Road accident diagram: sample, how to draw and compose in 2021

An accident diagram is one of the main methods for determining the culprit of an accident. It allows people who were not present at the accident to get an idea of the accident. The graphic plan displays all the details of the accident that are important to establish the guilt or innocence of the participants in the collision.

In previous years, the registration of car accident diagrams was carried out by employees of the road inspection, and was not of much interest to ordinary drivers. However, innovations in traffic rules have changed the situation radically. From July 1, 2015, minor incidents can be reported independently, without the involvement of traffic police inspectors. Participants fill out all the paperwork themselves, and a schematic representation of an accident is one of the most difficult stages of the process.

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Why and when is it necessary to draw up an accident diagram in 2021?

In 2021, when drawing up an accident report yourself, the accident diagram is the key document on the basis of which the insurance company identifies the culprits. With its help, traffic police officers have the opportunity to analyze in detail the circumstances of the incident. In case of going to court (for example, if there are victims), the diagram is also attached to the case materials.

Attention! If you have any questions, you can chat for free with a lawyer at the bottom of the screen or call Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Free call for all of Russia.

In order for an accident diagram to have legal force, it must be drawn up taking into account all the requirements described in the Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”. Otherwise, you may receive a legal refusal to pay for material damage from the insurance company.

Who should draw up the document?

The road accident diagram in 2021 can be compiled in two ways:

Without the participation of traffic police officers , i.e. directly involved in the accident. In this case, all the necessary information is indicated in the Europrotocol, which is signed by both parties.
With the participation of traffic police inspectors . This method is relevant in situations where disagreements have arisen between the parties to the accident and they are unable to reach an agreement on their own. A traffic police officer who arrives at the scene of an accident, in this case, carries out a set of measures in order to establish the degree of guilt of the participants in the accident and the damage they caused.

In 2021, the European protocol is an official document, despite the fact that it was drawn up independently. Its presentation to the insurance company is a legal basis for collecting material costs for the restoration of a vehicle damaged in an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance.

Receiving monetary compensation is possible only if no errors were made when drawing up the Europrotocol. This document must record in detail all the events that occurred, taking into account external factors (traffic lights, other traffic participants, terrain, etc.).

Accident scene diagram form

*Click to enlarge in full format and save if necessary.

We also invite you to download a blank accident scene diagram form, which, from July 1, 2015, must be filled out by every driver who is involved in a minor accident where there are no injured people or disagreements between drivers.

Attention! Download file in .doc format

Download: Download file: Accident scene diagram form [33.5 Kb] (downloads: 3262) View online file: Accident scene diagram form

You can also save the accident site diagram form in .jpg format

To do this, you need to click above (to increase the size of the form) and right-click to select “Save image as...”. Then you can save this form in picture format on your computer, tablet or phone, and if necessary, you can print it on a printer.

Download: - graphic format .jpg.

What should be included in an accident report?

Russian legislation does not have particularly stringent requirements for the artistic component of the road traffic accident diagram. The main factor is the reliability and completeness of the information provided. Using this scheme, traffic police and insurance company employees establish the responsibility of the parties. In 2021, the road accident report must include the following information:

A detailed description of the location of the accident that occurred (full names of streets, routes, etc.).
Detailed location of vehicles before the accident with directions indicated.
If there were obstacles in the path of the vehicles, they should be described in detail.
Detailed location of traffic lights, road signs and marking lines. The latter is needed in order to find out whether the participants in the accident had restrictions on performing certain maneuvers.
If there were other vehicles on the road at the time of the accident, you must indicate them.
The place where the first contact of vehicles occurred.
Location of cars after an accident.

How to draw a diagram

Then you can start drawing a diagram of the incident. To do this, you will need a blank sheet of paper and a blue ballpoint pen, which are best kept in the glove compartment for such cases. It is also advisable to use a ruler. If you don’t have it at hand, which is quite likely, then you can draw lines on the diagram using a driver’s license, credit card or other similar object.

