How to Read a North Carolina DMV-349 Crash Report, Block by Block

What Does The Header Of A North Carolina Crash Report Say About Fault?

Before any box is filled in, the top of the DMV-349 carries a printed disclaimer that most people skip: “THIS REPORT IS FOR THE USE OF THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES. THE DATA IS COLLECTED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND SUBSEQUENT HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMMING. DETERMINATIONS OF ‘FAULT’ ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INSURERS OR OF THE STATE’S COURTS.” That sentence is the frame for everything that follows. The officer records observations, statements and an opinion about contributing circumstances; the officer does not decide who pays.

The law says the same thing in a quieter way. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-166.1(e) the investigating officer must write the report within 24 hours of a reportable crash, and under § 20-166.1(i) an officer’s report is a public record that may be used as evidence only “as permitted under the rules of evidence.” It is influential, not binding. That distinction matters most in North Carolina because of contributory negligence: an injured driver who is found even 1% at fault can be barred from recovering anything, so a report that hints at shared fault becomes the insurer’s whole defense. Read the report knowing that its conclusions can be tested.

What Is In Blocks 1 Through 3: The Crash Itself?

Block 1 is the administrative header: the number of units involved (a “unit” is a vehicle, a pedestrian, a hit-and-run vehicle, a commercial vehicle or “other”), “Form ___ of ___” for multi-page reports, check boxes for a Supplemental Report and for Non-Reportable, the county, the date, the time in 24-hour format, and the “Local/Patrol Area.” The non-reportable box matters: North Carolina defines a reportable crash in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-4.01(33b) as one with death or injury or total property damage of $1,000 or more, and a crash marked non-reportable is one the officer judged fell below that line. If you were hurt and that box is checked, the report already understates your case.

Blocks 2 and 3 pin the location: whether the crash occurred in or outside a municipality, the road it happened on (highway number or street name, with boxes for ramps, service roads and railroad crossings), the reference point it was measured from (“At or from” a highway, street, county line or state line), the distance in miles or feet and the compass direction, and, when available, latitude, longitude and altitude. An error here is worth correcting early.

What Is In Blocks 4 Through 40: The Drivers And Their Condition?

Page one is split into two columns, one per unit. For each, block 4 names the driver, block 5 gives the address and phone numbers, and block 6 records the driver’s license number, class and state, whether it is a CDL, and the date of birth. Beside those sit four coded boxes that insurers read closely: 34 Vision Obstruction, 35 Physical Condition, 36 D.L. Restrictions, and a row for impairment: 37 Alcohol/Drugs Suspected, 38 Alcohol/Drugs Test, 39 Results (if known) and 40 Vehicle Seizure (DWI). A “suspected” entry is the officer’s impression at the scene; the results box is often blank because chemical test results arrive after the 24-hour report deadline.

The Owner block follows, with “Same as Driver?” check boxes, then the plate number, state and year and the VIN. A gap between the driver and the owner is where questions about permissive use, employer liability and which policy applies begin, which is why the owner line is one of the first things a lawyer checks.

What Is In Blocks 41 Through 47: Vehicles, Damage, Insurance And Injuries?

Block 41 identifies each vehicle by make, year and style (type) and asks whether it was Drivable. Block 43, “TAD Damage,” is the officer’s coded severity rating of the damage, and block 44, “Estimated $,” is the officer’s dollar estimate. Neither is an appraisal. The dollar figure is a roadside guess that feeds the reportable-crash threshold and the statistics; your repair estimate or total-loss valuation will replace it. Still, adjusters use the damage rating as a first proxy for how hard the impact was, and a low code on a crash that caused a real injury is a fact you will need medical evidence to overcome.

The insurance company and policy number lines sit under the vehicle block for each unit. This is where a hit-and-run or uninsured driver shows up as a blank, and where your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage starts to matter. Block 45 is the commercial-vehicle block (carrier name and address, US DOT number, cargo, GVWR, axles), completed only for trucks and buses; if it is filled in, the claim is against a motor carrier and the evidence rules change. Block 46 names the EMS agency and block 47 records where the injured were taken by EMS, the treatment facility and city. A report that shows EMS transport is powerful evidence that the injury began at the scene, not weeks later.

