Vehicle Damage Guide for Traffic Crash Investigators

1 I STATE OF TEXAS Vehicle Damage Guide FOR Traffic Crash Investigators 2015 EDITION TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Traffic Operations Division CDA CR-80 01/01/2015 Version II This Page Intentionally Left Blank III Table of Contents DOCUMENT INFORMATION, VERSION control .. 1 2 DETERMINING THE Vehicle Damage RATING .. 3 Vehicle Damage Rating .. 3 USING THE Vehicle Damage SCALE .. 4 Vehicle Damage Scale .. 4 Damage Description 4 Damage Severity Code .. 4 Exceptions .. 4 Est ablishing Damage Description and Severity Rating.

2 5 DIRECTION OF FORCE CODE .. 7 Direction of Force Code .. 7 Determining Direction of Force .. 7 Cl ockpoint Diagram for Motor 7 Impact Points .. 8 Vehicle Damage INDEX .. 14 Vehicle Damage SCALE .. 17 If you have any questions or need further clarification, please contact: .. 29 1 DOCUMENT INFORMATION, VERSION control Date Version Author(s) Section(s) Update(s) 1/1/2015 R. Holt, D. Plummer All Add Table of Contents, add Version control page, revise Contact Information, formatting, corrected title page. 2 INTRODUCTION The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has developed this Vehicl e Damage Guide for Traffic Crash Investigators to assi st Texas law enforce ment agenci es in correctly assessing Damage sustained by motor vehicl es in Traffic cr ashes and accurately entering the Vehicl e Damage Rating on the Texas Peace Officer s Crash Report (CR-3).

3 This Guide is based on information contained in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard, 2 0 0 7 Manual on Classification of Motor Vehicl e Traffic Accidents, 7th edition and the 2003 Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline, 2nd edition, as primary sources for definitions, cl assifica tions of cr ashes and related diagrams. The MMUCC Guideline is the collaborative publication of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administr ation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Governors Highway Safety Association.

4 This Guide consists of diagrams, descriptions and photographs of damaged automobiles representing a variety of common impacts that Investigators are like ly to encounter. Diagrams and symbols are provided to assist with an accurate determination of vehicl e Damage . Prepared and Distributed by: Texas Department of Transportation Traffic Operations Division - CDA PO Box 149349 Austin, TX 78714-9349 3 DETERMINING THE Vehicle Damage RATING The Vehicl e Damage Rating for motor vehicl es involved in cr ashes is shown by se quentially entering three (3) separate values on the Texas Peace Officer s Crash Report (CR-3).

5 A diagram showing the co mponents of the Vehicl e Damage Rating is shown below. 27 Vehicle Damage Rating 1 - - X X A B C Y Vehicle Damage Rating is reported so that some correlation between direction and amount of impact force with the severity of injury and restraining device used can be established. The direction of force is not required; however, agencies choosing to co mplete this portion of the vehicl e Damage rating field must use the prescribed format. Direction of Force (XX) Describes the direction from which the vehicl e Damage was received in comparison to the numbers on a clock.

6 Should be shown with a 1 or 2 digit numeric character (1 12) before the Damage description and right justified. Damage Description (ABC) Describes the area of the Vehicle that received Damage . Should be reported with a 2 or 3 alpha character code and right justified. Damage Severi ty (Y) Describes the severity of the Damage received. Should be reported with a single digit numeric character between 0 and 7 after the Damage description. 4 USING THE Vehicle Damage SCALE Vehicle Damage Scale is used to determine the Damage Description Code and the Damage Severity Code that the investigator will enter as part of the Vehicl e Damage Rating on the CR-3.

7 The Direction of Force Code, which precedes the Damage Description Code and the Damage Severity Code in the Vehicl e Damage Rating, is disc ussed in Section of this Guide . Damage Description Code, a two or three-lette r Damage Description Code (FC, LBQ, etc. ) displayed in the upper right, upper left , and lower left co rner of each page of the Vehicl e Damage Scale, indicates the part of the vehicl e that received the Damage and the type of impact that caused the Damage . For example, the Damage Description Code FC indicates that the vehicl e received front-end Damage from a concentrated impact, co rresponding to the type of impact resulting from a collision with a tree, utilit y pole, or other narrow object.

8 In addition, a diagram of a ca r and an arrow, or series of arrows, on the left si de of the page, shows the direction of the principal impact force. Damage Severity Code is entered as a single-digit numeric charact er between 0 and 7, where 0 represents the least Damage and 7 the greatest. If a Vehicle sustained no discernible Damage , a 0 rating should be reported. The 0 rating is generally applicable to collisions of motor vehicl es with pedestrians or bicy cl es or to non-colli si on cr ashes. Note: In cases where vehicl es are damaged in more than one area, the investigator should enter the description of the two (2) most severely damaged areas, beginning with the area showing the most severe Damage (Example: FD-6, BD-3 ).

9 Exceptions shall be utilized when vehicl es acq uire Damage from occurrences other than the types of impacts described in the Damage descr iption table. VB-1 - vehicl e burned, NOT due to collisi on (engine catches fire, ci garette burns upholst ery, etc.). 5 VB-7 - vehicl e catches fire due to the collisi on (vehicl e collides with object or another vehicl e and fire starts) . TP-0 - top Damage only. VX-0 - underca rri age Damage only. MC-1 - motorcy cl e, moped, scooter, etc. N/A - farm tractor, train, pedalcyclist, wheelchair, motorized conveyance, streetcar, animal carrying person, etc.

10 Establi shing Damage Description and Severity Rating In order to establish a Damage descr iption and Damage severity rating, the Crash investigator must first select the proper page from the Vehicl e Damage Index in of this Guide to match the Damage to the vehicl e. The type of colli si on will determine the selection. For example, if the investigator is reporting on an angle collisi on that occurred at an intersection, and the front end of a vehicl e struck another vehicl e on the left si de, the investigator can refer to the Vehicl e Damage Index to find the diagram that most accurately describes the impact on the first vehicl e.