Look around, find out from passers-by or on the map the address closest to the scene of the incident and record the exact time. All this will be needed when drawing up the diagram. Then find two eyewitnesses to the accident and ask them to act as witnesses.

Draw the road surface

First, draw a picture of the section of the road where the accident occurred. Schematically display the traffic situation so that it is clear where the accident occurred: on a straight line, at an intersection (and what type), or in a parking lot. This will make it easier for traffic police officers to navigate the situation, determine which rules were violated and which of the participants in the accident is to blame.

Show markup

One of the most important points when drawing up an incident diagram, which can play a key role in proving or disproving the guilt of one of the participants in the accident. Apply markings to the diagram, be sure to indicate the number of traffic lanes, dividing lines, edges of the roadway, as well as additional markings such as pedestrian crossings, if present.

Display driving direction

Complete the diagram and use arrows to indicate the direction of flow along each of the stripes. Note which direction the participants in the incident were moving, whether they were overtaking, changing lanes or other maneuvers.

Particular attention should be paid to this point if the accident occurred at a road intersection.

Draw the position of the cars during the incident

Map the vehicles involved in the accident to show their position relative to each other before and after the collision. Any designation can be used, but most often cars are depicted as rectangles, marking the front part with a triangle.

Instead of writing down the make and model of each car, you simply assign a letter or number to each car. For example, "A" and "B" or "1" and "2". Under the diagram it will be possible to decipher them, indicating full information and the nature of the damage received.

Specify the trajectory of the cars

With the help of the trajectory plotted on the diagram, traffic police officers and the insurance company will be able to correctly assess all the factors that influenced the accident in order to determine the culprit and assign compensation for damage.

The dotted line should depict the trajectory of both participants in the incident shortly before the accident, showing their location. Brake marks, if any, also need to be marked on the diagram.

Make a reference to the area

The diagram shows the names of streets and directions of movement along them. Be sure to mark nearby buildings and mark the edges of the roadway.

In addition, it is worth indicating the distances from the front and rear wheels of the cars to the side of the road, as well as the distances from each of the cars to a pole, tree or other stationary object.

Describe the details of the incident

At the end, you need to add important additional information to the diagram: traffic signs located near the accident site, traffic lights and their signals. All this will also help to establish the circumstances of the incident and make the right decision on it.

Please note that no changes can be made to the diagram. Therefore, be extremely careful and do not make mistakes.

Compilation requirements

When drawing up a road accident diagram in 2021, you must adhere to the established requirements:

The Europrotocol must be filled out exclusively with a black or blue ballpoint pen.
It is recommended to fill out the document in block letters.
Each participant fills out their part independently.
If there is a need to make corrections to the diagram, then first cross out this part of the diagram (with the same pen), and then put the signature “correction is correct.”
When all the points are completed, participants study the document and then sign it on the back. Once the Euro Protocol is signed, it is no longer possible to make any adjustments to it. Therefore, you should check all the data as carefully as possible.

Step-by-step instructions for drawing up an accident diagram yourself

If the participants in the accident have no disagreements, then the road accident diagram in 2021 is drawn up independently. The sequence of actions is as follows:

The scale of the drawing is determined.
The first step is to depict the section of the road (on which the accident occurred) with a detailed designation of the landscape, traffic lights and road signs. There is no need to go deep and apply all the smallest details.
Next, vehicles are applied to the paper. They are usually depicted as a rectangle (headlights - as a triangle).
After this, the exact coordinates of the vehicles must be plotted on the accident diagram both before and after the accident. To do this, measurements are taken (distance between vehicles, from wheels to the side of the road, etc.). For such purposes, it is advisable to have a tape measure.

There should be no blots in the drawing, so the best option is to first draw up a “draft”, agree on it, and after both drivers have come to a common opinion, draw up a full-fledged diagram with clarification of all the details. When the drivers have jointly drawn up an accident diagram, you can proceed to filling out the notification form (issued along with the insurance policy).

