•Historical review of models and methods for collision analysis.•Analysis of the Uber collision with a pedestrian using eight methods.•Comparison of eight methods for collision analysis against systemic, theoretical, methodological and practical criteria.•Detailed analysis of the Uber collision with a pedestrian with Actor Map and AcciMap.•Proposed list of potential recommendations for testing automated vehicles. Unlike aviation, maritime and rail, road traffic collision investigation currently does not have a national investigatory body in the UK. Yet the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on the roads is far in excess of those other domains. The research presented in this paper is part of a larger project investigating the development of a road collision investigation branch in the UK. An important part of the process involves identifying a suitable accident analysis method to support investigations with the development of suitable interventions. This paper describes a study that was undertaken to identify a systemic method for investigating road collisions. Eight potential methods were identified and compared using a common incident, that of the recent Uber collision with a pedestrian. The methods were analysed against four sets of criteria: systemic, theoretical, methodological and practical. The AcciMap method, together with the accompanying Actor Map, was recommended as an appropriate approach to support road traffic collision investigations.