The

Traffic..Accident
Investigation Manual
At.-Scene Investigation and Technical Follow..Up

]. STANNARD BAKER
LYNN B. FRICKE

Northwestern University Traffic Institute

Evanston, Illinois 60104
 15-26

Exhibit 8.

THE DRIVING PROCESS

( SEQUENTIAL OPERATIONAL FACTORS
An acc i dent (harmful event> may result. from I)
fai lure to perceive a situation, 2) failure In de-
ciding what to do about It, or 3l failure to do
properly what was decided. These three kinds of
failure may occur in I) trip preparation, 2) in
0
TRIP PREPARATION
driving strategy, or 3> in evasive tactics.

I. Consider possible route difficulty,

vehicle capability, driver ski I Is, SIMULTANEOUS CONDITION FACTORS
knowledge, and effort.
These determine effectiveness of operations.
2. Plan trip route and speeds to meet
exp~cted schedule.

3. Undertake to make trip as planned.

MODIFIERS BASIC ATTRIBUTES OF
Determines trip risk and benefit

DRIVING STRATEGY TEMPORARY PERMANENT RO AD

I. Perceive potentia I ly hazardous lo-
cations and circumstances.
2. Decide on appropriate speed, posi-
tion on the road, and observations.

3. Adjust speed, position, and head-

ing appropriately.
Determines po int of no escape
from si tuation hazard
TEMPORARY PERMANENT VEHICLE
SITUATION HAZARD

©
EVASIVE TACTICS
I. Perceive actual hazards such as
curves, t ur ns, obstacles In road-
way and other vehicles on co l lision
course .
2. Decide how to try to avoid hazard. TEMPORARY PERMANENT DRIVER
3. Perform tactics decld~d on.
Determines s uccess if point of no
escape has not been passed

RESULT

NO HA~ DONE
NO ACCIDENT

'-·
 ·-· -· .. -- -
r
\ t ) ' ~

Exhibit 9.
PARTS OF DRIVER PERSONALITY
Deflcfencies in any port con be mode up, to o certain degree, by overplus in one or more other ports
--~----~--------------------------------......
What the driver has to start with What he acquires by study and practice
©NATURAL ABILITIES © LEARNED CAPABILITIES
Good driving requires no exceptional natural abllities. Simple tests can show most deficiencies.
Fairly simple physical and psychological tests can show !Imi- h•provement fairly easy by education and
tations and need tor mechanical aids or better general health train ing. Experience alone is not a good
and vita I lty. indicator of proficiency.
v;
~
.-----------------------------~--------~
Why the driver behaves the way he does
©MOTIVES AND ATTITUDES
How the driver thinks and fee ls about many things, often
lead him to drive unsafely even though he can and knows how
to drive wel I. These personal lty factors are difficult to
evaluate even with psychological training.

"'°""
SENSES "'°""
MIND AND
NERVES
"'°'"
BONES AND
MUSCLES
0-
KNOWLEDGE OR
INFORMATION
"'°'"
SKILL AND
HABITS
"'°""
ATTITUDES MOTIVES"'°""
Otten determine how the driv- The importance attached to
By which the driv- By which the driv- By which the driver Gained by reading, Gained by practice. er reacts to the driving sit- safe driving Is what makes a
er perceives the er I earns , de- directs and controls instruction, and ob- Once fixed, habits uation, how he thinks and driver try to drive as well
driving s·i tuatlon. c I des, and connects his vehicle and moves servation. Tested are not very eas i Iy feels abOut the situation. as he can and knows how to.
his senses with his his body. by quizzing. changed. Tests show Attitudes may be involved In Motives may be associated
muscles. need for training. such behavior as: with many different feelings

