EVALUATION OF THE MOTOR CARRIER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM CRASH FILE, PHASE ONE

This document is the first in a series of papers presenting the results of an evaluation of the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Crash file undertaken by the Center for National Truck Statistics at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The MCMIS Crash file was developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to allow for research on motor carrier safety problems, and to potentially provide a census of all trucks and buses involved in a traffic crash. The Crash file contains state-supplied data from police crash reports involving drivers and vehicles of all motor carriers operating in the U.S. It now includes a standard set of data elements that the states are required to supply on all trucks and buses involved in traffic crashes that meet a specific severity threshold. The purpose of this evaluation is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the MCMIS Crash file, to identify problems with the data, and to propose solutions. This first phase examines the overall level of reporting of MCMIS data by the states, and evaluates the extent of missing data. Results from the 1994-2000 period show that about 42 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are making efforts at full reporting of the required cases. However, for trucks the overall reporting level of fatal and nonfatal involvements is quite low at 63% of those expected, and for buses the rate is only 44% of expected. There has been continuous improvement in reporting trucks involved in fatal crashes, but less improvement for fatal bus involvements. There is a relative overreporting of injury crash involvements, but underreporting of towaway crashes. Missing data rates are reasonable for variables that provide simple descriptive information about the accident scene, but unacceptably high for details about the vehicle and driver.