A review of selected traffic engineering parameters in police crash report forms of selected countries

Abstract

A preliminary crash report prepared by the police contains factual information known immediately after the crash and it is generally followed by a narrative investigation report. Different agencies use different formats for the preliminary Police Crash Reports. This paper compares the contents of the preliminary Police Crash Report forms of selected ten (10) agencies in terms of three (03) parameters. The studied crash report forms were from California, Florida, Oregon, Texas and Louisiana of USA, British Columbia of Canada, Kent of England, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The Highway Safety Manual (2010) of AASHTO classifies the preliminary crash data into three (03) basic categories: information about the crash, the vehicles in the crash and the people in the crash. The Police Traffic Crash Report Form from Oregon, USA is attached to the Highway Safety Manual of AASHTO as a sample. The comparison among different forms revealed that information contents vary significantly. The study revealed that agencies need to readdress the contents and coverage of the necessary information in the forms. When localized condition is an important consideration, to maintain basic uniformity is unavoidable. The study recommended development of a model preliminary crash report format internationally that is to be adopted and used universally.