The CR-3 is the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report — the official form filed with TxDOT for every crash with injury, death, or $1,000+ in apparent damage. Its numbered fields map to 46 code lists defined on TxDOT’s public CR-3CS code sheet, across four sections: identification and location; vehicle, driver, and persons; commercial motor vehicle; and factors and conditions. Copies cost $6 ($8 certified) from the CRIS portal.
The CR-3, at a glance
Key Facts (verified July 2026)
Last updated
- Official name
- Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report, Form CR-3 — current version effective for crashes on or after April 1, 2023.
- When it's required
- Injury, death, or apparent $1,000+ damage to one person's property; e-filed with TxDOT within 10 days (Transp. Code §550.062).
- Its legend
- Form CR-3CS, the public two-page code sheet defining all 46 numbered code lists — free PDF from TxDOT.
- Its rulebook
- The CR-100 "Instructions to Police" manual (v29.0, revised June 2025) tells officers how to complete every field.
- Four sections
- Identification & location (lists 1–4); vehicle, driver & persons (5–29); commercial motor vehicle (30–36); factors & conditions (37–46).
- The fault layer
- List 38's ~75 contributing-factor codes per driver, plus list 39 vehicle defects — the officer's coded opinion of cause.
- Modern additions
- The 2023 form codes autonomous vehicles (lists 8–9, automation levels 0–5) and red-light-camera signals (list 46, code 18).
- Copies
- $6 regular / $8 certified from TxDOT's CRIS portal; kept 10 years + current year; unredacted only for §550.065 proper-interest parties.
What the CR-3 is — and why one form runs the whole state
Texas standardized crash reporting around a single instrument: whether your wreck was worked by a Houston PD officer, a rural sheriff’s deputy, or a DPS trooper, the document they produce is the same CR-3, completed to the same CR-100 instruction manual, validated by the same electronic submission rules, and filed into the same TxDOT repository. One form, roughly a quarter-million injury crashes a year, ten years of retention.
The form’s design choice that matters to you: it records almost everything as codes, not prose. A person’s injury is a letter; a driver’s role in causing the crash is a number between 1 and 79; the damage to your car is a clock position, an area code, and a severity digit. That compression is what lets TxDOT run statewide statistics — and what makes a raw CR-3 nearly unreadable without its legend.
The legend is public. TxDOT publishes the CR-3CS code sheet as a free PDF, and everything in this guide’s catalog below comes from that primary document — not from secondhand summaries.
The form family: CR-3, CR-3CS, CR-100 — and the dead CR-2
“CR” forms are a family, and knowing which is which saves real confusion:
- CR-3 — the Peace Officer’s Crash Report itself. The document you buy when you buy “your accident report.”
- CR-3CS — the code sheet: two pages defining every code valid on the CR-3. Your decoder ring, free from TxDOT.
- CR-100 — “Instructions to Police,” the officer’s field-by-field completion manual, currently version 29.0 (revised June 2025). Public, and occasionally decisive: when a field on your report looks wrong, the CR-100 defines what the officer was supposed to enter.
- CR-2 (defunct) — the old driver’s self-report “blue form.” TxDOT stopped retaining it in September 2017 under SB 312 and no longer hosts or accepts it; a non-investigated Texas crash now produces no state report at all. Full repeal timeline and the replacement playbook in our CR-2 blue form guide.
- CR-91 (defunct) — the old mail-order purchase form, discontinued January 1, 2025. Report purchases are online-only through CRIS.
If a website tells you to “file a CR-2” or “mail a CR-91,” it’s working from a dead workflow — both retirements are documented on TxDOT’s own crash-records pages.
All 46 code lists, cataloged
The CR-3’s numbered fields reference 46 numbered lists on the code sheet. Here is the complete map, grouped by the form’s own four sections, with the details most worth knowing — compiled directly from the official CR-3CS PDF (form date 4/1/2023).
