Instructions:
Record the physical location in which the vulnerable user was placed in contact with the motor vehicle or other vulnerable user involved in the crash.
Definition:
Location of the first harmful event on the vulnerable user.
Rationale:
This element is important for evaluating crash causation, injury severity, and safety system design and effectiveness.
| Code | Attribute | Definition | |
| 12 | Front | Used when the front of the vulnerable user was the initial contact point. | |
| 03 | Right | Used when the right side of the vulnerable user was the initial contact point. | |
| 06 | Rear | Used when the rear of the vulnerable user was the initial contact point. | |
| 09 | Left | Used when the left side of the vulnerable user was the initial contact point. | |
| 97 | Other | Used when the vulnerable user’s initial contact point was not the front, rear, or right or left sides. Please specify in the narrative. | |
| 99 | Unknown | Used when the vulnerable user’s initial contact point is unknown. |
Accuracy Checks
- If this field is completed, confirm the Vulnerable User check box is also indicated.
- The contact point is the part of the vehicle that first struck the vulnerable user, read as a clock face: 12 front, 3 right, 6 rear, 9 left.
- If the narrative describes which part of the vehicle made contact, code it rather than leaving the field empty.
Other Related Fields
Data Quality Audit Results
| 2025 records | Count | Percent |
| Acceptable | 3,323 | 80.4% |
| Unknown | 243 | 5.9% |
| Empty | 568 | 13.7% |
| Invalid | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total | 4,134 | 100% |
For the Vulnerable User Contact Point field, 80 percent of 2025 records carry a value, one of the better completion rates among the Vulnerable User fields. Left (1,139) and Front (1,012) are the most common, followed by Right (879) and Rear (221). Other was used on 72 records. The remaining 20 percent is split between empty (14 percent) and Unknown (6 percent).
From the 2025 Vulnerable User data quality audit. This field was not part of the narrative comparison, so the table reports completeness only. Its total is 4,134 rather than the 4,098 on the seven core field pages because it was tabulated later in 2026, after 36 more 2025 reports had been finished.