Methodology for drawing up a diagram

The diagram can be drawn on a separate A4 sheet (if the accident is recorded by traffic police officers) or in paragraph 17 of the Europrotocol.

If the diagram is drawn up by drivers themselves, it must be drawn on the “Notification of a Road Accident” form, which consists of a main sheet and an insert.

The data entered on the first sheet is copied onto it. Both sheets have equal legal force.

The position of the area where the collision occurred is indicated on the paper, the names of neighboring streets, house numbers located nearby, or shopping centers and other possible landmarks, traffic lights, signs, markings, and so on are indicated.

The position of the vehicles at the time of the collision is schematically plotted on paper (vehicles are usually depicted as rectangles), designated “A”, “B”.

Arrows are drawn to depict directions of movement. The location of the collision is X. Below the image is a description of the symbols.

The Notice contains the following information:

place (if the collision occurred on the highway, record its name, kilometer), date, exact time down to the minute;
the number of damaged cars (2 for the Europrotocol), whether there are any casualties (you need to indicate “0” for the Europrotocol, if you enter other data, then you need to call the traffic police);
witnesses to the accident and their testimony, if any;
accurate information about damaged cars, vehicle owners, persons who were driving the car at the time of the accident;
information about the insurance company of the participants, the number of the current policy, its validity period;
list of car damages;
whether the traffic accident was registered by a traffic police officer (you must indicate the badge number in paragraph 8);
in paragraphs 9-15, drivers indicate their data, data of their vehicles, damage, document data, and insurer;
in paragraph 16, participants must mark one of the 23 provided circumstances of the accident or describe another circumstance;
accident diagram (clause 17).

The following conventions may be needed:

cars are designated by rectangles, signed as A, B;
at the bottom of the document there should be a link that points to the designation (for example, A - Nissan Qashqai vehicle, and its registration number;
references to the accident indicated in the diagram, signs and traffic lights must be noted.

Please note that:

A parking lot is not a stop. Not if the car stopped at a red traffic light. Need o.
When overtaking one vehicle by another, if the car was changing lanes at the same time, you need to “Change lane.”

To simplify the procedure for drawing up diagrams and providing assistance to participants in road accidents, you can use standard accident diagrams. How are they drawn?

Typical schemes

All standard diagrams can be found on the official website of RSA: https://www.autoins.ru/media/europrotokol/media/Tip%20shemi%20pri%20oforml%20documentov%20o%20DTP.pdf.

This is a set of data on the approximate circumstances of the accident, completed points of the road accident form, recommendations on the distribution of responsibility for damage caused between the participants in the collision, as well as a graphic representation of the circumstances of the incident (location of vehicles on the road at the time of the accident, place of contact, location of signs, markings).

In total, the document contains 31 examples of typical schemes, a description of the circumstances, and a conclusion.

Road accident diagram - Sample (Example)

Typical road accident schemes are used in the following cases:

When drawing up the Europrotocol, i.e. the participants did not involve police officers in the process.
The use of such schemes is advisable if there are no victims, and the participants agree with the assessment of the circumstances of the incident. From this paragraph it is obvious who signs the road accident diagram: both participants.

Standard diagrams are not drawn up:

in case of violations of the procedure and conditions for registering an accident, which are provided for by the law “on compulsory motor liability insurance”;
in case of a non-contact accident;
the collision occurred outside the process of movement;
none of the standard diagrams reflects the circumstances of what happened;
it is impossible to establish the mechanism of the incident from the documents provided by the participants;
the Notice does not contain the signatures of the parties, which certify the fact of agreement with the circumstances of the accident, or paragraphs 16 and 17 are filled out incorrectly.

The answer to the question of how to draw up an accident diagram yourself using a sample can be found on the official website of Rosgosstrakh: https://www.rgs.ru/upload/iblock/ded/izveshchenie_o_dtp.pdf.

The form is available in the Appendix to Bank of Russia Regulation No. 431-P dated September 19, 2014 . Also at the same link you can find detailed and up-to-date instructions for filling out the form.