Feeling - usually Intel I igence - Stature to flt vehicle Of highways - sur- In ~king the ve- Tak ing un~cessary chances Fear of Injury and damage
taken for high level not and its controls faces, alig~nt, h ic Ie behave
granted necessary or direction signs, Playing games with moving Pride in perfection of per-
Seel ng - many es peel a 11 y Strength to operate route markings In recognizing road cars formance
def i c ien.c i es helpful controls conditions
can hand leap Of vehic les - care Driving while fatigued Social responsibility
driver slightly and beha.,;ior In s haring the road
Li~bs to connect with
Heari ng - rela- Judgment of a nd operate regular Of sharing the road - al lowing for Racing Desire to set an example
tively unimpor- space and motion and special controls - road r'u Ies, con- bad driving by
tant tro I devlces,sight others Recklessness Fear of criticism
Smelllng - rarefy distances, behav- In maintaining at-
useful in dr iv- Coordination of Body ~vement - ior of other street tent Ion,· res i sing
ing bodlly movements not much needed users distraction Showing oft Fear of arrest and punishment

~ ~
REACTION Using streets and highways with .v ehic les or <1foot involves continuous
reactions to road and traffic situations. Reactions usually involve all three parts
of persona lity to s~ degree. Correctness of reacti on depends on the kind of think-
ing and availabil ity of habitual responses suitab le for var ious s ituat ions.
~
REACTION TIME or quickness of response depends mainly on how much thinking has to
be done. Reaction speed is less important than response correctness; snap reactions
<1re often dangerous, especailly when there is ver y little time to correct an error.
Well formed habits are the best assurance that reactions will be correct and quick.

REFLEX REACTIONS SIMPLE REACTION COMPLEX REACT! ON DISCRIMINATIVE REACTION

Instinctive and unthinking. Usually re- A planned response to one expected Se lection of practiced response suitable Thinking about what to do when a good
sponse to emergency. About a tenth of a situation. About a quarter of a second to one of sever a l si tuat ions. A half habitual response Is not ready. May take
second but usua lly a wrong reaction. May (plus another quarter second If foot has second to several seconds depending on several seconds or minutes . May Involve
be disastrous. t o be moved to brake). complexity and readiness. moral decisions.

~
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AFFECT PERSONALITY
Personality can be modified r<1ther quickly and seriously, but often temporarily by may affect any of the three parts of personality, end therefore driver reactions to
numberless circumstances, some of which are brought on by the person himself. These traffic situations. People are affected differently by these special circumstances.

0 6 0 0
POISONS: DRUGS: ILLNESSES: DROWSINESS:
Alcohol Narcotics CerbOn monoxide Insuli n Sarbiturates Antihistamines Heart ailments Epilepsy Diabetes Exhaustion Tension Monotony Fatigue

