Potential Crash Report Problems:
Limited space on a form can result in the use of space saving measures such as a “merging” of data elements into a single field.  This can result in fields that don’t appropriately record the intended data.  One example would be the use of the same field for the officer to record the registered vehicle owner and the responsible carrier.  The owner of the vehicle is NOT always the motor carrier.  If the officer records the name of the owner and the USDOT# of the proper motor carrier, this will produce a mis-match when the case is uploaded in SAFETYNET.  Conversely, recording the motor carrier can cause the registered vehicle owner to be lost.  Another example would be a lack of sufficient space for the officer to write the entire motor carrier name or address.  This promotes abbreviations and partial names to be recorded, making it difficult to resolve any errors.