This article appeared in a downstate Illinois newspaper today. Note that it says that only 39 states (not including Ill.) make police-reported accident reports available to the public/carfax. As the article suggests, there would be accidents that don't appear on a carfax report.
Bill proposes disclosure of crash data for used-car buyers By CHRISTINE DES GARENNES =A9 2005 THE NEWS-GAZETTE Published Online March 23, 2005 Before customers buy a used car from Bob Simpson, he shows them a copy of a Carfax report. It provides insight on the car's past, such as if it was ever in a flood or damaged in a hail storm. Simpson does it as a courtesy for potential buyers. But Carfax reports do not contain details about whether or not the car has been in a police-reported accident in Illinois. Illinois Senate Bill 1839, introduced last month, proposes to revise the Illinois Vehicle Code and allow information companies like Carfax, car dealers like Simpson and consumers to find out about car crashes in the state. "We're all for it," said Simpson, owner of Bob Simpson's Autotown in Champaign. "The more information the buyer has, the better." Currently, 39 other states, including Michigan, New York and California, make police-reported accidents available to the public. Not only is it important for Illinois residents to have access to accident reports, but everyone in the country will benefit, said Larry Gamache,communications director for Fairfax, Va.-based Carfax. Now when someone buys a Carfax report (which can cost $20 to $25), the company searches its 3-billion-record database, which includes police-reported accident information from states where the reports are available, information on car titles from departments of motor vehicles, plus records from private companies like auto body shops. If the bill becomes law and some consumers decide to bypass Carfax's reporting service and access the Illinois Department of Transportation's database directly, "that's absolutely fine," Gamache said. Every year about 700,000 cars are involved in police-reported accidents in Illinois, he said. Some of those cars will eventually be resold in Illinois and other states. "The police-reported accident information helps dealers and consumers, when they're shopping or offering cars, to put the damage in the proper context, to know what kind of accident it was, what kind of damage was reported," Gamache said. Was it the right front quarter panel that was damaged or was there mainframe damage? Was the fender dented or did the engine block fall out of the car? Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and her consumer protection bureau support the bill. "We're supporting it primarily because we think that consumers need to have more information about their vehicle," said Deborah Hagan, chief of the Illinois attorney general's consumer protection bureau. Hagan also cited a recent settlement between Illinois (along with 47 other state attorney general offices) and State Farm Insurance over incorrect car titles. In the case, State Farm resold about 30,000 cars in recent years that it had declared total loss vehicles (ones damaged by accidents, floods or theft). But it did not obtain salvage titles for these cars. State Farm has agreed to track down current owners of these cars and compensate them. Had a database of police-reported accidents been available to dealers and consumers, people may have found out that the cars were salvaged and not titled properly, Hagan said. As for any concerns about privacy, Hagan said any accident reports provided to consumers, dealers and companies will have personal information and addresses removed.