Participants in an accident send the completed form to the insurance company within five days. Then they submit their vehicles for inspection by an independent technical expert.

Drawing up and signing an Accident Notice is not an act that recognizes the guilt or innocence of the participant in the accident. But a correctly completed document will speed up the work of the insurer and reduce the time required to receive compensation.

When drawing up a diagram, all information about the incident, participants and witnesses is taken into account. Two sets of forms are issued when purchasing an insurance policy. It should be stored in the car.

You need to keep track of what the other participant fills out. There should be no contradictions or inconsistent points in the scheme.

If the Notice does not contain any information or the entries are made illegible, the insurance company will be forced to independently collect the missing information, which may affect the timing of payment of compensation and the possibility of recognizing the case as insured.

The notification of an accident is filled out in block letters, without errors. The required cells are marked with a cross or a tick. If there is no information in the columns, you need to draw a long dash or “Z”.

If the document is damaged or difficult to read, it must be reissued. You cannot make any changes or additions after signing and disconnecting the document.

If the second participant does not want to sign the form or fill it out together, then the circumstances do not fall under the law “on compulsory motor liability insurance”, it is not possible to file an accident in a simplified manner, it is necessary to call the traffic police.

Recommendations:

Corrections or additions are certified by the signatures of the parties.
You should not leave blank fields.
If there are witnesses and they agree to confirm the circumstances, their testimony must be recorded.
The total number of filled cells should be indicated.
In the diagram, indicate the names of the streets, direction of movement, position of the vehicle and other details. You can use standard diagrams.
You must try to avoid contradictions, otherwise insurance payment may be denied.
It is necessary to sign the Notice on both sides. By this, the participants confirm that there are no disagreements.

After reading the detailed instructions specified in the article, there should be no difficulties in drawing up an accident diagram.

Video: How to draw up an accident diagram

Download:

Road accident diagram - Form.doc

An example of a self-made road accident diagram

This is what the form for drawing up a road accident diagram looks like:

A typical diagram in which 2 vehicles moving in the same direction collided at an intersection. The cross indicates the location of the collision, the arrows indicate the direction of movement. The drawing contains street names and locations of traffic lights. Pay attention to the header - it indicates the place and date of the accident.

How to create an accident diagram online?

Inexperienced drivers may have problems drawing up an accident diagram; several online services have been created specifically for such situations to make this task easier in 2021:

Autocadabra. An easy-to-use editor on one of the most popular automotive sites. With its help, you can reproduce even a very complex accident, since the number of elements (road signs, vehicles, markings, etc.) in this service is not limited. This is the most popular instrument of its kind. Link - https://autokadabra.ru/road-editor
Drawing up an accident diagram online. A Voronezh car buying company has developed its own service. It differs from the previous one in its unpretentiousness (it works even with a slow Internet connection). Link - https://avtovikup136.ru/drawing-diagram-accident-online/
Constructor of traffic situations. Another powerful service for drawing up an accident diagram. It features more diverse functionality. The only negative is the relatively long loading time of pages (this is due to the fact that upon first launch a library of various files and data is loaded). Link - https://www.roadimage.ru

When can you not draw up a diagram yourself?

Independent drawing up of an accident diagram in 2021 is permissible only if the following list of conditions is met:

As a result of the traffic accident, only cars were damaged, and each participant has a compulsory motor liability insurance policy.
There were no injuries or fatalities in the accident. Any other property (for example, road signs, shop windows, etc.).

If there are victims, a protocol is drawn up with the obligatory presence of witnesses (Article 214 of the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 185).

The damage to the car amounts to more than 100 thousand rubles, the participants in the accident could not reach an agreement, and they have disagreements regarding the degree of guilt.

If at least one of the conditions presented above is not met, then you cannot independently draw up an accident diagram in 2021 and registration must take place in the general manner (with the involvement of traffic police inspectors or accident commissioners).

If these rules are ignored, the insurance company will have the right to refuse payment.

