The first information written down after a crash often comes from several places: a driver, passenger, police officer, insurance card, registration card, license, telephone screen, tow operator, or later report. A reliable exchange record keeps those sources separate while making it possible to compare names, vehicles, policies, and contact details.

An exchange record should preserve who supplied each fact and when; it should not assume that the driver, vehicle owner, policyholder, and insured person are the same.

Address safety before record collection

Call for emergency help when needed and follow law-enforcement instructions at the scene. Do not enter traffic, approach an unsafe vehicle, or delay medical assistance to collect a photograph or identifier. A field can remain unknown and be pursued through the investigating agency, insurer, vehicle record, or other lawful source later.

Record the information required at an injury crash

North Carolina General Statute 20-166 includes stop, remain-at-scene, information, and assistance duties for crashes within its scope. Subsection (b) states that a driver required to stop under the cited injury or death provisions must provide the driver’s name, address, driver’s license number, and the license plate number of the driver’s vehicle to the specified people, unless they are incapable of receiving the information. The statute also addresses reasonable assistance to an injured person.

  • Driver’s name copied as displayed and any stated preferred name kept separately
  • Address, driver’s license number, issuing state, and license plate number
  • Vehicle year, make, model, color, vehicle identification number, unit number, and visible damage when safely available
  • Name of the person who supplied each item and whether it came from a license, registration, insurance card, verbal statement, photograph, or officer-provided exchange sheet

Add insurance information without changing the source

  • Insurer name, policy number, named insured, listed vehicle, effective dates, agency or agent, and claim telephone number exactly as shown
  • Card image or document page retained with the transcription so a digit, suffix, date, or company name can be checked
  • Expired card, vehicle mismatch, driver-name mismatch, missing policyholder, or conflicting policy number recorded as an unresolved difference
  • No conclusion that coverage exists or does not exist based only on the card; the insurer and policy record address that question

Keep the driver, owner, vehicle, and policy roles separate

One person may be driving a vehicle owned by a spouse, parent, employer, rental company, leasing company, or another person. The named insured may differ from the driver or titled owner. Build one row for each role instead of copying a single name into every field.

  • Driver: person operating the vehicle at the relevant time
  • Registered or titled owner: person or entity identified by the applicable record
  • Named insured and listed driver: roles stated in the policy or insurer record
  • Passenger, witness, employer, rental company, tow company, repair facility, and investigating agency: separate contacts with separate sources
  • Relationship among people or entities recorded as stated, then verified through the appropriate document when material

Match the exchange record to the official crash report

G.S. 20-166.1 addresses reports and law-enforcement investigation of reportable crashes. The officer’s later report is a separate record created through that process. Do not silently replace an original exchange entry with a value from the report. Preserve both, identify the difference, and note whether a supplement or correction was later issued.

The NCDMV DMV-349 Instructional Manual, revised February 2023, explains the report’s unit, driver, occupant, vehicle, insurance, sequence, diagram, narrative, and coded fields. Use the manual to identify what a field means; do not treat a code, narrative, contributing-circumstance entry, or diagram as a complete legal finding.

  • Unit number connected to the correct driver, vehicle, owner, insurer, and occupants across every report page
  • VIN, plate, vehicle description, driver name, address, and policy information compared character by character
  • Original report, supplemental report, exchange sheet, citation, insurer record, and personal note kept as different records
  • Difference table containing field, source A, source B, date, possible explanation, and next record or custodian to check

Maintain a versioned exchange table

  • Field name, exact value, source, source date, capture date, and person who entered it
  • Later correction added as a new version rather than overwriting the earlier entry
  • Photograph or document path linked to each transcription when available
  • Unknown, unreadable, disputed, or not applicable used instead of an invented value

The related guide to reading a North Carolina car accident police report explains how to interpret the DMV-349 after it becomes available and how to separate report interpretation from the different courtroom question of admissibility.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides general record-organization information for people who may later consult a Charlotte car accident lawyer. Reporting duties, coverage, fault, evidence use, and legal responsibility depend on the applicable law and complete facts.

Sources