Instructions:
Indicate the driver’s injury status.
Definition:
The injury severity level for a driver, passenger or non-motorist involved in a crash. The determination of which attribute to assign should be based on the latest information available at the time the report is completed, except as described below for ‘fatal’ injuries.
Rationale:
This information is necessary for injury outcome analysis and evaluation. This element is also critical in providing linkage between the crash, EMS, and hospital records.
| Code | Attribute | Definition |
| 1 | Fatal | A fatal injury is any injury that results in death within 30 days after the motor vehicle crash in which the injury occurred. If the person did not die at the scene but died within 30 days of the motor vehicle crash in which the injury occurred, the injury classification should be changed from the attribute previously assigned to the attribute “Fatal Injury.” |
| 7 | Suspected serious injury |
A suspected serious injury is any injury other than fatal which results in one or more of the following:
|
| 8 | Suspected minor injury | A minor injury is any injury that is evident at the scene of the crash, other than fatal or serious injuries. Examples include lump on the head, abrasions, bruises, minor lacerations (cuts on the skin surface with minimal bleeding and no exposure of deeper tissue/muscle). |
| 9 | Possible injury | A possible injury is any injury reported or claimed which is not a fatal, suspected serious or suspected minor injury. Examples include momentary loss of consciousness, claim of injury, limping, or complaint of pain or nausea. Possible injuries are those which are reported by the person or are indicated by his/her behavior, but no wounds or injuries are readily evident. |
| 10 | No apparent injury | No apparent injury is a situation where there is no reason to believe that the person received any bodily harm from the motor vehicle crash. There is no physical evidence of injury and the person does not report any change in normal function. |
| 99 | Unknown | If this attribute is used, an explanation in the narrative is recommended. |
| 2 |
Phased Out (Incapacitating) |
An ‘incapacitating’ injury is any injury other than fatal which results in one or more of the following: • Severe laceration resulting in exposure of underlying tissues/muscle/organs or resulting in significant loss of blood • Broken or distorted extremity (arm or leg) • Crush injuries • Suspected skull, chest or abdominal injury other than bruises or minor lacerations • Significant burns (second and third degree burns over 10% or more of the body) • Unconsciousness when taken from the crash scene • Paralysis |
| 3 |
Phased Out (Non-Incapacitating) |
A ‘non-incapacitating’ injury is any injury that is evident at the scene of the crash, other than fatal or serious injuries. Examples include lump on the head, abrasions, bruises, minor lacerations (cuts on the skin surface with minimal bleeding and no exposure of deeper tissue/muscle). |
| 4 |
Phased Out (Possible) |
A possible injury is any injury reported or claimed which is not a fatal, suspected serious, or suspected minor injury. Examples include momentary loss of consciousness, claim of injury, limping, or complaint of pain or nausea. Possible injuries are those that are reported by the person or are indicated by his/her behavior, but no wounds or injuries are readily evident. |
| 5 |
Phased Out (No Injury) |
No apparent injury is a situation where there is no reason to believe that the person received any bodily harm from the motor vehicle crash. There is no physical evidence of injury and the person does not report any change in normal function. |
Field Update
In early 2019, Massachusetts changed several of the Injury Status attributes to meet a federal requirement to add a new Suspected Serious Injury Definition to its Motor Vehicle Crash Report and to the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Crash Data System. The new definitions now align with the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) 4th Edition definition and attributes for “Suspected Serious Injury (A).” Massachusetts now meets this requirement, increasing the specificity of data in this Crash Report field in the Crash Data System.
Reminder!
If the person was not injured please always record ‘No apparent injury’ (code 10).
In situations where the vehicle is parked and the driver is not present or a hit/run, the driver last name may be entered as UNKNOWN or PARKED, and then this field is exempt and may be left empty.
Data Quality Audit Results
| Driver | ||||||||
| Report Type | Acceptable | Inconsistent | Invalid | Empty | ||||
| Local Police (electronic) | 578 | 97.3% | 6 | 1.0% | – | – | 10 | 1.7% |
| Local Police (paper) | 551 | 90.2% | 5 | 0.8% | 1 | 0.2% | 54 | 8.8% |
| State Police (electronic) | 601 | 96.8% | 3 | 0.5% | – | – | 17 | 2.7% |
| Total | 1730 | 94.7% | 14 | 0.8% | 1 | 0.1% | 81 | 4.4% |
| Passenger | ||||||||
| Report Type | Acceptable | Inconsistent | Invalid | Empty | ||||
| Local Police (electronic) | 120 | 96.0% | 1 | 0.8% | – | – | 4 | 3.2% |
| Local Police (paper) | 136 | 91.3% | 1 | 0.7% | – | – | 12 | 8.1% |
| State Police (electronic) | 65 | 73.9% | – | – | – | – | 23 | 26.1% |
| Total | 321 | 88.7% | 2 | 0.6% | – | – | 39 | 10.8% |
| Non-Motorist | ||||||||
| Report Type | Acceptable | Inconsistent | Invalid | Empty | ||||
| Local Police (electronic) | 16 | 84.2% | 1 | 5.3% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 10.5% |
| Local Police (paper) | 10 | 71.4% | 1 | 7.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 3 | 21.4% |
| State Police (electronic) | 3 | 100.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | 29 | 80.6% | 2 | 5.6% | 0 | 0.0% | 5 | 13.9% |
Driver Injury Status is a field that was completed in an acceptable manner in nearly 95 percent of the reports reviewed. Local police reports submitted electronically had the lowest rate of acceptable reports at 90 percent with almost 9 percent left empty. Compared to data from the 2008 audit, the percentage of acceptable reports increased by 2 percentage points. In addition, there was an improvement over the 2008 audit for local police reports submitted electronically, with a decrease in instances of leaving the field empty (16.5 percent in 2008 to 1.7 percent in 2017). During audit discussions, law enforcement described the lack of specificity for each injury status option, and suggested more detailed clarification for each of the options. Passenger Injury Status is a field that was completed in an acceptable manner in 89 percent of the reports reviewed. The highest percentage of reports reviewed with this field empty came from the State Police (26 percent), with both submission types from local police showing much lower numbers (3 percent for electronic and 8 percent for paper). The Non-Motorist Injury Status field was found to be complete in 81 percent (29 of 36) of the reports reviewed. Local police with paper submissions had the lowest percentage acceptable, with just over 21 percent (3 of 14) having an empty field. State Police had this field completed in an acceptable manner in 100 percent of the reports reviewed (3 of 3).