RI General Assembly agrees to make state crash data public; more APRA reforms on hold 

A sweeping overhaul of Rhode Island’s public records law remains on hold, but lawmakers agreed to one noteworthy change that makes state traffic accident data public.

On early Thursday afternoon, bills sponsored by Democratic Rep. Rebecca Kislak of Providence and Sen. Meghan Kallman of Pawtucket received the final, perfunctory approval — in which each chamber agrees to the other’s identical bill —  sending the legislation to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk.

The measure closes a loophole in Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act, which does not expressly include state crash data in what’s considered public record. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation, which collects information on timing and location of accidents throughout the state, has used the lack of clarity in the state records law to deny advocates’ requests for information.

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia states and the District of Columbia provide a crash data dashboard for public use, according to a September 2025 report from Rutgers University.

“Transparency about where crashes happen is in the best interest of the public and public safety,” Kislak said in a statement following the chamber’s unanimous approval on June 3. “There’s no benefit or reason to withhold these records; indeed the public is much better served when people have the information they need to identify dangers and advocate for change.” 

The Providence Streets Coalition relied on similar data voluntarily provided by the Providence Police Department to put together an interactive map identifying where crashes with cars, pedestrians, bicycles and scooters have happened — drawing attention to dangerous intersections, including for city officials who used the information in a study of safety problems on North Main Street after two fatal accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. 

“When government hides information like crash data from the public, it’s not just advocates and journalists who suffer,” Dylan Giles, Providence Streets Coalition operations manager, said during legislative hearings on the bill. “It’s every Rhode Islander who walks, bikes, drives or relies on public transportation or emergency services. It’s every family seeking answers after a tragedy. It’s every voter trying to hold public institutions accountable.” 

The Senate approved Kallman’s companion bill by a 33-5 vote on Wednesday.

Making traffic accident data public was one of the 49 changes to the state public records law included in a more sweeping modernization bill that also tackled newer forms of information like police body-worn camera footage and text messages between public officials. Like previous years, the omnibus public records reform bills stalled in both chambers’ committees, buried in opposition by the government agencies that would be subject to more encompassing records requests.

There were also objections to calls for reducing the cost for locating and sharing public records from 15 cents per printed copy to 5 cents with two hours of free document retrieval rather than one hour. 

The reform bill mandates records be fulfilled for free if they are proven to benefit the public interest. Existing law offers the option that fees “may” be waived for public interest reasons. 

McKee’s office did not respond to requests for comment on whether he intends to sign the state traffic accident data bill. 

“I have no issues with it,” Robert Rocchio, interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, said during an unrelated press event Wednesday.

If signed into law, Rhode Island joins 42 other states, including Massachusetts, that allow public access to state traffic accident data. 

Reporter Christopher Shea contributed to this story.