NRS704.190. Report and investigation of accident; regulations; forms; public inspection of report; inadmissibility of report in action for damages.

      1.  Every public utility operating in this State shall, whenever an accident occurs in the conduct of its operation causing death, give prompt notice thereof to the Commission, in such manner and within such time as the Commission may prescribe. If, in its judgment, the public interest requires it, the Commission may cause an investigation to be made forthwith of any accident, at such place and in such manner as the Commission deems best.

      2.  Every such public utility shall report to the Commission, at the time, in the manner and on such forms as the Commission by its printed rules and regulations prescribes, all accidents happening in this State and occurring in, on or about the premises, plant, instrumentality or facility used by any such utility in the conduct of its business.

      3.  The Commission shall adopt all reasonable rules and regulations necessary for the administration and enforcement of this section. The rules and regulations must require that all accidents required to be reported pursuant to this section be reported to the Commission at least once every calendar month by such officer or officers of the utility as the Commission directs.

      4.  The Commission shall adopt and utilize all accident report forms, which must be so designed as to provide a concise and accurate report of the accident. The report must show the true cause of the accident. The accident report forms adopted for the reporting of railroad accidents must, as near as practicable, be the same in design as the railroad accident report forms provided and used by the Surface Transportation Board.

      5.  If any accident is reported to the Commission by the utility as being caused by or through the negligence of an employee and thereafter the employee is absolved from such negligence by the utility and found not to be responsible for the accident, that fact must be reported by the utility to the Commission.

      6.  Each accident report required to be made by a public utility pursuant to this section must be filed in the office of the Commission and there preserved. Each accident report required to be made by a public utility pursuant to this chapter and each report made by the Commission pursuant to its investigation of any accident:

      (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 of NRS 703.190, must be open to public inspection; and

      (b) Notwithstanding any specific statute to the contrary, must not, in whole or in part, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any suit or action for damages arising out of any matter mentioned in:

            (1) The accident report required to be made by the public utility; or

             (2) The report made by the Commission pursuant to its investigation.

      [34:109:1919; A 1937, 404; 1931 NCL § 6134]—(NRS A 1967, 1384; 1997, 1630; 2001, 1764)