What is the Europrotocol and how to fill it out correctly

Registration of an accident without traffic police officers was called the Europrotocol, by analogy with the long-standing procedure for recording small accidents in European countries. Also called a document drawn up at the time of an accident and presented to the insurance company to receive compensation for damage.

In what cases is the Europrotocol filled out?

The procedure for drawing up the Euro Protocol is regulated by clause 2.6.1 of the Traffic Rules and Art. 11.1 of the Federal Law “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners” No. 40-FZ of April 25, 2002 . (hereinafter referred to as the Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”).

According to regulations, citizens can register an accident without involving the police if the following criteria are met:

Only two vehicles were involved in the collision;
There was no harm to people's life or health;
Only two of the participants' cars were damaged from the accident;
Both drivers have valid auto insurance policies;
There is no disagreement between the drivers about the circumstances of the accident.
The amount of damage caused to the innocent party's car does not exceed the established limit.

Any deviation from these rules is a reason to contact the traffic police.

The absence of a driver among the persons indicated in the MTPL policy as allowed to drive does not mean that his liability is not insured.

It is also worth considering the fact that if one of the vehicles is registered in a foreign country, and the liability of its owner is insured in accordance with the international Green Card system, then this case also falls under the criteria for simplified registration of an accident, and participants can draw up documents without calling employees Traffic police

Payment limit under the Europrotocol

From June 1, 2021, the maximum amount of insurance compensation paid under a simplified procedure has been increased to 100 thousand rubles (Clause 4, Article 11.1 of the Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”). Until 06/01/18 the amount was 50 thousand rubles .

The victim who has completed the Europrotocol cannot demand an insurance payment exceeding the specified limit. If the amount of damage is greater, the missing amount can be recovered from the culprit of the incident in court.

The exception is drivers who recorded an accident using the GLONASS system or licensed software in Moscow, St. Petersburg and adjacent areas. For them, the payment limit under the Europrotocol is 400 thousand rubles.

Europrotocol form

The Europrotocol is the only document drawn up in case of an accident without State Traffic Inspectorate employees. It is attached to the victim’s application for compensation from the insurance company. Together with photographs and videos from the scene of the incident, the document proves the victim’s right to payment for damages. Receipt of payment under compulsory motor liability insurance depends on the correct completion of the form.

The Euro Protocol form is the usual Notification of an accident, issued by drivers for the insurance company both in accidents with the involvement of traffic police inspectors and without them. The document is issued by the insurer when issuing an MTPL policy.

form

The form consists of two copies of the Notice for each participant in the accident and instructions attached to them. The second form is self-copying; when the top sheet is filled out, the text is repeated on the bottom sheet.

The drivers of two vehicles involved in an accident fill out one Accident Notification form. In this case, both the front and back sides of the Road Accident Notification must be completed. The front part of the protocol is filled out jointly by the participants in the incident, the back part is filled out by each driver independently. The participant in the accident selects any of the columns (“A” or “B”) and enters information about his vehicle in his column.

The front part of the Road Accident Notice contains fields and columns that indicate:

place, date, time of the accident;
circumstances of the incident;
information about the participants in the accident, about witnesses, about insurers;
the nature and list of visible damaged parts and elements;
other necessary information.

The road traffic accident diagram in the Euro Protocol is one of the most important parts of the document. The incident plan is located in paragraph 17 of the front part of the Notice. The drawing must correspond to the information included in other sections of the protocol.

If both drivers do not have an Accident Notice, you can download and print the scheme form for the insurance company on the Internet. However, both copies will have to be filled out manually. It is important that they correspond to each other and have no discrepancies.

In this article above you can download the current Europrotocol form with a diagram.

The correctness of the document, including the incident plan, is certified by the signatures of both participants.

