2.4 CRASHES

2.4.1 harmful event: A harmful event is an occurrence of injury or damage.

Inclusions:

• Injury or damage resulting when a driver dies or loses consciousness because of a disease condition such as a stroke, heart attack, diabetic coma, or epileptic seizure. In such a case, the immediate effect of the disease, such as the driver’s death or loss of consciousness, is not itself considered to be a harmful event.

2.4.2 deliberate intent: Deliberate intent is the classification given to the cause of an event which occurs when a person acts deliberately to cause the event or deliberately refrains from prudent acts which would prevent occurrence of the event.

Inclusions:

• Suicide

• Self-inflicted injury

• Homicide

• Injury or damage purposely inflicted

Examples:

1.) When a driver intentionally kills or injures himself with a motor vehicle, by driving it against a fixed object or into a body of water for example, the driver’s death or injury is a result of deliberate intent.

2.) When a driver intentionally kills or injures another person with a motor vehicle, by running into a pedestrian for example, the death or injury is a result of deliberate intent.

3.) When a driver intentionally causes damage with a motor vehicle, by ramming another vehicle for example, the damage is a result of deliberate intent.

Exclusions:

o Injury or damage beyond that which was intended

2.4.3 legal intervention: Legal intervention is a category of deliberate intent in which the person who acts or refrains from acting is a law-enforcing agent or other official.

Examples:

1.) If a lawbreaker crashes either intentionally or unintentionally into a road block set up by police to stop him, the crash is considered a result of legal intervention. If a driver other than the lawbreaker crashes into the road block, the crash is not considered to be a result of legal intervention.

2.) If a police car is intentionally driven into another vehicle, the crash is considered to result from legal intervention. If a lawbreaker being pursued by law enforcement loses control of his vehicle and crashes, the crash is not considered to result from legal intervention unless law enforcement intended that the lawbreaker crash.

3.) If, during the pursuit, the police vehicle strikes a road vehicle other than the subject of the pursuit, a non-motorist, or property, then that harmful event is not legal intervention.

2.4.3.1 police pursuit: A police pursuit is an event that is initiated when a law enforcement officer, operating an authorized emergency vehicle, gives notice to stop to a motorist the officer is attempting to contact, and that motorist fails to comply with the signal by either maintaining his/her speed, increasing speed, or taking other evasive action to elude the officer’s continued attempts to stop the motorist. This notice needs to be either through the use of visual or audible emergency signals, including alternating flashing headlights, or a combination of emergency devices. A pursuit is terminated when the motorist stops or when the attempt to apprehend is discontinued.

2.4.4 unstabilized situation: An unstabilized situation is a set of events not under human control. It originates when control is lost and terminates when control is regained or, in the absence of persons who are able to regain control, when all persons and property are at rest.

Examples:

1.) If intentional acts cause injury or damage beyond that reasonably to be expected from the acts, the unexpected injury or damage is not the result of deliberate intent. There is, therefore, an unstabilized situation unless the contrary can be clearly established.

2.) In a motor vehicle crash, live electric wires fall on a motor vehicle, but there is no injury from the electric current while the occupants remain in the
motor vehicle. The unstabilized situation ends with the occupants in a temporary position of safety. Any subsequent injury resulting from attempts by the occupants to leave the motor vehicle, or attempts by others to rescue the occupants, is a part of a new unstabilized situation.

3.) In a motor vehicle crash, the occupants of the motor vehicle are carried or thrown into water, but there is no injury from the submersion and the occupants reach a temporary position of safety. At this point, the unstabilized situation has ended. Any subsequent injury from attempts by the occupants to reach shore, or from attempts by others to rescue the occupants, is part of a new unstabilized situation.

4.) An occupant of a vehicle that is a sinking vehicle, or that enters into swift moving water, is not in a ‘position of safety’. In these occurrences, the unstabilized situation has not ended and any damage or injury is still part of the same unstabilized situation.

