Vulnerable User Primary Injury Area - Mass Crash Report Manual

Instructions:

The principal anatomical region of the body where a vulnerable road user sustained the most severe injury as a result of a crash.

Definition:

The primary or most obvious area of the vulnerable user’s body injured during the crash.

Rationale:

This element is important for evaluating crash causation, injury severity, and safety system design and effectiveness. Identifying the primary injury area for vulnerable road users supports the assessment of infrastructure design, protective equipment (e.g., helmets, reflective gear), and emergency response outcomes. It also enables analysis of injury patterns by user type and crash scenario, which is essential for developing evidence-based countermeasures to reduce the frequency and severity of injuries among non-motorized road users.

Code	Attribute	Definition	Example
1	Head	Used for injuries primarily affecting the skull, brain, face, or other cranial structures.
2	Upper Limbs	Used for injuries primarily affecting the shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, or hands.
3	Torso	Used for injuries primarily affecting the chest, abdomen, back, spine (excluding head/neck).
4	Lower Limbs	Used for injuries primarily affecting the hips, thighs, knees, legs, ankles, or feet.
9	None	Used when the vulnerable user did not sustain an injury in the crash.
97	Other	Used when the primary injury is to a region not listed above. Please specify in the narrative.
99	Unknown	Used when the primary injury area could not be determined at the time of the report.