The lettered rows A through H list “Names and Addresses for All Persons” (drivers, passengers and pedestrians, matched to their unit), with coded columns 21 through 32 for each person and a “Towed To/By” line for each vehicle. Confirm that every passenger is listed; a passenger left off the report has a harder time proving they were in the car.

What Is In Blocks 48 Through 83: How The Crash Happened?

Page two is the reconstruction page, and it is almost entirely codes. It opens with block 48, Points of Initial Contact, then the unit-level Crash Sequence: 49 Vehicle Maneuver/Action (what each driver was doing: going straight, turning left, changing lanes, backing), 50 and 51 for a non-motorist’s action and location, 52 through 55 the first through fourth event in the sequence for that unit, 56 Most Harmful Event, 57 the distance and direction to an object struck, 58 Underride/Override and 59 Vehicle Defects.

Blocks 60 through 68 are the speed and special-circumstance boxes: 60 Authorized Speed Limit, 61 Estimate of Original Traveling Speed, 62 Estimate of Speed at Impact, 63 Tire Impressions Before Impact in feet, 64 Distance Traveled After Impact in feet, 65 Emergency Vehicle Use, 66 Post Crash Fire, and 67 and 68 for school-bus involvement. The two speed estimates are exactly that, estimates, usually drawn from driver statements and skid evidence, but a traveling speed above the posted limit in block 60 is the single most common basis for a contributory-negligence argument, because under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-141 exceeding the limit is negligence per se.

Blocks 69 through 77 describe the road: 69 Road Feature (intersection, driveway, ramp, bridge), 70 Road Character, 71 Road Classification, 72 Road Surface Type, 73 Road Configuration, 74 Access Control, 75 Number of Lanes, 76 Traffic Control Type and 77 Traffic Control Operating. Block 77 decides a surprising number of intersection cases: a signal recorded as not operating changes every driver’s duty. Blocks 78 through 81 are the work-zone fields and 82 and 83 the trailer fields, filled only when they apply.

How Do You Read The Diagram, The Narrative And The Violation Block?

Block 84, DIAGRAM, is the officer’s sketch, with a north arrow and “Unit # was: Parked / Facing / Traveling” prompts for each vehicle. It is not to scale and it is not a measurement; it shows the officer’s understanding of the vehicles’ positions and paths. Compare it with the location block and with your own memory of lane positions. When the diagram and the sequence codes disagree, the report has an internal inconsistency that a lawyer can use.

Block 85, NARRATIVE, is the only place the officer writes in sentences, with a continuation page if needed. Read it twice. The first time, note the facts: directions of travel, who said what, what physical evidence is mentioned. The second time, note the verbs: “failed to,” “did not,” “struck,” “lost control.” Those verbs are how an officer’s opinion about contributing circumstances enters the record, and they are the phrases an adjuster will quote back to you. Under § 20-166.1(h) the report must state “the cause of the crash,” so every narrative contains a causal theory, even a tentative one.

Block 86, Additional Property Damage, lists damage to property other than the vehicles (a fence, a sign, a mailbox) with its owner and an estimate. The WITNESS block gives names, addresses and phone numbers, and it is the most valuable block on the form for an injured driver, because independent witnesses are the answer to a contributory-negligence defense. Call them while they still remember. The TRAFFIC VIOLATION(S) block records the name of anyone charged, the charge, and an optional citation number. A citation is not a conviction and not a finding of civil fault, but an unanswered citation against the other driver is strong leverage and one against you is a problem to address with a lawyer before court. The report ends with the officer’s name, officer number, department and date of report: the contact you need if something must be corrected.

What Do Insurance Adjusters Read First On A North Carolina Crash Report?

In our experience, adjusters go to five places in a fixed order: the narrative and violation block on page two (who the officer thought caused the crash), the alcohol and drug boxes (37 through 40), the speed estimates against the posted limit (60 through 62), the damage code and estimate (43 and 44), and the EMS and treatment-facility lines (46 and 47). From those five, an adjuster forms a view of liability and injury severity before ever speaking to you, and the first offer, or the denial, is built on that view.

Your reading order should be the same, but with a different purpose. Check each of those blocks for errors and omissions, because a wrong code is easier to correct in the first weeks than to argue about a year later. Then call the witnesses and compare the narrative with your photos and any footage. If the report is wrong, or if it suggests you contributed, the next step is on our page about a crash report that blames you, and the clock on everything else is on our page of deadlines after a North Carolina crash.