| Lists | Form section | What they encode | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Identification & Location | Roadway system (IH/US/SH/FM…), roadway part, compass direction, street suffix | Pins the crash to an exact place on the state network |
| 5–7 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Unit description, vehicle color, body style | Unit 7 = "Non-Contact" — a vehicle that caused a crash without touching anyone |
| 8–9 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Autonomous unit; automation level engaged (0–5) | Added for the 2023 form — self-driving crashes get their own codes |
| 10–13 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | License/ID type, class, CDL endorsements, restrictions | Restriction codes run A through P40 — corrective lenses to ignition interlock |
| 14–15 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Person type; seat position | Seat position 11 = "Outside Vehicle" |
| 16 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Injury severity: A, B, C, K, N | Texas's KABCO variant — the letter insurers read first |
| 17–23 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Ethnicity, sex, ejection, restraint, airbag, helmet, solicitation | Restraint and airbag codes feed seat-belt defenses — verify them |
| 24–27 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Alcohol and drug specimen types, test results, drug category | Documents impairment testing: breath/blood/urine or refusal |
| 28 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Financial responsibility (proof-of-insurance type) | Where the other driver's insurance status lives |
| 29 | Vehicle, Driver & Persons | Vehicle damage rating, format XX-ABC-Y | Clock-face direction of force + area + severity 0–7; VB-7 = burned in the collision |
| 30–36 | Commercial Motor Vehicle | Operation type, carrier ID, CMV vehicle/bus type, hazmat class, cargo body, trailer | Only completed for truck/bus crashes — key in 18-wheeler cases |
| 37 | Factors & Conditions | Sequence of events (per unit, in order) | Ran off road, jackknife, hit pedestrian, hit fixed object… |
| 38–39 | Factors & Conditions | ~75 contributing factors; vehicle defects | The fault layer: 20 Driver Inattention, 44 Followed Too Closely, 61 Speeding, 75 Texting |
| 40–46 | Factors & Conditions | Weather, light, entering roads, roadway type, alignment, surface, traffic control | Code 18 in list 46: signal with a red-light camera — evidence may exist |
Source: TxDOT Form CR-3CS (4/1/2023), read in full. Alongside the coded fields, the CR-3 carries free-text blocks — the narrative and diagram — that interpret what the codes compress.
Five corners of the form most people never notice
- The autonomous-vehicle layer (lists 8–9). Since the 2023 revision, Texas codes whether each unit was autonomous and which SAE-style automation level was engaged, 0 through 5 — and person-level lists carry a code 95 “Autonomous” so a driverless unit can be recorded with no human in the seat. If you were hit by a robotaxi, the CR-3 has a box for that.
- The non-contact unit (list 5, code 7). A vehicle that caused the crash without touching anyone — the car that ran you off the road and drove away — gets its own unit entry. If the officer recorded one, your “single-car” crash legally wasn’t.
- The impairment trail (lists 24–27). Specimen type (breath, blood, urine — or refused), test result, and drug category are all coded. A “4 = Refused” on the other driver’s line is a fact worth knowing early.
- The red-light-camera flag (list 46, code 18). The traffic control at the scene can be coded as “Signal Light With Red Light Running Camera” — a quiet pointer that independent video of your crash may exist and be worth requesting fast.
- The solicitation flag (list 23). Each person records whether they consent to solicitation — the checkbox that governs some of the marketing mail that follows a crash. Worth answering deliberately at the scene.
Form versions: why crash date decides your report's layout
The CR-3 is versioned, and the version follows the crash date, not the purchase date. The current form and code sheet apply to crashes on or after April 1, 2023; TxDOT keeps the 2018, 2017, 2015, and 2010 versions published because reports inside the 10-year retention window still use the layout that was current when the crash happened.
Practical consequence: decode a report against the code sheet of its era. Field numbers and code lists shift between versions — a 2016 report’s codes read differently under the 2023 sheet, and mismatched decoding is a quiet source of wrong conclusions about old crashes (relevant whenever an older wreck resurfaces in litigation or an insurance dispute).
Where the form travels: scene to CRIS in 10 days
The CR-3’s lifecycle is short and statutory. The officer completes the form per the CR-100 manual and submits it electronically through TxDOT’s CRASH application — a pipeline that enforces hundreds of automated validation rules before a report is accepted. Transportation Code §550.062 gives the officer 10 days from the crash to file; once accepted, the report becomes purchasable in the CRIS system, joins TxDOT’s statewide crash statistics, and starts its 10-years-plus-current retention clock.
Corrections travel the same road in reverse: only the investigating agency can amend or supplement a filed CR-3 — TxDOT and the CRIS storefront distribute the document but never edit it.
Getting your CR-3 — and actually understanding it
This page documents the form; two companion guides cover using it. To get your CR-3 — the $6/$8 CRIS purchase, the 10-day search timing, and whether you qualify for the unredacted copy — use our Texas accident report guide. To read it — the KABCO injury letters and their documented error rate, the five places fault hides, and a 15-minute review method — use the crash-report decoder guide, which walks the CR-3 as its worked example.
Skip the $6 — and get it decoded
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CR-3 Crash Reports: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CR-3 crash report?