cannot be seen).
4. Possible injury. "Any injury
reported or claimed which is
not a fatal injury, incapaci-
tating injury, or nonincapac-
itating evident injury."
This category includes mom-
entary unconsciousness,
claim of injuries not evident,
limping, complaint of pain,
nausea, and hysteria.
The records of injury classifica-
tions are provided for on most police
traffic-accident report forms. This
record requires only marking a box
to indicate the appropriate injury
category or writing a code number in
the appropriate space for the same
purpose.
Descriptions of injuries beyond
simple classification are rarely ex-
pected of police officers because the
police investigator has neither the
facilities or the opportunity to exam-
ine each person sufficiently to make
a satisfactory report on injuries.
Technical Injury Descriptions
Examination of injured persons
for more complete descriptions of
injuries may be required under two
circumstances:
1. Special studies made of in-
juries received in crashes
2. Civil litigation which re-
quires a detailed appraisal
of injuries for damage as-
sessment purposes.
Jn either case, examination is by
a physician or, if the person is dead,
by a pathologist or medical exam-
iner.
Report3 of these special technical
examinations are usually made in
proper medical phraseology and may
either be in the form of a simple
memo or on a form used by the doc-
tor or hospital for this purpose. In
special studies of crash injuries, a
form, usually including a diagram on
which injuries are reported, is used
for the injury report. 7
Police or other investigators may
have the task of obtaining technical
injury descriptions from hospital
records or questioning doctors to
complete the investigation file.
11. THE DRIVING PROCESS
Driving Strategy and Tactics
To begin with, you must realize
that the driving process - the control
of the vehicle - operates at two
levels: first, driving strategy, and
second, driving tactics.
Driving strategy involves the
general perception of a vehicle-road-
traffic situation, an appraisal of pos-
sible hazards or risks, and adjust-
ments of speed and position on the
road to minimize the risk. Stopping
at a blind corner before entering the
crossroad is an example of strategy:
the obstruction to vision is perceived,
the possibility that it may obscure a
vehicle on the cross street ·is recog-
nized, and speed is reduced to the
point at which, if there was actually
a vehicle on the cross street, it could
easily be avoided regardless of what
the driver of that vehicle might do.
Strategy is a driver's reaction to a
general situation, the precautions he
takes.
Driving tactics are the operations
undertaken by a driver to evade or
escape from an iictual hazard, for ex-
ample, another vehicle. on a collision
course. The hazard must be per-
ceived and evaluated, a decision
must be made as to what is to be
done, and then the decision must be
executed. Tactics are the driver's
reaction to particular hazards, his
evasive action.
If 1trategy has been faulty, a
driver may discover he is confronted
by a hazard from which no tactics
can effect an escape. He is going too
fast to stop in time, is on the wrong
side of the road and cannot get back
where he belongs soon enough, and.
so on.
Reactions
Reaction time is the time required
from perception to start of vehicle
control for tactical or strategic oper-
ations. The length of this time de-
pends on the complexity of the deci-
sions to be made and the urgency of
the situation. Strategy requires few
quick decisions, but some may be
15-25
complicated; tactics are more likely
to require quick decisions which are
usually quite simple. Reaction time
includes the time to think and to
start to co11trol the vehicle. Time to
start to control may include time to
move hands or feet to controls, for
example, the foot from accelerator
to brake pedal in stopping. Quick-
ness of reaction is not so important
as appropriateness. There is no ad-
vantage in braking suddenly, if it
would have been better to swerve.
Reaction time can be measured
experimentally. Four different kinds
of reaction time are recognized,
based on the amount of thinking re-
quired for each. The less thinking,
the shorter the reaction time.
Refkx reactions are instinctive
or mostly so and require the shortest
time because they involve no thought.
An eye blink is usually a reflex ac-
tion. Most driving does not involve
reflex reaction. In fact, when the
stimulus is so sudde~ and so strong
that reflex action results, the act is
usually wrong and often disastrous.
It is a hysterical or convulsive re-
sponse that may push the accelerator
instead of the brake. Tire blowouts
sometimes cause reflex action. Time
required may be as little as a tenth
of a second.
Simple reactions are the most
common kind in driving because the
stimulus is expected and the driver
has already decided what he will do
when the event occurs. Simple reac-
tions are often a matter of habit, for
example, putting on brakes when a
signal turns yellow. This reaction
takes normally about a quarter of a
second with another quarter second
needed to move the foot to the brake.
Complex reactions call for a
choice among several possible re-
sponses. The decision has not been
made in advance. For example, a
pedestrian unexpectedly steps into
the roadway ahead and the driver
has to decide whether to turn right or
left or slow down. Complex reactions
are slower than simple reactions.
How· long a complex reaction takes
depends on how complex the stim-

