NC-DMV-349 Crash Report Form - Crash Narrative - FILLING OUT THE DMV-349

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by sagouaw

NC DMV-349 is a crash report form defining what qualifies as a reportable motor vehicle crash, including fatality, non-fatal personal injury, property damage thresholds, and timing/location requirements on public trafficways. It standardizes terminology for describing crashes, provides instructions for completing the crash narrative, and specifies data entry rules such as typing/ink color and legibility. The form also collects structured details on locality, road surface, weather, contributing circumstances, commercial motor vehicle status, and person/vehicle attributes like seating position, DOB, ethnicity, gender, airbag deployment, entrapment, ejection, and names/addresses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Crash report criteria

Completing DMV-349 instructions

Crash details and coded fields

Locality, road surface, and weather

Contributing circumstances

Person and vehicle identifiers

Commercial motor vehicle definition

Occupant, seating, demographics, and injury indicators

North Carolina Crash Report Form DMV-349 A reportable motor vehicle crash must meet at least one of the following criteria: • results in a fatality, or • a non-fatal personal injury, or • property damage of $1,000 or greater, or • property damage of any amount to a vehicle seized In addition, a reportable motor vehicle crash must occur on a trafficway (any land way open to the public as a matter of right or custom for moving persons or property from one place to another) or occur after the motor vehicle runs off the roadway but before events are stabilized. The terms collision, accident, and crash are synonymous when describing a motor vehicle crash. (FILLING OUT THE DMV-349) (*) EXPLAIN IN CRASH NARRATIVE (-) IF QUESTION DOES NOT APPLY, | |
(1) Locality
1 Rural (<30% developed)
2 Mixed (30% to 70% developed)
3 Urban (>70% developed)

1
(2) Predominant Development Type
1 Farms, woods, pastures
2 Residential
3 Commercial
4 Institutional
5 Industrial

(3) Road Surface Condition
1 Dry
2 Wet
3 Water (standing, moving)
4 Ice
5 Snow
6 Slush
7 Sand, Mud, Dirt, Gravel
8 Fuel, Oil
9 Other*
10 Unknown

(4-5) Weather Condition (Maximum-two per crash)
45

1 Clear
2 Cloudy
3 Rain
4 Snow
5 Fog, smog, smoke
6 Sleet, hail, freezing rain/drizzle
7 Severe crosswinds
8 Blowing sand, dirt, snow
9 Other*

6
(6) Weather Contributed To the Crash
1 Yes 2 No 3 Unknown
| | | USE A DASH
(Ifa section does not apply, draw diagonal line through section)
❏ ONLY USE “CHECK BLOCKS” IF THEY APPLY
The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requests that:
1. The DMV-349 should be typewritten or if handwritten the officer should use black ink,
2. The report should be legible. This is of the utmost importance for clarity, when reports are microfilmed or imaged for later storage, and
3. The original should be submitted to the DMV Traffic Records Section. | | | | | | | (8-9) Contributing Circumstances, Non-Motorist (Maximum-two per person)
0 None
1 Coming from behind parked veh.
2 Darting
3 Lying and/or illegally in roadway
4 Failure to yield right of way
5 Not visible (dark clothing, etc.)
6 Inattentive (talking, eating,etc.)
7 Failure to obey traffic signs, signals
8 Wrong side of road
9 Other*
10 Unknown
(12-13) Contributing Circumstances, Roadway (Maximum-two per crash)
0 None (no unusual conditions)
1 Road surface condition
2 Debris
3 Rut, holes, bumps
4 Work zone (construction, maintenance, utility)
5 Worn, travel-polished surface
6 Obstruction in roadway
7 Traffic control device inoperative, not visible or missing
8 Shoulders low, soft or high
9 No shoulders
10 Non-highway work
11 Other*
12 Unknown | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | (20) Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV)
A commercial motor vehicle (CMV) is defined as a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:
a. Has a gross combination weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds inclusive of a towed unit, or
b. Is designed to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver, or
b. Is of any size and is used in the transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and which require the motor vehicle to be placarded under the Hazardous Mater

FAQs

What crashes must be reported using DMV-349 in North Carolina?

A reportable crash must meet at least one criterion: a fatality, a non-fatal personal injury, property damage of $1,000 or greater, or property damage involving a seized vehicle. It must also occur on a trafficway or after the vehicle runs off the roadway but before events are stabilized.

How should officers fill out the DMV-349 form for clear processing?

The DMV requests the report be typewritten, or if handwritten, completed in black ink and kept legible. The original should be submitted to the DMV Traffic Records Section.

How is a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) identified on DMV-349?

Check box 20 if the vehicle meets CMV criteria such as a gross combination weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds, transporting 16 or more passengers, or being used for hazardous materials requiring placarding under the Hazardous Materials Regulations.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by sagouaw