Accident Contributing Circumstances Guide
Understanding your North Carolina Crash Report or DMV-349 requires interpreting the official North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicle codes. This code protocol was created by the NC DMV to assist investigating officers in gathering a large volume of information from any accident scene and processing that data into a manageable format. Your North Carolina Crash Report cannot be interpreted or understood without knowing the code protocol. This guide will provide you with official codes related to the “Contributing Circumstances” boxes No. 14 – 19. By comparing all numbers entered on your accident report in boxes No. 14 – 19 to the corresponding numbers contained in this guide, you may be able to gain a deeper understanding as to whose actions the officer determined to be the cause of the accident.
The investigating officer’s opinion of who caused the accident is possibly the most important information in your case. Please do not proceed any further with your claim unless you are certain that you completely understand the mechanics of this information and how it relates to your claim.
Contributing Circumstances Codes for Boxes No. 14-19:
- No contributing circumstances indicated
- Disregarded yield sign
- Disregarded stop sign
- Disregarded other traffic signs
- Disregarded traffic signals
- Disregarded road markings
- Exceeded authorized speed limit
- Exceeded safe speed for conditions
- Failure to reduce speed
- Improper turn
- Right turn on red
- Crossed center line/going wrong way
- Improper lane change
- Use of improper lane
- Over corrected/over steered
- Passed stopped school bus
- Passed on hill
- Passed on curve
- Other improper passing
- Failed to yield right of way
- Inattention
- Improper backing
- Improper parking
- Driver distracted
- Improper or no signal
- Followed too closely
- Operated vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent, or aggressive manner
- Swerved or avoided due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, non-motorist
- Visibility obstructed
- Operated defective equipment
- Alcohol use
- Drug use
- Other* (write in the narrative)
- Unable to determine
- Unknown
- Driver distracted by electronic communication device (cell phone, texting, etc.)
- Driver distracted by other electronic device (navigation device, DVD player, etc.)
- Driver distracted by others inside the vehicle
- Driver distracted by external distraction (outside the vehicle)
For more information on understanding your accident report, please read Understanding Your Accident Report.
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