49 U.S.C. § 20903
Section 20903 · Reports not evidence in civil actions for damages
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case City of Atlanta v. Watson (1996)
Most recently applied in Ross v. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. (October 2014)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
No part of an accident or incident report filed by a railroad carrier under section 20901 of this title or made by the Secretary of Transportation under section 20902 of this title may be used in a civil action for damages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words “civil action” are substituted for “suit or action” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code.