An unstabilized situation is a set of events not under human control. It originates when control is lost and terminates when control is regained or, in the absence of persons who are able to regain control, when all persons and property are at rest.
Exclusions:
— Sets of events which are the result of deliberate intent or legal intervention
Examples:
- If intentional acts cause injury or damage beyond that reasonably
to be expected from the acts, the unexpected injury or damage is not
the result of deliberate intent. There is, therefore, an unstabilized
situation unless the contrary can be clearly established.
- In a motor vehicle crash, live electric wires fall on a motor vehicle,
but there is no injury from the electric current while the occupants
remain in the motor vehicle. The unstabilized situation ends with the
occupants in a temporary position of safety.
- Any subsequent injury resulting from attempts by the occupants to leave
the motor vehicle, or attempts by others to rescue the occupants, is a
part of a new unstabilized situation.
- In a motor vehicle crash, the occupants of the motor vehicle are
carried or thrown into water, but there is no injury from the submersion
and the occupants reach a temporary position of safety. At this point
the unstabilized situation has ended.
Any subsequent injury from attempts by the occupants to reach shore, or from attempts by others to rescue the occupants is part of a new unstabilized situation. - In a motor vehicle crash, objects are loosened but remain in place
until all persons are removed from danger from objects that might fall
or roll. No property damage would result if the objects fell or rolled.
This ends the unstabilized situation. Any subsequent injury attributable
to the fall or roll of the loosened objects is not part of the original
unstabilized situation.
- In a motor vehicle crash, the motor vehicle catches on fire and is
burning, but all occupants have been rescued and the fire is under control.
No additional property damage is expected. This is the end of the
unstabilized situation. If the heat of the fire ignites nearby combustible
materials, any subsequent injury or damage from the induced ignition is not
a part of the original unstabilized situation.
- In a motor vehicle crash, an involved motor vehicle carrying explosive
materials is stopped and occupants and bystanders are removed from the
scene. At this point the unstabilized situation is ended. If the explosive
materials detonate during later attempts to remove or salvage them, any
injury or damage resulting from the explosion is not a part of the
original unstabilized situation.
- A pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle in-transport which leaves
the scene. The pedestrian comes to rest in the roadway. Any subsequent
injury resulting from contact with another motor vehicle in-transport
is part of a new unstabilized situation.
- A pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle and thrown into the path
of another motor vehicle and the pedestrian is struck a second time
before coming to rest. There is only one unstabilized situation.
- A motor vehicle in-transport brakes, attempting to avoid a pedestrian
crossing the roadway. The motor vehicle in-transport strikes the
pedestrian.
At the same time (i.e., when the first vehicle started to brake and before it came to rest), a second motor vehicle in-transport swerves to avoid a collision with the braking vehicle, striking a utility pole. The two motor vehicles in-transport do not strike each other, but these events are all within one unstabilized situation.
Cataclysm: A cataclysm is an avalanche, landslide/mudslide, hurricane, cyclone, downburst, flood, torrential rain, cloudburst, lightning, tornado, tidal wave, earthquake, or volcanic eruption.