Blog

Understanding a CHP Traffic Collision Report

January 20, 2012

By Barbara Haubrich-Hass, ACP/CAS

The California Highway Patrol (“CHP”) does not investigate every traffic collision.  The police department that responds to a traffic collision depends on the location of the accident and the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency.  The California Highway Patrol is a statewide law enforcement agency and responds to traffic collisions that occur on state highways.  However, many local law enforcement agencies will utilize the Traffic Collision Report established by the California Highway Patrol.  For this reason, it is important to understand the dynamics of a CHP Traffic Collision Report. 

If a traffic collision is not a major collision, an on-duty field CHP officer will respond to the scene to investigate the collision, direct and clear a safe roadway, coordinate medical aid, etc. 

If the traffic collision is a major collision, the CHP will utilize their Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (“MAIT”) to investigate the collision.  An investigation by the MAIT team includes a reconstruction of the collision and a study of the factors that may have contributed to the incident.  There are two categories of a MAIT team investigation:  full or limited.  In a full investigation, the team will handle the entire investigation and their report is the original report. In a limited investigation, the team will only handle parts of the investigation and their report is a supplemental to the original report.

The standard CHP Traffic Collision Report prepared by a field CHP Officer consists of several components, including but not limited to:

1. The front page;
2. Traffic collision coding;
3. Injured/Witness/Passengers;
4. Factual Diagram;
5. Narrative/Supplemental Report; and
6. If the traffic collision involves a truck or truck combination, a bus with seats for 9 or more persons, or a vehicle of any type with a hazardous materials playcard, the CHP will also include a Truck / Bus Collision Supplemental Report. 

Front Page:  The front page contains the preliminary information of the incident.  If there are multiple parties involved, more than one front page will be used until all of the parties are listed.  At the top of the first page you will find a table with columns for:

• Any special conditions;
• The number of people injured or killed;
• Whether the incident was a hit and run felony or misdemeanor;
• The city, judicial district, county, reporting district, and beat; and,
• Local report number.

Below that information is a table titled “location” with columns for:

• Collision location, milepost, or intersection information;
• The date and time of the incident, and day of the week;
• Whether vehicles were towed away;
• The NCIC # (the National Crime Information Center crime number);
• Officer ID number; and,
• Whether photographs were taken.

Below that information, there are three columns, one for Party 1, Party 2, and Party 3.  Within each party section there are columns for:

• The party designation:  driver, pedestrian, parked vehicle, bicyclist, or other;
• The party’s driver’s license number, state, and class;
• A code entry for whether an air bag was deployed; 
• A code entry for whether safety equipment was used; 
• The party’s name, address, and telephone number(s);
• The party’s sex, hair color, eye color, height, weight, birthdate, and race;
• The party’s insurance carrier and policy number;
• The party’s direction of travel, the street or highway, and the speed limit;
• The party’s vehicle year, make, model, color, license number, and state;
• The name and address of the owner of the vehicle;
• The disposition of the vehicle;
• Whether there was prior mechanical defects;
• The vehicle identification number (VIN);
• The vehicle type; and,
• A description of the vehicle damage.

At the very bottom of the front page is the CHP officer’s name, dispatch notification, reviewer’s name, and date reviewed.

Traffic Collision Coding:  The page following the front page of the Traffic Collision Report is the traffic collision coding.  At the top of this page are columns for the date and time of the collision, NCIC #, Officer I.D. number, and report number.  Under that are columns for property damage, including the owner’s name and a description of the damage.  Next are columns for seating position, safety equipment, and inattention codes.  These codes are used throughout the entire report.  Next are a multitude of check the box collision factors, such as the primary collision factor, weather conditions, lighting, roadway conditions, traffic control devices, type of collision, motor vehicle involvement, pedestrian’s actions, special information, other associated factors, movement preceding collision, and sobiety.  At the bottom is a small area for a sketch and miscellaneous information.

Injured / Witness / Passenger:  This page of the Traffic Collision Report contains the information on any injured party, witness, or passenger involved in the incident.  If there are multiple parties involved, more than one page will be used until all of the parties are listed.  This page will list the name, address, telephone number, age, sex, and date of birth for each injured party, witness, or passenger.  It will identify who transported the injured party and where the person was taken, and a description of the injuries or fatality.  If the injured party was an occupant to a vehicle, it will indicate whether the person was the driver, passenger, pedestrian, bicyclist, or other.  It will also indicate the seat position, safety equipment, and whether the person was ejected from the vehicle.

 Factual Diagram:  This page provides a diagram of the scene of the collision, with measurements.

Narrative/Supplemental Report:  This section of the report will summarize the findings of the investigation, such as factual diagram legend, vehicle points of rest, physical evidence description, physical evidence location, scene information, party information, statements, summary, area of impact, cause, and recommendation. 

Truck / Bus Collision Supplemental Report:  If used, this page of the report contains the vital motor carrier information, including the qualifying information, vehicle information, motor carrier information, and sequence of events.

Do you want to use this article? You can so long as you include this entire blurb with it: "Barbara Haubrich-Hass, The California Litigator, publishes an e-zine that delivers simple discussions and strategies for the California civil litigation professional. Barbara’s discussions focus on common paralegal and law office tasks, such as pre-litigation document gathering, document preparation, filing rules, law and motion, discovery, arbitration, trial, deadline calculation, and post-trial procedures. More information is available at http://www.thecalifornialitigator.com

©Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved

DISCLAIMER: Barbara Haubrich-Hass, ACP/CAS, is not an attorney. Any information derived from The California Litigator, and any other statements contained herein, are for information purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice or a recommendation on a legal matter. The information from The California Litigator is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or current. Barbara makes no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy or reliability of the information provided within this newsletter, or to any other website to which this e-zine/article may be linked.