This document provides a set of definitions for a number of terms associated with roads, vehicles, road users and accidents to be used as a model for national conformity. It incorporates elements from the National Road Traffic Code and the ATAC endorsed data items of 1978. The balance of the document addresses the concepts and procedures to be followed to determine an individual accident type from the sketch and narrative in the report form. The procedure uses a decision tree to get a coder to the correct group or subgroup of types. The coder then consults the written description of the cell to check and allocate a code. These guidelines introduce the ability to record multiple events when they occur in an accident, such as a `rear-end' accident followed by a `right turn-through' accident. The decision tree has priority protocols which facilitate the selection of the chosen cell, prior event cell and subsequent event cells for multiple event accidents. The chosen cell is the accident type that `represents' the accident. The recognition of multiple event accidents in both the coding (recording) and the analysis of accidents is important from both a costing and a countermeasure perspective. Future versions of the Guidelines will include some examples of report form questions and the type of answer required for key data elements. The Guidelines are intended for wider use than just the State police accident reports. Many agencies have already expressed a willingness to adopt national Guidelines and it is intended that a Users' Group be formed.
Samenvatting