ACCIDENT SEA
The Accident SEA Value reflects a carrier's crash experience relative to its peers. The Accident SEA Value is
based on the Accident Involvement Indicator (AII) and the Recordable
Accident Indicator (RAI). The AII
uses measures derived from state-reported crash data normalized by power unit data from the Motor Carrier
Census. The RAI uses measures based on recordable crash and annual vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) data
gathered at the most recent compliance review. The sections that follow present the specific computations
for each measure, indicator, and the Accident SEA Value. Figure 3-1 shows the computational hierarchy
used to calculate an Accident SEA Value.
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Figure 3-1. Accident
SEA Value Computational Hierarchy
Accident Involvement Indicator (AII)
SafeStat uses the
state-reported crash data and Motor Carrier Census power unit (trucks, tractors, hazardous material tank trucks, motor coaches, and school buses) data to calculate the Accident Involvement Measure (AIM) for all carriers. SafeStat uses only vehicles involved in crashes that have occurred within the last 30 months and time weights the data to give more relevance to recent crashes than to older crashes. It also weights individual crashes based upon the consequences of the crash (i.e., vehicle towed, injury, fatality, and release of hazardous material). SafeStat then normalizes this weighted crash information by the number of power units to obtain the AIM. Carriers with similar numbers of state-reported crashes are grouped, compared to one another by their AIMs, and ranked on a percentile basis. SafeStat assigns a percentile number (from 0-100) to the AII of each carrier, based on that rank. A carrier must have two or more crashes to have the potential to receive a deficient AII, i.e., 75 or higher.
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State-Reported (Reportable) Crash Data
States provide a crash report for each commercial motor vehicle involved in a crash that meets the reportable crash standard. A reportable crash involves a vehicle being towed from the scene, or an injury or fatality. Each crash report is counted as a crash by SafeStat. SafeStat uses the following data elements from the reportable crash data to calculate the carrier's AII:
- Date of the crash
- Injuries
- Fatalities
- Release of Hazardous Material (HM)
Census Power Unit Data
SafeStat computes the
AII using state-reported crash data, which are normalized by the
number of owned, term-leased, and trip-leased power units (trucks, tractors, hazardous
material tank trucks, motor coaches, and school buses) contained
in the Census data. The primary source of power unit information in the
Census is Forms MCS-150 and MCS-151. Carriers are required to update their
MCS-150 information biennially. When the number of power units for a
carrier is suspect, specific state/federal organizations are notified to
obtain the most accurate value.
Accident Involvement Measure (AIM)
SafeStat uses
the reportable crash data that fall within three time windows. It
time weights the data to give more relevance to recent crash involvement than
to older crash involvement. It also weights individual crashes based upon the
consequences of the crash (i.e., vehicle towed, injury, fatality, and
release of hazardous material). SafeStat combines these two weighting
aspects into a quantity called the Total Consequence/Time Weighted Crashes
(TCTWC). SafeStat calculates the AIM by dividing the TCTWC by the average
number
of power units (PU) for the carrier to normalize the measure. The basic
equation for the AIM is shown below. The steps that follow the equation
detail SafeStat's calculation of the AIM.
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Calculation of the Accident Involvement Indicator (AII)
SafeStat uses the Accident Involvement Measure (AIM) to calculate
the Accident Involvement Indicator (AII). The following steps detail SafeStat’s
calculation of AII.
| Group |
Number of Vehicles Involved in State-Reported Crashes |
| 0 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
| 2 |
2-3 |
| 3 |
4-8 |
| 4 |
9-20 |
| 5 |
21-88 |
| 6 |
89+ |
Recordable Accident Indicator (RAI)
SafeStat uses recordable crash and
vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) data gathered during compliance reviews to
calculate the Recordable Accident Rate
(RAR) for all carriers that have had compliance reviews within the past 12 months. SafeStat takes the number of recordable crashes and normalizes it by VMT to obtain an RAR. Carriers with similar numbers of recordable crashes are grouped, compared to one another by their crash rates, and ranked on a percentile basis. SafeStat assigns a percentile number (from 0-100) to each carrier based on that rank. A carrier must have two or more crashes to potentially receive a deficient RAI, i.e., 75 or higher.
SafeStat uses the recordable crash data described above from the most recent review of a carrier that was performed within the last 12 months to produce a measure called the Recordable Accident Rate (RAR). The RAR is computed by dividing the total number of recordable crashes (RC) by the number of annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and then multiplying this quotient by a convenient constant (in this case, 1,000,000) to establish a manageable RAR size. The basic equation for RAR follows. The steps following the equation detail SafeStat's calculation of the RAR.
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SafeStat calculates the Recordable Accident Indicator (RAI) by ranking the RAR values and transforming them into percentiles. The following steps detail SafeStat's calculations.
The Accident SEA Value establishes the carrier's safety status concerning its crash history. SafeStat uses the Accident Involvement Indicator (AII), the Recordable Accident Indicator (RAI), and any state-reported crashes that have occurred since the CR was performed to calculate the Accident SEA Value. Several possible cases exist in determining the Accident SEA Value. SafeStat determines which case exists for each carrier and calculates the Accident SEA Value accordingly.
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