BASIC DEFINITIONS

ROAD INCIDENT (recorded by the police) – a road accident or road collision occurred or originated on a public road, in a traffic area or in a residential area, in connection with the movement of at least one vehicle. 

ROAD ACCIDENT – road incident with at least one fatality or injured person.

ROAD COLLISION – road incident with only material loses. 

FATALITY (fatal accident victim) – a person who is dead on spot of a road accident or is dead within 30 days of a road accident as a result of bodily injury.

SERIOUSLY INJURED – a person who has suffered injuries received in the accident in a form of:

• blindness, loss of hearing, loss of speech, ability to procreate, other severe disability, severe incurable disease or long-term life-threatening illness, permanent mental illness, complete substantial permanent inability to work in the occupation or permanent, significant body disfigurement,
  other injuries causing disturbance of the functioning of a bodily organ or health disorder lasting longer than  7 days.

SLIGHTLY INJURED – a person about who a doctor or a paramedic has stated that he or she has suffered damage or injuries other than those specified for a seriously injured person.

DEFINITIONS USED IN A POBR’ DATABASE

FATAL ACCIDENT – an accident with at least one person dead.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT – an accident with no fatalities but at least one seriously injured person.

SLIGHT ACCIDENT – an accident with no fatalities and no seriously injured, but with one slightly injured person.

TYPE OF AN ACCIDENT:

• Collision of vehicles in traffic– with at least 2 vehicles in motion. Type of vehicles’ collision: front impact, side impact, rear impact;
• Hitting a pedestrian–  when within a road (roadway, pedestrian crossing, roadside, pavement, etc.) the vehicle hit:
  a) a pedestrian, including a person riding a skateboard or scooter, or
  b) a person performing works or other activities on the road.
• Types of Others includes: 
  a)  rollover of vehicle – when the vehicle rolled over to the side or on the roof,
  b)  accident with a passenger – when in the event the passenger fell out of the vehicle while travelling, was pressed by the bus’s door while getting on or off, fell over in a public transport vehicle or in a truck carrying people outside the driver’s cabin,
  c)  other – when the accident couldn’t be classified to above mentioned.

• Hitting an object on road– an accident with one vehicle (single), which includes categories of:
  a)  hitting a tree, when a vehicle hit a tree,
  b)  hitting a pole or road sign, when a vehicle hit a pole or another road element within roadway,
  c)  hitting a protective crash barrier, when a vehicle hit a protective barrier,
  d)  hitting an animal – when a vehicle hit an animal,
  e)  hitting  a hole, hump or bump – when a vehicle hit a hole, pothole, bump, rut,
  f)  hitting other object (railway barrier, stationary vehicle) – when a vehicle hit a barrier or half-barrier on railway crossing or when a vehicle hit a stationary vehicle, when stopping the vehicle didn’t result from traffic conditions, regardless of its position and location, for example: broken vehicle standing on the road, roadside, pavement, etc.

LIGHTENING – a parameter specifying light conditions in the moment of  . The lightening’ categories are:

• day– when the accident occurred during a day (sunrise and sunset are taken as a limit values),
• night– when the accident occurred during the time of limited visibility, i.e.:
  a) at dawn or at twilight, i.e. before sunrise or after sunset and, as well as when the cloudiness of the sky caused the later start of daylight lightning or early dusk,
  b)  at night on the road’s location with lightning,
  c)  at night on the road’s location without any external lightning, regardless of the reason for the lack of this lightning.

BUILT UP AREA – the area marked with road signs “built up area” and “end of built up area”.
Note: Do not confuse the built-up area with the city. Built-up area may occur in urban area that are not cities. As of January 1, 2020, there are 944 cities and 66 provincial cities in Poland. The list of provincial cities have been included on the interactive map of POBR.

NOT BUILT UP AREA – the rest of area not marked with road signs “built up area”.

LOCATION/SPOT OF ACCIDENT – is where the accident started. The following categories
of accident locations are distinguished on the POBR interactive map:

• pedestrian crosswalks– when the accident occurred on marked pedestrian crossing,
• other pedestrian crosswalks– when the accident occurred on pavement, sidewalk
  or pedestrian roads marked with road sign ”road for pedestrian” or on the public bus stop,
• bicycle crossing– when the accident occurred on the marked bicycle crossing (data collected by Police since November 2015),
• bicycle track, bicycle lane, advanced stop line for bicycle– when the accident occurred
  on the bicycle track, bicycle lane, advanced stop line for bicycle (data collected by Police since November 2015),
• tram crossing/passage, tram track– when the accident occurred on the tram passage or tram track (within tram track on the road or separated tram track),
• guarded railway crossing– when the accident occurred on the railway crossing equipped with barriers or half-barriers, as well as vertical signs, including the sign “damaged barrier”,
• unguarded railway crossing– when the accident occurred on the railway with no barriers
  or half-barriers,
• other on the carriageway – when the accident occurred on the road, but not on the pedestrian crossing nor bicycle crossing,
• others– when the accident occurred on the bridge, viaduct, connecting road/ junction, in a tunnel, on a lane of roads with two one-way carriageways, a lane dividing two one-way carriageways, a roadside (regardless of whether the roadside was paved or unpaved), a parking, parking lot or Motorway Service Area, in an area of roadworks or in a place where temporary marking has been introduced in connection with road works carried out, entering a road from real estate, from a road side facility or access to this facility, from a road not by public road and from a residential area, from a field or on a hard road from dirt road, from a deport or from a loop of rail vehicles or when a vehicle has hit a slope or has entered a ditch, as well as in other places not mentioned above.

JUNCTION – there are categories determining whether the accident occurred at the junction
or not at the junction:

• at the junction– when the accident occurred at the junction of roads with no priority
  or at the junction with one road with priority or at the roundabout,
• not at the junction– when the accident occurred on the other location outside,
  not at the junction.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS – there are categories determining whether in the location of accident’ occurrence was a traffic light as well as if traffic light was working:

• with traffic lights– when the accident occurred at the junction or in location not at the junction, equipped with operating traffic lights transmitting signal sequences:
  a)  green, yellow, red and yellow,
  b)  green and yellow (for pedestrians and cyclists) or on a narrowed road section (shuttle traffic),
  c)  single flashing red or two flashing alternatively or,
  d)  flashing yellow signal.

• no traffic lights– when the accident occurred at the junction or not at the junction, in location equipped with no operating traffic lights or in an area where traffic light were not present.

ROAD – type of road on which the accident occurred. The types of roads on the interactive map
of POBR are as follows: 

• roads, as a part of international roads network,
• roads, as a part of TEN-T, 
• roads, as a part of national (K), voivodships (W), provincial and municipalities,
• urban roads within the administrative boundaries of cities (not necessarily in the built up area).

Additionally national roads are divided into:

• national motorways (A), marked with signs “national motorway” and “end of national motorway”,
• national expressway (S), marked with signs “national expressways” and “end of national expressway”, 
• national other (K), which are neither national highways nor national expressways.

Note: the division into international roads and TEN-T networks only applies to national roads.
A national road or its section can be both an international road and a TEN-T network at the same time.

International roads (E roads): parts of national roads in accordance with the European Agreement on the main international traffic routs (AGR) signed in Geneva on November 15, 1975 (Journal of Laws, March 11, 1985), 

TEN-T Network (Trans-European Transport Networks) – part of national roads with defined route
(in accordance with REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL (EU)
No 1315/2013 of December, 11, 2013 as amended), which is a part of the trans-European road network;

Note: POBR database does not specify the road category (manager of the road) for all roads in the city, therefore for example by selecting national roads in the city for some cities we may get incomplete data.

DRIVER – person driving a vehicle or set of vehicles.

PEDESTRIAN – a person who is on the road outside the vehicle; pedestrian is also a person holding, pulling or pushing a bicycle, moped, motorcycle, pushchair, pram or wheelchair, a person
in a wheelchair, a person using personal transport devices (scooter, skateboard, rollers, roller skates, etc.), as well as a person under 10 years old riding a bicycle under the care of an adult.

PASSENGER – a person travelling within a vehicle, but not a driver.

VEHICLE – a means of transport designed for moving on the road, machine or device adapted for this.

Note: in the POBR database in the tab “Area information” (containing statistical data), the number of vehicles for the “Number of registered vehicles” category is not the sum of the number of vehicles for each of categories: “Passenger cars”, “Any goods vehicles”, “Buses”, “Motorcycle”, “Mopeds”. “The number of registered vehicles” includes: (as defined by the Central Statistical Office of Poland) registered motorcycles, passenger cars, trolley busses, emergency vehicles, any goods vehicles (goods vehicles under 3.5t mgw and goods vehicle over 3.5t mgw; with trailer and without trailer) and agricultural vehicles: excluding slow moving vehicles included tourist cable cars and vehicles referred to as the type of vehicle: “other vehicle” (quad and light quad), as well as without mopeds, motor-less vehicles i.e. trailers and semi-trailers.

On the POBR interactive map, the categories of accident are as follows:

• passenger car– a motor vehicle designed structurally for transporting no more than 9 persons with the driver and their luggage; this category also includes goods vehicles – other private vehicles converted into commercial use, different type of vehicle is written in its registration certificate.
• goods vehicle– a motor vehicle designed structurally for transporting loads; term includes goods vehicle – and passenger car designed for transporting loads and people from 4 to 9 together with the driver. This category is divided into:
  a) any goods vehicle – summary data for all types of goods vehicles: goods vehicle under
  5t mgw, goods vehicle over 3.5t mgw,
  b) goods vehicle under 3.5t mgw (data collected by the Police since November 2015),
  c) goods vehicle over 3.5t mgw (data collected by the Police since November 2015).