5.) In a motor vehicle crash, objects are loosened but remain in place until all persons are removed from danger from objects that might fall or roll. No property damage would result if the objects fell or rolled. This ends the unstabilized situation. Any subsequent injury attributable to the fall or roll of the loosened objects is not part of the original unstabilized situation.

6.) In a motor vehicle crash, the motor vehicle catches on fire and is burning, but all occupants have been rescued and the fire is under control. No additional property damage is expected. This is the end of the unstabilized situation. If the heat of the fire ignites nearby combustible materials, any subsequent injury or damage from the induced ignition is not a part of the original unstabilized situation.

7.) In a motor vehicle crash, an involved motor vehicle carrying explosive materials is stopped and occupants and bystanders are removed from the scene. At this point, the unstabilized situation is ended. If the explosive materials detonate during later attempts to remove or salvage them, any injury or damage resulting from the explosion is not a part of the original unstabilized situation.

8.) A pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle in-transport which leaves the scene. The pedestrian comes to rest in the roadway. Any subsequent injury resulting from contact with another motor vehicle in-transport is part of a new unstabilized situation.

9.) A pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle and thrown into the path of another motor vehicle and the pedestrian is struck a second time before coming to rest. There is only one unstabilized situation.

10.) A motor vehicle in-transport brakes, attempting to avoid a pedestrian crossing the roadway. The motor vehicle in-transport strikes the pedestrian. At the same time (i.e., when the first vehicle started to brake and before it came to rest), a second motor vehicle in-transport swerves to avoid a collision with the braking vehicle, striking a utility pole. The two motor vehicles in-transport do not strike each other, but these events are all within one unstabilized situation.

Exclusions:

o Sets of events which are the result of deliberate intent or legal intervention

NOTE: If thorough investigation fails to establish whether a crash scene is the result of one or more unstabilized situations, then it should be treated as a single unstabilized situation.

2.4.5 cataclysm: A cataclysm is an avalanche, landslide/mudslide, hurricane, cyclone, downburst, flood, torrential rain, cloudburst, lightning, tornado, tidal wave, earthquake, or volcanic eruption (See 2.4.9 transport crash).

The following are typical definitions of cataclysms:

• Avalanche: A mass of snow, rock, and/or ice falling down a mountain or incline. (Source: National Weather Service)

• Landslide/Mudslide: Fast moving soil, rocks, and water that flow down hills, mountain slopes, and canyons. (Source: National Weather Service)

• Hurricane: A tropical cyclone with surface winds in excess of 32 m/s (64 knots or 74 mph) in the Western Hemisphere. There are various regional names for these storms. (Source: National Weather Service)

• Cyclone: A large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. (Source: National Weather Service) To qualify as a cataclysm, the winds must be 74 mph or greater.

• Downburst: A strong downdraft current of air from a cumulonimbus cloud, often associated with in-tense thunderstorms. Downdrafts may produce damaging winds at the surface. To qualify as a cataclysm, the winds must be 74 mph or greater.

• Flood: The inundation of a normally dry area caused by an increased water level in an established watercourse, such as a river, stream, or drainage ditch. A flash flood can be caused by a Cloudburst or Torrential Rainfall that occurs in a short period of time, generally less than 6 hours. Also, at times, a dam failure can cause a flash flood, depending on the type of dam and time period during which the break occurs.

• Lightning: A visible electrical discharge produced by a thunderstorm. The discharge may occur within or between clouds, between a cloud and air, between a cloud and the ground, or between the ground and a cloud. (Source: National Weather Service)

• Tornado: A violently rotating column of air, usually pendant to a cumulonimbus, with circulation reaching the ground. It nearly always starts as a funnel cloud and may be accompanied by a loud roaring noise. On a local scale, it is the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena.

• Earthquake: Shock waves detectable and some-times causing violent tremors at the earth’s sur-face, generally originating by movements along deep-seated fault planes.