ulus is, how many choices there are
for reaction, and how often the driv-
( er has been in a similar situation.
Normaliy, from half a second to two
seconds may be required. Much driv-
ing is done by habitual complex re-
actions.
Discriminative reaction occurs
when a driver is required to make a
choice between two or more actions
which are not habitual or practiced,
for example, deciding whether to
turn to the right or the left of a vehi-
cle which is straddling two lanes.
This is the slowest of all the reac-
tions, and may require as much as a
minute if the situation is complicated
and the urgency slight.
Reaction time is affected by
many things such as
•Age (Very young and espe-
cially very old people have
.slow reaction time; the latter
often twice normal or aver-
age.)
• Strength of stimulus (Some-
what quicker reaction results
c from stronger stimuli, but the
reaction is also somewhat
more likely to be the wrong
one.)
• Physical condition (Fatigue,_
sickness, and alcohol or other
pcisons usually increase reac-
tion time or decrease the ac-
curacy of reaction. )
•Habits (Well formed habit
patterns through training and
experience reduce reaction
time, especially complex re-
action time.)
Perception ·is the general process
of detecting some object or situation
and comprehending its significance.
Perception must occur before reac-
tion can commence. Perception is af-
fected by sensory conditions such as
deficient vision, by ignorance, such
as confusion about the meaning of a
road marking or sign, and by skill
in recognition of shapes and move-
ment.
Perception delay is the interval
between the instant when a hazard
might have been seen, heard, or felt
and when it is actually understood.
Unlike reaction time, perception de-
lay cannot be measured experimen-
tally well enough to give typical
values for various circumstances.
There are two reasons why percep-
tion delay measurements are unsatis-
factory: 1 ) they are affected by such
a variety of personal factors that the
number of variables involved is large;
and 2) more important, perception
delay occurs because the driver's at-
tention is often not directed toward
the hazard and the time that elapses
before he recognizes the hazard is
quite indefinite. If an experienced
driver is looking at the place where
a hazard may appear, he perceives
it almost instantly, and there is vir-
tually no delay in perception; but if
he is looking in some other direction,
he may not perceive the hazard until
his attention happens to be directed
to it. This may require several sec-
onds. Indeed, he may never perceive
the hazard until he is upon it. When
a driver falls asleep and runs off the
roadway, there is no perception. The
· perception delay is then indefinite.
The whole driving procedure
consists of a continual series of stra-
tegic operations by which a driver
repeatedly adjusts speed and posi-
tion on the road to lessen his dsk at
possibly hazardous locations, and
another series of tactical operations
to avoid actual hazards such as road
curves and other vehicles on a col-
lision course. These operations are
summarized·in Exhibit 8, a diagram
showing how strategic and tactical
operations are related. Studying this
diagram will help you understand
better the complexities of what seems
to be the "simple" business of
driving.
Natural Abilities
Now we are ready to return to the
permanent driver capabilities which
were mentioned earlier. It is clear
that how well a person performs the
operations of driving depends on his
natural abilities, more or less modi-
fied permanently by knowledge and
skill (habits) and possibly tempo-
15-27
rarily modified, from time to time,
by one or more conditions such as
alcohol or illness. These aspects of
personality and their relationships are
summarized in 'Exhibit 8.
Natural abilities with which a
person is endowed are the founda-
tion on which his driving capabilities
rest.
Deficient natural abilities can
contribute to accidents in several
ways, although they are not actually
common contributing factors. We
are speaking of relatively permanent
conditions, not diseases. Some phy~
sical or mental defects are deficien-
cies with which the person may have
been born or which may gradually
develop later. These deficiencies are
in three areas:
1. Sensory conditions, especial-
ly seeing and hearing, that
keep the driver from becom-
ing aware of road or traffic
conditions
2. Conditions of mind and
nerves that prevent the driv-
er from understanding haz-
ardous conditions and mak-
ing proper decisions
concerning them
3. Bone and musde conditions
that prevent the driver from
operating the controls of the
vehicle properly.
Vision. There are a dozen or
more eye conditions that can handi-
cap a driver. Some of the better
known ones are mentioned here in
approximate order of importance.
J1isual acuity or sharpness of see-
ing at a distance is important mainly
in reading signs with specific -mes-
sages such as "No Left Turn." This
deficiency is usually correctable with
glasses.
You may suspect that deficient
visual acuity contributed to an acci-
dent when
• Accident involves movement
in violation of a sign, espe-
cially a sign with small letter-
ing or which is far away.
•. Driver says he did not see or
understand such a sign.
 17-48
cases, measurements of surface fric-
tion are desirable.
'/rajfie-control devices need to be
described in detail only if they are rele-
vant to a serious accident. These de-
