Direction of collision forces:​ concordance of police accident reports and crash investigation findings

Simpson, D.; Cushing, B.; Birschbach, J.; Siegel, J.; Dischinger, P.; Burgess, A.; Jackson, J.; Livingston, D.; Bents, F.

Affiliations

Abstract

To determine the reliability of police accident report (PAR) data for crashes involving serious injury, we compared the direction of initial force derived from the PAR with that reported by an experienced crash investigation team (CIT) that conducted on-scene inspection of seventy-three vehicles with a discernible primary impact. The CIT data were taken as the reference information. Multiple investigators interpreted the direction of initial force from the PAR by using text descriptions of the collision as well as diagrams depicting the point of initial impact, areas of the vehicle damaged, and collision type (interrater variation 13.9 degrees). Data were recorded in increments of 5 degrees from 0-360 degrees. The mean difference in determined direction of force between the PAR and the CIT was 18.0 degrees. Although the PAR is of limited value for determination of direction of initial force direction in individual collisions, the variability from reference in aggregate data is within acceptable limits. The relative concordance of the two data sources allows for the study of injury patterns and biomechanics by the linkage of readily available trauma registries and police accident report data.

Cited Works (2)

Year

Entry

1990

Agran PF, Castillo DN, Winn DG. Limitations of data compiled from police reports on pediatric pedestrian and bicycle motor vehicle events. Accid Anal Prev. August 1990;22(4):361-370.

1990

Siegel JH, Mason-Gonzalez S, Cushing BM, Dischinger PC, Cornwell EC III, Smialek JE, Heatfield BM, Soderstrom CA, Read KM, Robinson RM, Parkinson K, Dailey JT, Hill WJ, Jacksona JW, Livingston DJ, Bents FD, Shankar BS. A prospective study of injury patterns, outcomes and costs of high speed frontal versus lateral motor vehicle crashes. In: 34th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 1-3, 1990; Scottsdale, AZ.289-313.

Cited By (3)

Year	Entry
1992	Dischinger P, Cushing B, Kerns T. Lower extremity fractures in motor vehicle collisions: influence of direction of impact and seatbelt use. In: 36th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 1992; Portland, OR.319-325.
1993	Dischinger PC, Cushing BM, Kerns TJ. Injury patterns associated with direction of impact: drivers admitted to trauma centers. J Trauma. September 1993;35(3):454-459.
1997	Katyal D, McLellan BA, Brenneman FD, Boulanger BR, Sharkey PW, Waddell JP. Lateral impact motor vehicle collisions: significant cause of blunt traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta. J Trauma. May 1997;42(5):769-772.