sequence reconstructs everything the blue form used to put on record — parties, vehicles, insurance, scene, and date — using tools you already carry.
Check whether you must call police right now
Transportation Code §550.026 still requires immediate notice — by the quickest means — when anyone is injured or killed or a vehicle can't be normally and safely driven: city police inside a municipality, police or sheriff within 100 feet outside one, otherwise the sheriff or nearest DPS office. When in doubt, call.
Photograph everything before vehicles move
All four corners of every vehicle, the damage close-up and mid-range, the full scene with lane markings and signals, skid marks and debris, and the other car's plate and VIN plate. Sixty seconds of photos replaces the diagram an officer would have drawn.
Exchange the details the blue form used to capture
Name, address, phone, driver's license number, plate, and the insurance carrier and policy number — photographed, not transcribed. Add the other driver's stated version of events in their own words if they'll give it.
Collect witnesses and cameras the same day
Names and phones for anyone who saw it, and a same-day ask (in person or in writing) to nearby businesses or homeowners for camera footage — most systems overwrite within days. A private-lot crash often has better video than a street crash.
Notify your insurer promptly — this is the new "report"
With the state self-report gone, your insurer's claim file is the closest thing to an official record a non-investigated crash gets. Report even if you don't intend to claim; late notice can jeopardize coverage, and the file timestamps your version.
Ask the local department about an incident or exchange form
Some Texas departments offer their own minor-crash information-exchange or incident forms (kept locally, never sent to TxDOT). It's not a CR-3, but it puts your crash in an agency's records with a date attached.
Not sure whether a report exists for your crash?
Insurance claims and disputes without a police report
A missing report does not break a claim. Insurers open and pay minor-crash claims on the driver’s notice, photos, exchanged information, and their own adjuster’s investigation — the police report, where one exists, is supporting evidence rather than a prerequisite. What actually damages no-report claims is delay and thin documentation: a crash reported to the carrier weeks late, with no photos and a half-remembered name.
The stakes rise if injuries surface. Without an officer’s CR-3, there is no neutral scene record, no coded fault opinion, and no diagram — the claim becomes account against account, decided on whichever side kept better evidence. That cuts for you if you ran the playbook above, and against you if you shook hands and drove off.
If a report does exist — an officer came after all, or the crash met the §550.026 threshold and was called in — everything changes: get the CR-3, read its codes, and fix its errors early. Our Texas accident report guide covers the getting, and the decoder guide the reading.
Were you injured?
CR-2 Blue Form: Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to file a CR-2 blue form after a Texas accident?
No — you can't, and you haven't needed to since 2017. Senate Bill 312 repealed the driver's-report requirement (former Transportation Code §550.061) effective September 1, 2017. TxDOT stopped retaining CR-2s that day, purged the old ones when their retention expired on January 1, 2019, and no longer hosts or accepts the form. Any site telling you to file one is out of date.
What was the CR-2 blue form?
The Driver's Crash Report — nicknamed the blue form for its color. Under the former §550.061, a driver had 10 days to file it with the state when a crash caused $1,000+ in apparent damage (or injury) and no law enforcement officer investigated. It was the self-report counterpart to the officer's CR-3, and it existed so the state's crash records covered non-investigated wrecks.
Why was the CR-2 discontinued?
The 85th Texas Legislature eliminated it with Senate Bill 312 (Acts 2017, ch. 533), the TxDOT sunset bill, which repealed the driver's-report duty effective September 1, 2017. From that date, Texas's official crash record consists solely of officer-filed CR-3 reports; responsibility for documenting non-investigated crashes shifted entirely to drivers and their insurers.
A website is offering me a CR-2 form to download or even sell. Should I use it?
No. Form-mill and document sites still host old CR-2 PDFs — some charge for them — but there is no state repository to receive a CR-2, so a completed one has no legal effect and no recipient. If you want a written record of a minor crash, use the self-documentation checklist on this page and your insurer's claim process instead.
If police didn't come to my crash, does any official report exist?
Usually not. Texas officers file the CR-3 for crashes they investigate; with no investigation and no CR-2 system, there is no state crash report for your wreck. Your record becomes what you build: photos, the exchanged driver/insurance/plate details, witness contacts, medical records if you were hurt, and your insurer's claim file.
Am I still legally required to report my Texas crash to anyone?
Sometimes, yes — immediately, not on a form. Transportation Code §550.026 requires the driver to notify law enforcement by the quickest means when a crash injures or kills someone or leaves a vehicle unable to be normally and safely driven: the city police in a municipality, the police or sheriff within 100 feet outside one, otherwise the sheriff or nearest DPS office. That duty survived the blue form's repeal.
Will my insurance company accept a claim without a police report?
Yes. Insurers process minor-crash claims on your notice, photos, the other driver's information, and their own investigation — a police report is helpful evidence, not a filing requirement. Report the crash to your insurer promptly regardless of fault; late notice is a far more common claim problem than a missing report.
The other driver and I agreed not to involve police or insurance. Is that safe?
It's risky. With no report and no claim, nothing stops the other driver from later alleging injuries or a different story — and you'll have no contemporaneous record. If you skip police (where legal) at minimum photograph everything, exchange license/insurance/plate details, and put the agreement in writing. And remember §550.026: if anyone is hurt or a car can't be driven, reporting isn't optional.
What about crashes on private property, like parking lots?
Police often don't investigate private-property fender-benders, and some departments won't write a CR-3 for them — which, post-CR-2, means no state record at all. Document the scene thoroughly yourself, ask the property owner about camera footage the same day, and route the loss through insurance. Some departments offer a local incident or exchange form worth requesting.
Can I still get a copy of an old CR-2 I filed before 2017?
Not from the state. TxDOT's retention for driver's crash reports expired January 1, 2019, and the agency states it no longer has any CR-2s in its custodial records. If you kept your copy, that's the record; otherwise check whether your insurer's claim file from that era preserved one.
What form do I use if an officer DID investigate my crash?
None — the officer files the CR-3 with TxDOT within 10 days (§550.062), and your job is to get a copy and check it. Buy it for $6 ($8 certified) from the CRIS portal about 10 days after the crash; our Texas accident report guide covers the process and our CR-3 reference guide documents every code on the form.
Sources
Every statute citation, date, and status claim on this page was verified against the following sources on July 27, 2026. The legislature’s chapter text and TxDOT’s pages control.
- TxDOT — Crash Reports and Records (CR-2 discontinuation notice)
- Texas Legislature — Transportation Code Chapter 550 (current text; §550.061 repealed by SB 312, Acts 2017, 85th Leg., Ch. 533)
- Texas Transportation Code § 550.026 — Immediate Report of Collision (the duty that still exists)
- Texas Transportation Code § 550.062 — Officer's Collision Report
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550 as of 2017 (former §550.061 driver's report duty)
- TxDOT — Crash Records Forms for Law Enforcement (current form family)
- FLHSMV — Traffic Crash Reports (Florida's still-active driver self-report option)
This guide is informational and is not legal advice. FindAccidentReport.com is sponsored by personal-injury attorneys; see our editorial standards for how we research and fund our guides.