The CR-3 is the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report — the official form an investigating officer files with TxDOT for any crash involving injury, death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more to one person's property. It records people, vehicles, commercial-carrier details, conditions, events, the officer's opinions, a narrative, and a diagram, mostly as codes keyed to a published code sheet.
What do the numbered fields on a CR-3 mean?
Each numbered field maps to one of 46 numbered code lists on TxDOT's companion code sheet (Form CR-3CS): list 16 is injury severity, list 29 the vehicle damage rating, list 38 the ~75 contributing factors, list 40 weather, and so on. The lists are grouped into four form sections — identification and location, vehicle/driver/persons, commercial motor vehicle, and factors and conditions.
Where do I get a copy of my CR-3?
From TxDOT's CRIS Crash Report Online Purchase System — $6 for a regular copy, $8 certified, emailed as a PDF. All Texas agencies' reports are sold there; there is no statewide mail option anymore. Our Texas accident report guide covers the process, the 10-day filing rule, and who qualifies for the unredacted version.
What is the difference between the CR-3 and the CR-2?
The CR-3 is the officer's report and is alive and mandatory. The CR-2 "blue form" was the driver's self-report for non-investigated crashes — and it's defunct: TxDOT stopped retaining CR-2s in September 2017 under SB 312 and no longer hosts or accepts the form. If no officer investigated your Texas crash, no state crash report exists.
What is the CR-3CS code sheet, and can I download it?
Yes — it's public. Form CR-3CS is the two-page legend defining every code an officer may enter on the CR-3, published by TxDOT as a free PDF (current version dated 4/1/2023). Reading your report without it is guesswork; with it, every numbered field resolves to plain English.
Who writes the CR-3, and what rules do they follow?
The investigating peace officer, following TxDOT's CR-100 "Instructions to Police" manual — a public document currently at version 29.0 (revised June 2025). Reports are e-filed through TxDOT's CRASH application, whose submission pipeline enforces hundreds of validation rules, and must reach TxDOT within 10 days of the crash under Transportation Code §550.062.
Why does my CR-3 look different from examples online?
Form versions. The current CR-3 layout applies to crashes on or after April 1, 2023; TxDOT maintains earlier form versions (2018, 2017, 2015, 2010) for older crashes within its 10-year retention window. Field numbering and code lists shift between versions, so always decode a report against the code sheet matching its crash date.
What are the autonomous-vehicle fields on the CR-3?
The 2023 form added dedicated automation fields: list 8 records whether a unit was an autonomous vehicle, and list 9 the automation level engaged, from 0 (no automation) through 5 (full automation), plus "level unknown." Several person-level lists also carry a code 95 ("Autonomous") so a driverless unit can be recorded without a human driver.
What does the CR-3 damage rating like 12-FD-3 mean?
List 29 encodes vehicle damage as XX-ABC-Y: direction of force on a 1–12 clock face, a 2–3 letter damage-area code, and severity 0–7. Special codes cover edge cases — VB-7 for a vehicle that burned because of the collision, TP-0 for top damage, VX-0 for undercarriage damage, MC-1 for motorcycles.
Does the CR-3 say whose fault the crash was?
Not in a labeled box. Fault is carried by list 38's contributing-factor codes assigned per driver (with list 39 covering vehicle defects), reinforced by the narrative, diagram, citations, and the damage direction. How to weigh those signals — and the documented error rate of the injury codes — is the subject of our crash-report decoder guide.
Can a CR-3 be corrected or amended?
Yes, through the agency whose officer wrote it — not through TxDOT or the CRIS store. Factual errors (plates, insurance, spellings, omitted passengers) are routine amendments; disagreements with the officer's factor codes or narrative usually become a supplemental statement attached to the file rather than a rewrite.
How long are CR-3 reports kept?
TxDOT's retention schedule is 10 years plus the current year. Within that window any authorized party can buy the report from CRIS; past it, the individual report is purged and only aggregate crash statistics survive. Old form versions stay published so reports from earlier years can still be decoded.
Sources
Every field number, code, version date, and fee on this page was verified against the following official sources on July 27, 2026 — including the CR-3CS code sheet PDF, read in full. TxDOT’s current documents control.
- TxDOT — Crash Records Forms for Law Enforcement (CR-3, CR-3CS, CR-100, versions)
- TxDOT — Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report Code Sheet (Form CR-3CS, 4/1/2023)
- TxDOT — Crash Reports and Records (purchase, eligibility, retention)
- Texas Transportation Code § 550.062 — Officer's Collision Report
- Texas Transportation Code § 550.065 — Release of Collision Information
- TxDOT — Crash Report Online Purchase System (CRIS)
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.