• Volcanic Eruption: Formed by the partial melting of existing rock and dissolved gases; the liberation of this gas and magma under considerable pressure is considered an eruption. Products of the volcanic eruption include lava flows, pyroclastic materials (volcanic glass), volcanic dust/ash, and gases.

Inclusions:

• Any wind above the minimum speed associated with a category one hurricane (75 mph or more)
• Damage produced by very large hail

Exclusions:

o Natural events not listed above

Examples:

1.) Rain, snow, fog, small hail, ice, smog, etc.

2.) Winds below the minimum speed associated with a category one hurricane (74 mph or less)

3.) A few small falling rocks not associated with a landslide or avalanche

4.) An old tree falling only due to a rotting root system

5.) Shallow standing water

2.4.6 crash: A crash is an unstabilized situation which includes at least one harmful event. (See 2.2.4)

2.4.7 contact vehicle: A contact vehicle is any road vehicle which comes in contact with one or more road vehicles, non-motorists, or property in a collision crash, or has a noncollision crash. A contact vehicle is directly involved in a crash. (See 2.6.2 Collision crash and 2.6.3 Noncollision crash).

2.4.8 noncontact vehicle: A noncontact vehicle is any vehicle other than a contact vehicle. A noncontact vehicle is indirectly involved in a crash.

Examples:

1.) A vehicle changes lanes into the path of another vehicle (without making contact) causing a crash. The vehicle changing lanes is a noncontact vehicle.

2.) A school bus is stopped on the roadway picking up or discharging pupils and one of the pupils is struck without the school bus being struck. The school bus is a noncontact vehicle.

3.) A pedestrian darts into the roadway causing a motor vehicle to stop suddenly without striking the pedestrian. A following vehicle swerves to avoid the stopped vehicle and collides with a fixed object. The first vehicle is a noncontact vehicle.

2.4.9 transport crash: A transport crash is a crash (1) that involves a transport vehicle in-transport,
(2) in which the first harmful event is not produced by the discharge of a firearm or explosive device, and (3) that does not directly result from a cataclysm where the timing is such that the cataclysm is occurring at the time of the crash. (See 2.4.5 Cataclysm)

Inclusions:

• A crash occurring as a result of natural events which are not a cataclysm.

• A crash related to a cataclysm, but occurring after the cataclysm has ended

Examples:

1.) Motor vehicle driven into water after a hurricane or flood because a bridge was washed out by the hurricane or flood (after a cataclysm has ended)

2.) Motor vehicle driven into fallen materials covering a roadway after a landslide or avalanche (after a cataclysm has ended)

3.) Motor vehicle driven into a fallen tree in a roadway after a tornado or hurricane (after a cataclysm has ended)

4.) After an earthquake, a motor vehicle in-transport drives into a hazard created by buckled or collapsed features of the roadway left behind after the earthquake is over (after a cataclysm has ended)

5.) A tree branch from a rotted tree or a tree with a deteriorated root structure falls across several motor vehicles in the roadway from winds below 74 mph or more (less than a category one hurricane)

6.) 25 mph wind propels a trash can from a city sidewalk into a passing motor vehicle

7.) A motor vehicle is struck by loosened, deteriorated, or previously damaged parts that fall from an overpass as it passes under (there is no cataclysm)

8.) The scaffolding at a building under construction collapses and falls on a motor vehicle traveling on the roadway adjacent to the building (there is no cataclysm)

9.) Power lines or overhead traffic signal falling on a motor vehicle in-transport (there is no cataclysm)

Exclusions:

o Crashes occurring as a direct result of and during a cataclysm

Examples:

1.) Motor vehicle is swept away while a bridge it was crossing is washed out during a hurricane or flood (crash directly results from a cataclysm)

2.) Motor vehicle is struck and damaged by falling materials (rock and earth or snow) of significant size or amount to be a landslide or avalanche (crash directly results from a cataclysm)

3.) Motor vehicle on roadway is struck by a wind-blown tree during a tornado or winds of 74 mph or more (crash directly results from a cataclysm)

4.) A motor vehicle in-transport suffers damage because of structures collapsing, buckling, or shifting during an earthquake (crash directly results from a cataclysm)

5.) A motor vehicle in-transport suffers damage from golf-ball-sized hail during a tornado

6.) Motor vehicle sustains damage from very large raindrops during torrential rain

2.4.10 aircraft accident: An aircraft accident is a transport accident that involves an aircraft in-transport.

