Needed for uniformity in reported motor vehicle crash statistics, understanding crash causation, and identifying possible crash avoidance countermeasures. For analytic purposes it may be desirable to collect and use information about subsequent events, some of which may be harmful. (See Sequence of Events V20)
Overturn / Rollover - a motor vehicle that has overturned at least 90 degrees to its side.
Fire / Explosion - a fire / explosion that was the cause or result of the crash.
Fire/ Explosion as a First Harmful Event would only occur as the first injury or damage producing event of the crash.
Immersion - A non-collision harmful event where an Object or person becomes covered completely by liquid.
Jackknife - an uncontrolled articulation between a tractor and trailer(s) that occurs at any time during the crash sequence.
Jackknife as a First Harmful Event would only occur as the first injury or damage producing event of the crash.
Cargo/Equipment Loss or Shift - As a non-collision, First Harmful Event, the loss or shift would have to cause damage to the motor vehicle or occupants that is transporting the cargo/equipment or the cargo or equipment itself. If cargo/equipment is lost and strikes another vehicle that is a collision event.
Cargo/Equipment Loss or Shift (From the FARS Coding Manual) - refers specifically to the loss or shift of items carried on or in a motor vehicle or its trailing unit, and not to the vehicle or trailing unit, itself. This attribute is only used as the First Harmful Event in accidents where a loss or shift causes damage to the vehicle hauling the cargo, the cargo itself, or injury to the occupants and that event is the first damage- or injury-producing event in the accident. This attribute should never be used to refer to a collision event.
Pedalcycle - Includes bicycle, tricycle, unicycle, pedal car, etc.
Pedalcycle (from ANSI D16): Nonmotorized vehicle propelled by pedaling.
Fell/Jumped from Motor Vehicle (from FARS Coding Manual) is used when a person falls or jumps (not suicide) from the vehicle. For example, a passenger of a motor vehicle in transport leans against the car door, it opens and the passenger falls out and is injured by the fall.
Thrown or Falling Object - A non-collision event where an object is thrown or falls on a motor vehicle in transport at the time of the crash.
Clarification - as a (first or most) harmful event, the thrown or falling object would have to strike a motor vehicle in transport and cause injury or damage. This attribute is also used in Sequence of Events and is not necessarily harmful in every crash.
Examples:
(Cargo/Equipment Loss or Shift) A pick-up truck hauling lumber brakes rapidly to avoid a collision which causes a board to smash the rear window and injure the driver.
(Struck by Falling, Shifting Cargo) A pick-up (V#1) hauling lumber swerves to avoid a collision on an overpass which causes a board to dislodge and fall on a vehicle (V#2) traveling on the roadway below.
(Thrown or Falling Object - From a State Police Instruction Manual) - Includes thrown objects that unintentionally strike vehicles in the roadway. Examples: Falling Tree/Rock, dropping/throwing something off a bridge, being struck by a golf ball.
Other Non-Collision - (1) driving off a cliff where damage is not the result of an overturn or a collision with a fixed object, (2) an unbelted passenger hits his or her head on the roof of a vehicle and is injured, when the vehicle travels over a sharp dip in the road, (3) situations where a passenger is sickened or dies due to carbon monoxide fumes leaking from a motor vehicle in transport. (4) This also includes when an occupant of a vehicle is run over by his/her own vehicle after falling from the vehicle.
Pedestrian - A person who is not an occupant of a motor vehicle in transport. Includes a person who is adjacent to the motor vehicle regardless of his/her actions.
If an occupant falls from a vehicle and is struck by his/her own vehicle this is not collision with a pedestrian. (See Other Non-collision)
Railway Vehicle - Any land vehicle (train, engine) that is (1) designed primarily for moving persons or property from one place to another on rails and (2) not in use on a land way other than a railway.
Motor Vehicle In-Transport - A motor vehicle is any motorized (mechanically or electrically powered) road vehicle not operated on rails. When applied to motor vehicles, in-transport refers to being in motion or on a roadway. Inclusions: motor vehicle in traffic on a highway, driverless motor vehicle in motion, motionless motor vehicle abandoned on a roadway, disabled motor vehicle on a roadway, etc.
Parked Motor Vehicle - A parked motor vehicle is a motor vehicle not in-transport, other than a working motor vehicle, that is not in motion and not located on the roadway.
In roadway lanes used for travel during some periods and for parking during other periods, a parked motor vehicle should be considered to be in-transport during periods when parking is forbidden.
Any stopped motor vehicle where the entirety of the vehicles primary outline as defined by the four sides of the vehicle (e.g., tires, bumpers, fenders) and load, if any, is not within the roadway is parked.
Struck by Falling, Shifting Cargo or Anything Set in Motion by a Motor Vehicle (from FARS Coding Manual) - In accidents involving harmful events caused by objects set-in-motion by a Motor Vehicle in Transport, remember that a vehicle’s load is considered part of the vehicle. For example, if cargo falls from a truck (in transport) and strikes another vehicle in transport, this is treated as a two-vehicle accident. This attribute would apply as the First Harmful Event in that situation.
Work Zone / Maintenance Equipment - Equipment related to the work zone or roadway maintenance.
Clarification:
Crashes can be Work Zone Related (C18) if the first harmful event occurred outside the boundaries of the Work Zone, but the Work Zone or Equipment Related were involved in the sequence of events.
Other Non-Fixed Object - A collision with an object other than a motor vehicle in transit, a pedestrian, another road vehicle in transit, a parked motor vehicle, a railway vehicle, a pedal cycle, an animal, or a fixed object.
Examples - Includes fallen tree, already laying in roadway; objects on the roadway which had fallen from a passing vehicle and had come to rest before being hit. Animals being used as transportation.
