Road Traffic Collisions Flashcards
How are collisions generally categorised?
Damage Only (where there is only vehicle damage and no injury).
Non-Reportable Damage Only (NRDO) where there are no grounds for a police report.
Personal Injury (often referred to as a PI).
Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI)
What are reportable accidents?
Officers attending collisions are legally obliged to report certain types of collisions, known as ‘reportable accidents’ to their police service.
These reports will also contain statistical data relating to the circumstances which police are obliged to submit to the Department for Transport.
The police have a number of key responsibilities when responding to collisions, and some of these would apply to any potential crime scene.
At the scene of a collision the police must:
- Preserve life
- Coordinate the emergency services involved (e.g the Fire and Rescue Service)
- Secure, protect, and preserve the scene (including any electronic evidence from dash cams or telematics, e.g)
- Lead and manage the subsequent investigation into the incident, and
- Liaise with relatives of the injured or killed.
What mnemonic can be used to help remember the sequence of considerations and actions required when responding to a road or traffic incident?
ACE-CARD
A – Approach
• Gather as much information as possible, approach incidents from rear.
C – Caution signs
• Place warning signs and cones correctly, establish an appropriate ‘exclusion zone’.
E – Examine the scene
• Decide whether further assistance is needed.
C – Casualties
• Check all casualties have been found and administered first aid.
A – Ambulance, fire and rescue and other partnership agencies
• Control and manage the scene, provide a safe working area for the support agencies
R – Remove the obstructions
• Contact recovery services but no vehicle should be removed until potential evidence is secured.
D – Detailed investigation
• Reporting and subsequent investigation according to local and national policy.
Where is it specified that police may drive on the hard shoulder?
Reg 16 of the Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982.
This should be kept to a minimum.
What is a cone taper?
Used to guide motorists into the appropriate lanes if one or more lanes are closed.
Warning signs must be used if part of the carriageway is to be coned off, and several signs will be needed for roads with higher speed traffic.
On single carriageways, the signs should be placed on both directions of approach.
Minimum requirements for cone taper warning signs
Speed limit: 70 mph (motorways)
3 signs
100 m clear view to the first sign
300m, 600m and 900m distance for the signs (before the start of the cone taper).
Minimum requirements for cone taper warning signs
Speed limit: 50-60 mph
2 or 3 signs
100m clear view to the first sign
300m and 600m (and 900m) distance for the signs (before the start of the cone taper).
Minimum requirements for cone taper warning signs
Speed limit: 40-50 mph
2 signs
100 m clear view to the first sign
200m and 400m distance for the signs (before the start of the cone taper).
Minimum requirements for cone taper warning signs
Speed limit: 30 mph or less
1 signs
100 m clear view to the first sign
50m distance for the signs (before the start of the cone taper).
What are driver obligations after a collision?
s 170
Drivers involved must stop and be prepared to provide details to anyone who reasonably required information (for as long as necessary (s 170(2))), or report the incident to the police.
Information might be needed for compensation claims for repair, injuries or deaths.
What criteria makes an accident a reportable accident?
- Must be on a road or other public place.
- Vehicle must be mechanically propelled.
- Collision must be due to its presence on a road or other public place (doesn’t have to be involved, just has to mean its presence meant the accident occurred).
- Damage must be to another vehicle or to private property, and alter its physical appearance
Failing to stop or report an accident is what kind of offence and under what legislation?
A summary offence, under s 170(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
The penalty is 6 month’s imprisonment and/or a fine.
What must be done if a driver cannot or does not provide the relevant information at the time of an accident?
s 170(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988
He/she must report the accident and provide the relevant information to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and certainly within 24 hours.
What must be produced by the driver where personal injury is caused to another person?
A relevant insurance certificate to police officer and injured person s 170(5).
He/she must report the accident and provide the relevant information to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and certainly within 24 hours s 170(6).