2.4.11 watercraft accident: A watercraft accident is a transport accident if it (1) involves a watercraft in-transport and (2) is not an aircraft accident.

2.4.12 motor vehicle crash: A motor vehicle crash is a transport crash that (1) involves a motor vehicle in-transport, (2) is not an aircraft accident or watercraft accident, and (3) does not include any harmful event involving a railway train in-transport prior to involvement of a motor vehicle in-transport.

Exclusions:

o Any school bus crash in which no school bus is directly involved and which involves no other motor vehicle (See 2.8.2)

Examples:

1.) If a child approaching a school bus, stopped with its red lights flashing, is struck by a pedalcycle, but neither the pedalcycle nor the child come in contact with the school bus, then there is (1) a school bus crash that is not a motor vehicle crash and (2) an other-road-vehicle crash (collision involving pedalcycle).

2.4.13 railway accident: A railway accident is a transport accident that (1) involves a railway train in-transport and (2) is not an aircraft accident, watercraft accident, or motor vehicle crash.

2.4.14 other-road-vehicle crash: An other-road-vehicle crash is a transport crash that (1) involves an other-road-vehicle in-transport and (2) is not an aircraft accident, watercraft accident, motor vehicle crash, or railway accident.

2.4.15 streetcar crash: A streetcar crash is an other-road-vehicle crash that involves a streetcar in-transport.

2.4.16 pedalcycle crash: A pedalcycle crash is an other-road-vehicle crash that (1) involves a pedalcycle in-transport and (2) is not a streetcar crash.

2.4.17 road vehicle crash: A road vehicle crash is a transport crash that is either a motor vehicle crash or an other-road-vehicle crash.

2.4.18 traffic crash: A traffic crash is a road vehicle crash in which (1) the unstabilized situation originates on a trafficway or (2) a harmful event occurs on a trafficway.

Exclusions:

o A road vehicle in-transport has both its unstabilized situation and harmful events on a private way

2.4.19 nontraffic crash: A nontraffic crash is a road vehicle crash which is not a traffic crash.

Inclusions:

• A road vehicle in-transport has both its unstabilized situation and harmful events on a private way

2.4.20 road vehicle traffic crash: A road vehicle traffic crash is a traffic crash.

2.4.21 road vehicle nontraffic crash: A road vehicle nontraffic crash is a nontraffic crash.
2.4.22 motor vehicle traffic crash: A motor vehicle traffic crash is a motor vehicle crash which is also a traffic crash.

2.4.23 motor vehicle nontraffic crash: A motor vehicle nontraffic crash is a motor vehicle crash which is a nontraffic crash.

2.4.24 other-road-vehicle traffic crash: An other-road-vehicle traffic crash is an other-road-vehicle crash which is a traffic crash.

2.4.25 other-road-vehicle nontraffic crash: An other-road-vehicle nontraffic crash is an other-road-vehicle crash which is a nontraffic crash.

2.4.26 injury crash: An injury crash is any road vehicle crash that results in one or more injuries.

2.4.27 fatal crash: A fatal crash is any injury crash that results in one or more fatal injuries.

2.4.28 nonfatal injury crash: A nonfatal injury crash is any injury crash other than a fatal crash.

2.4.29 no apparent injury crash: A no apparent injury crash is any road vehicle crash other than an injury crash. A no apparent injury crash is also called a property damage only crash (See 2.4.30).

2.4.30 property damage only crash: A property damage only crash is a no apparent injury crash.