Common Mistakes

When recording a traffic accident by a traffic police inspector, problems usually do not arise. However, when drivers, according to the European Protocol, draw up an accident diagram on their own, mistakes often occur. Let's note the most typical of them in 2021:

The place of the first contact (impact) of the vehicles, which entailed further consequences of the accident, was incorrectly determined. Inaccuracies are caused in most cases due to insufficient care and reaction of drivers.
Conflicting descriptions of traffic lights at the time of the incident. In such situations, eyewitnesses are usually brought in as witnesses in order to establish which driver is right.
Hiding by drivers factors of their performance of certain maneuvers. This happens solely because of intent. Distortion of information is made in order to deflect blame from oneself and shift it to another participant in the accident. A typical example is when a driver refuses to admit that he was overtaking or speeding before the collision.

Common mistakes when drawing up a road accident diagram in 2021

If a representative of the State Traffic Inspectorate is involved in drawing up an accident plan, usually there are no problems in drawing up the plan. However, the use of the European protocol leads to the need to perform the procedure independently. As a result, the risk of an error increases. Most often, drivers admit the following:

The location of the first contact of vehicles is determined incorrectly. The cause of the error is often inattention.
The driver is trying to hide the execution of certain maneuvers. Actions are performed solely due to the presence of intent. By carrying out manipulation, the motorist hopes to shift the blame onto another participant in the incident. An example of this is the refusal to admit to attempting to overtake before a collision or speeding.
Traffic light signals are described inconsistently. In this case, eyewitnesses are brought in to clarify the circumstances. Based on their testimony, a decision is made as to which driver is right.

Consequences in case of incorrect drawing up of an accident diagram

If at least one rule was violated when drawing up an accident diagram in 2021, it will be declared invalid. Such a document will not be accepted either by the traffic police or by the insurance company, therefore, the victim will not be able to receive monetary compensation for the damage caused.

An unpleasant conclusion follows: the driver who is not the culprit of the accident is primarily interested in the correctness of the diagram. The second participant in the incident may deliberately distort information or incorrectly draw up his part of the document. Therefore, in case of the slightest disagreement, it is recommended to invite traffic police officers or emergency commissioners to the scene of accidents.

Please note: a car with a trailer counts as one vehicle.

Consequences of incorrect drawing

Violation of the rules for drawing up a graphic plan is the reason for declaring the document invalid. Failure to comply with the registration conditions or entering false information is grounds for refusal to initiate an administrative case or to pay monetary compensation from the insurance company. If a disagreement arises with another driver, you must call a traffic police officer to investigate.

The occurrence of an emergency is the reason for the mandatory drawing up of an accident diagram. Drivers have the right to independently depict the circumstances of the incident or wait for the inspector to arrive. Correct execution of the graphic plan, indication of reliable information, affixing a signature are mandatory requirements for recognizing the drawing as a document with legal force.

Nuances

Let's highlight a few more pitfalls that you should know in order not to be refused by an insurance company in 2021:

The accident diagram must be drawn on a separate A4 sheet (if the accident is being investigated by traffic inspectors), or in paragraph 17 of the Europrotocol.
When drawing up independently, the drawing must be depicted on the “notification of an accident” form.
Vehicles must be marked in the form of rectangles with symbols (A and B).
The diagram must show all maneuvers performed, especially overtaking and lane changes.
The testimony of witnesses can be entered into the protocol only with their consent (oral form is sufficient).
It is allowed to use standard road accident diagrams (if they are suitable). You can download them on the website of any insurance company, for example, Rosgosstrakh.

Typical diagrams and examples

The Russian Union of Motor Insurers has developed standard schemes for road accidents. They are used by insurance companies to determine the extent of liability of participants.

Download standard diagrams

When analyzing the data presented in the Notification of an accident, employees of the insurance company compare the accident plans drawn by the drivers with standard diagrams on the RSA website. After assigning the drawing to one of the types, the circumstances of the incident and the nature of the damage are compared. If there are no contradictions, the guilt of the drivers is determined.

A correctly completed Road Accident Notification form, when settling an insured event in a simplified manner, will speed up the work of the insurance company and will reduce the time it takes to receive insurance compensation.