When can you move vehicles before documenting their original position?

• A. Always
• B. Only if they pose a hazard and you've first documented their location
• C. Only if the other driver agrees
• D. Never

Answer: (B)

The situation tests safe scene management: you may move a vehicle to improve safety or clear the roadway, but you must first preserve evidence of where it originally sat. When a crash scene creates a hazard or blocks traffic, you can relocate one or more vehicles, but you should document their exact original positions before moving. This means taking photos from multiple angles, noting the street name and exact spot, recording distances and alignments, and, if possible, making a quick sketch or notes of how the vehicles were oriented, relative to landmarks and each other. Once you have that documentation, you can move the vehicles to a safe location to restore flow or reduce danger, ensuring there’s still an accurate record of the scene for later reconstruction.

That’s why the correct approach is to move only in hazardous or traffic-blocking situations and only after you’ve documented where the vehicles were. It isn’t necessary for the other driver to agree, and you wouldn’t move them in all cases, such as when there’s no hazard and you can safely leave them in place. And moving without any hazard isn’t required, nor is it the default in every situation.