Hot Topic: Crash Report Development

FMCSA Crash Data Collection Resource Home Page

1. Background

2. Crash Reporting

3. Instruction

4. Extraction of Data

5. Merging of Fields

6. Mutual Exclusivity

7. Sample Collection

Merging of Fields:
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. Another example would be not allowing 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.

Carrier Name combined with Vehicle Owner

Combining Vehicle Owner with Carrier will not provide for the proper recording of either the carrier or the owner in many instances. If an officer records the owner's name and then the USDOT# of the carrier, it will not be able to be matched in SAFETYNET if they differ. Also, if the officer records the carrier's name, the name of the vehicle owner may be lost.

The above report field provides insufficient space to record the carrier name. This promotes incomplete names making it difficult to match carriers.