• bus– a motor vehicle designed structurally for transporting more than 9 persons with the driver; this category includes: public bus, i.e. publicly available, provides regular passenger service according to the timetable and along specific routs of transport network and other bus (i.e. school bus, sightseeing bus),
• motorcycle– two wheeled motor vehicle, or two-wheelers with side car, or three-wheelers with symmetrical wheel arrangement; this category includes:
  a)  any motorcycle – summary data of all motorcycle: with capacity under 125cc and with capacity over 125cc and other motorcycle,
  b)  motorcycle with capacity under 125cc – with a cylinder capacity not exceeding 125cc, a power not exceeding 11 kW and a power -to -weight ratio not exceeding 1 kW/kg (data collected by the Police since November 2015),
  c)  motorcycle with capacity over 125cc (data collected by the Police since 2015).

• moped– two or three wheeled vehicle equipped with combustion engine with displacement not exceeding 50cc or with an electric motor with power of not more than 4KW and with design limiting travel speed to 45 km/h.
• bicycle/bike– a vehicle with a width not exceeding 0.9 m moved by the muscular strength
  of a person riding it, this category includes a bicycle equipped with electric power by a voltage
  of not more than 48V with power not more than 250W, whose output power decreases gradually and drops to zero after exceeding 25 km/h.
• train– a rail vehicle with or without power or composition of rail vehicles, which is adapted
  to move on its own wheels on railway tracks.
• tram, trolleybus– common category for electric vehicles, where:
  a)  tram – a vehicle designed for transporting persons or goods, powered by electricity, running on rails on    public roads,
  b)  trolleybus – a bus adapted to be supplied with electricity from the overhead line.

• quad– motor vehicle designed for the transport of person or goods, excluding passenger car, goods vehicle and motorcycle. This category includes:
  a)  other quad, whose curb weight does not exceed 550 kg while transporting goods or persons and 400 kg while transporting persons (data collected by the police since November 2015);
  b)  light quad, whose curb weight does not exceed 350 kg and its design limits the speed to 45 km/h (data collected by the Police since November 2015).

• Right Hand Drive vehicle (RHD), a motor vehicle with the driving wheel on the right hand side (data collected by the Police since November 2015).
• agricultural tractor / slow moving vehicle– a common category for:
  a)  agricultural tractor – a motor vehicle designed to drive at the speed not less than 6km/h with equipment for agricultural, forestry or gardening works; such a tractor can also be adapted to tow trailers and for earthworks,
  b)  slow moving vehicle – a motor vehicle whose design limits the travel speed to 25 km/h, excluding agricultural tractor.

• other– common category for:
  a)  emergency vehicle – a vehicle emitting light signals of blue flashing lights and at the same time sounding signals of variable tone, moving with low or high beam lights on, this category also includes vehicles travelling in a column at the beginning and end of emergency vehicles with additional light signals of red flashing lights,
  b)  dangerous goods vehicle – vehicles transporting goods and objects that are not authorized or are allowed for transport under the condition specified in the regulations of the European Agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road (ADR) signed at Geneva on September, 30 1957 (Journal  of Laws, 2011, item 641) and the Act on the transport of dangerous goods from August, 19, 2011 (Journal of Laws, 2011, No 227, item 1361, as amended).
  c)  unknown – a vehicle which left the scene of the accident and couldn’t be determined,
  d)  other vehicle – a vehicle that cannot be qualified for any above named types.

ALCOHOL – a parameter informing that the accident participant (driver, passenger, pedestrian) was under the influence of alcohol which includes:

• state after consuming alcohol – when the blood alcohol content is between 0,2 and 0,5 per mille (or from 0,1 to 0,25 mg in 1 dmᵌ of exhaled air),
• under the influence of alcohol/state of intoxication – when the alcohol content in the blood exceeds 0,5 per mille (or 0,25 mg in 1 dmᵌ of exhaled air) or leads to a concentration exceeding this value.

SPEED – a parameter informing, that the driver do not adapt the speed to the traffic condition. 

PARTICIPANT OF THE ACCIDENT:

• every driver driving the vehicle involved in an accident (also when not injured),
• a passenger of the vehicle, if he contributed to the accident or was injured in it,
• a pedestrian, if it contributed to the occurrence of the accident or was injured in it.

CASUALTY – a person (driver, passenger, pedestrian) who was injured in the traffic accident.