vices include signs, signals, pavement
markings, speed limits, prohibited
turns, one-way streets, and others.
Sometimes information is required
about route markings, bridge clear-
ances, signs, and even roadside-estab-
lishment signs. Exactly what descrip-
tive data are required depends on the
circumstances of the accident. For ex-
ample, there are accidents in which the
timing of traffic signals is important
and must be observed and recorded.
Road accessories such as curbs,
guardrails, bridges, culverts, median
dividers, island$, tunnels, and toJI gates
may be mentioned in accident reports
if they are involved in any way, but
detailed descriptions, measurements,
and photographs are only required for
extended investigations. Such descrip-
tions are part of technical preparation
of accident data for legal or special
study purposes.
Condition Classification Data
The road or anything connected
with it may be temporarily modified by
conditions existing at the time of the
accident.
For statistical tabulations, only a
few road condition classifications are
ordinarily required by the official ac-
cident-report form. Some of these do
not apply so much to the road itself as
to the environment.
Light condition is usually classified
according to three categories:
1. Daylight
2. Dawn or dusk.
3. Darkness.
This classification appears on most
traffic accident report forms.
Road surface condition is classified
according to four categories:
l. Dry
2. Wet
3. Snowy or icy
4. Other.
Either road surface or ""'
light _condi-
tions may have to be described in much
greater detail for special purposes. As
a rule, these are described in words
rather than by measurements or pho-
tographs.
·Visibility
Obtaining data for classification of
road conditions in accident reporting
requires no special skill; but observing
unusual road conditions at the scene
which may have affected a particular
accident is quite another matter. There
is no space on the accident-report form
to remind the investigator of what in-
formation is required; he has to decide
by himself what to look for and the
circumstances of each accident deter-
mine what that is. Permanent road
features, like curves and hills, will re-
main unchanged for a long time and
so may be examined later if necessary,
but other limitations on visibility may
change quickly and so must be noted
as soon as possible.
View obstructions are not the same
as reduced visibility. In the case of low
visibility - usually created bY' dark-
ness, fog, snow, or other atmospheric
conditions -the object gradually be-
comes visible as it looms up in the dis-
tance. When the view is obscured by an
obstacle, however, the hazard appears
rather suddenly from behind or back
of a solid object.
1ry to evaluate the seeing problem
of the driver or the pedestrian. The
best way is to put yourself in his posi-
tion. For example, the driver has hit a
pedestrian in dark clothing in a resi-
dential district. The investigator has a
pedestrian in similar clothing stand
where the victim was struck. Then in
a vehicle with headlights similar to
those of the vehicle involved, the inves-
tigator approaches slowly and notes
where he can first clearly see the pedes-
trian. For example, suppose that he
discovers that there is a deep shadow
cast by some branches between the
pedestrian and the distant light. The
pedestrian cannot be seen against the
dark background until the vehicle is
within, say, about 130 ft (40 meters).
At45 mph the driver would find it dif-
ficult to avoid hitting the pedestrian if
he stepped in front of the car.
View obstructions on the road are
usually vehicles, either moving or
parked. They can prevent drivers from
seeing signals, signs at the roadside,
other vehicles, or pedestrians. The
circumstances described below are
rather common:
• Parked vehicles (A View obstruc-
tion contributes to nearly every
accident in which a pedestrian
steps out from behind a parked
vehicle. The parked vehicle is a
view obstruction to both the
driver and the pedestrian.)
• Vehicle slowed at intersection
(A vehicle which is stopped or
slowed at an intersection ob-
scures possible traffic on the
cross street. Buses, because of
their size and the frequency of
their stops at street corners, are
a special hazard of this kind. The
vehicle overtaken at the intersec-
tion is a view obstruction to both
the driver overtaking it and to the
driver or pedestrian crossing in
front of it.)
• Person hiding tail light (A less
common but usually serious
view obstruction is a person
working or standing on the
highway at night and hiding a
taillight. Determine whether the
taillight was obscured or was not
operating. You may have to de-
pend upon the statements of wit-
nesses in this matter.)
Obstacles can keep a driver from
seeing another vehicle, a pedestrian, a
control device, or some hazard. View
obstructions of this sort are, perhaps,
the most common traps for unwary
drivers. For angle collisions, when a
driver claims he did not see the other
vehicle until too late, or when other cir-
cumstances suggest it, try to determine
definitely whether there was a view
obstruction. Do not ordinarily accept
the statement of just one driver or
witness as proof that a view obstruc-
tion did or did not contribute to an ac-
cident. Make observations to confirm
or disprove the statement.
Horizontal view obstructions such
as embankments and buildings are
permanent and may be examined later;
but shrubs, hedges, crops, weeds, piles