Police use a coding system to help them quickly describe a crash. It’s supplied as a matrix of ‘road user movements’ and based on 86 different crash scenarios. A crash could involve more than one of the codes. The matrixes are after the descriptions of the accidents.
Pedestrians (on foot or in toy or pram)
Near side – pedestrian walks from the left
Emerging – pedestrian walks from behind an object
Far side – pedestrian walks from the right
Playing, working, lying, standing on carriageway
Walking with traffic – walking in the same direction as the vehicle that hit them
Facing traffic – walking in the opposite direction as the vehicle that hit them
On footpath or median strip
Driveway – crossing a driveway when a vehicle pulls in or out
Other pedestrian – any other scenarios
Vehicles from adjacent direction (intersections only)
Cross traffic – vehicles colliding at 90 degrees (or thereabouts)
Right far – a driver is turning right into an intersection and another vehicle is coming from the left
Left far – a driver is turning left into an intersection and the other vehicle is coming from the left
Right near – a driver is turning into an intersection and another vehicle is coming from the right
Two right turning – a driver is turning right into an intersection and another vehicle coming from the right is also turning right
Right/left far – a driver is turning right into an intersection and another vehicle from from the right is turning left
Left near – a driver is turning left into an intersection and another vehicle is coming from the left
Left/right far – a driver is turning right into an intersection and another vehicle is coming from the left, turning left
Two left turning – a driver is turning left into an intersection and another vehicle is coming from the left, turning left
Other adjacent – any other combinations not described, e.g. three vehicles involved from different directions
Vehicles from opposing directions
Head on (not overtaking) – two vehicles crash into one another from opposing directions
Right through – a driver is turning right and crashes into a vehicle from the opposing direction
Left through – a driver is turning left and crashes into a vehicle from the opposing direction
Right/left – a driver is turning right and crashes into a vehicle from the opposing direction turning left
Right/right – a driver is turning right and crashes into a vehicle from the opposing direction turning right
Left/left – a driver is turning left and crashes into a vehicle from the opposing direction turning left
Other opposing direction
Vehicles from the same direction
Vehicles in the same lane – nose-to-tail accident
Left rear – a vehicle is turning left and another driver runs into the back of it
Right rear – as per left rear, but turning right
Lane side swipe – a driver changes lanes and hits the side of another vehicle behind the line of the front
Lane change right (not overtaking) – a driver changes lanes and hits the side of another vehicle ahead of the line of the front (i.e. cutting back in before the overtaking move is completed)
Lane change left (not overtaking) – as per lane change right
Right turn side swipe – a driver turns right, for example, from the left lane of a two-lane one-way street and hits a vehicle in the right lane that’s going straight ahead, or is also turning right
Left turn side swipe – as per right turn side swipe
Other same direction
Manoeuvring
U-turn – another vehicle from either direction hits the turning vehicle
U-turn into fixed object or parked vehicle – the turning vehicle hits another stationary vehicle or object
Leaving parking – a driver pulling away from the kerb hits another vehicle already on the road
Entering parking – a driver reversing into a parallel park hits another vehicle already on the road
Parking vehicles – a driver parallel parking hits one of the vehicles already parked in front or behind it
Reversing – a driver hits another vehicle on the road while reversing back up it
Reversing into a fixed object or parked vehicle
Emerging from driveway
From footpath – a driver driving off the footpath onto the road hits another vehicle
Other manoeuvring – e.g. reversing around a corner
Overtaking
Head-on (including side swipe)
Out of control – a driver loses control while overtaking
Pulling out – a driver pulls out, but another vehicle is already overtaking
Overtake turning – a driver tries to overtake another vehicle that’s turning right
Cutting in – a driver cuts back in too soon after overtaking
Pulling out rear end – a driver pulls out to overtake but collides with the back of another vehicle in the overtaking lane
Other overtaking
On-path
Parked – a vehicle crashes into a parked vehicle
Double-parked – a driver crashes into a double-parked vehicle
Accident or broken down – a driver crashes into a vehicle that’s already crashed or is broken down
Vehicle door – a driver runs into another vehicle’s open door
Permanent obstruction on carriageway – a driver runs into a feature that is usually there, for example a chicane or traffic island
Temporary road works – a driver runs into road works that aren’t usually there
Struck object on carriageway
Animal (not ridden) – from cats to cassowaries
Other on path
Off-path, on straight
Off carriageway to left – a driver loses control and exits the road to the left
Left off carriageway into object or parked vehicle – a driver steers off the road and into something stationary on the side of the road
Off carriageway to right – as per left
Right off carriageway into object or parked vehicle – as per left.
Out of control on carriageway – a driver loses control on a straight road, e.g. through hitting oil
Off-path, on curve or turning
Off carriageway left on right bend – a driver loses control turning right on a bend and exits the road on the outside of the bend
Off carriageway left on right bend into object or parked vehicle – as above but hits something
Off carriageway right on right bend – as per left, but exits the road on the inside of the bend
Off carriageway right on right bend into object or parked vehicle – as per left, but hits something
Off carriageway right on left bend – a driver loses control turning left on a bend and exits the road on the outside of the bend
Off carriageway right on left bend into object or parked vehicle – as above but hits something
Off carriageway left on left bend – as per right but driver exits the bend on the inside
Off carriageway on left bend into object or parked vehicle – as per right, but hits something
Out of control on carriageway – driver loses control but stays on the road
Other curve
Miscellaneous
Fell in or from a vehicle
Load or missile struck vehicle
Struck train or aeroplane
Parked vehicle ran away into object or another parked vehicle – for example, handbrake failure
Parked vehicle ran away into vehicle – the other vehicle is moving
Struck while boarding or alighting vehicle
Other, e.g. struck while attending to a vehicle, e.g. changing tyre
Unknown – circumstances are clear.
The diagrams below give a visual representation of what happened in the accident.
Police will augment the reports with the types of vehicles (e.g. motorbike vs car), the condition of the road surface (e.g. pot holed), weather conditions (e.g. light rain), vehicle conditions (e.g. car had defective suspension), the state of the driver (e.g. on drugs, or fell asleep), and whether there were any other contributing factors such as signage missing.
Darren is an expert on driving and transport, and is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists
