Safety Performance Management (Safety PM)

Serious Injury Reporting Planning Tool

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As required under 23 CFR 490.207, by April 15, 2019, States must report serious injuries using the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) 4th Edition definition and attribute.ⁱ States should adopt the MMUCC 4th Edition definition by January 1, 2019, to have a complete and consistent crash data file for the entire 2019 calendar year. While States are only required to adopt the "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" attribute, it is strongly encouraged that States adopt the full "P5. Injury Status" person data element for clarity and ease of use.

A State will be considered compliant with the serious injury definition requirement if:

1. The statewide crash database accurately aggregates the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)";
2. The State crash database, crash data dictionary, and crash report user manual employs the terminology and definitions for the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)";
3. The police crash report employs the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)"; and
4. The seven serious injury types specified in the injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" are not included in any of the other attributes listed in the States' injury status data elements.

This Serious Injury Reporting Planning Tool is a resource to help gauge each State's status. This tool will not be used as an official determination of State compliance. The USDOT will conduct an inventory in calendar year 2019 to officially determine if a State has adopted the MMUCC 4th Edition suspected serious injury definition, attribute, and coding convention.

Self-Assessment Checklist

1. Does the State maintain a crash database capable of accurately aggregating the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" as defined in the "P5. Injury Status" person data element?

○ Yes
○ No

Tip for Success: Work closely with your State information technology office and local jurisdictions to identify key stakeholders that should be included in the effort.

NOTE: States may need to make appropriate alterations to the database programs (in addition to language changes). This may include relabeling, edit checks, and skip logic, among others.

2. Does the crash data dictionary for the database employ the terminology and definitions for the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)"? (Refer to Figure 1)

○ Yes
○ No

Figure 1

3. Does the police crash report employ the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)"? (Refer to Figure 2)

○ Yes
○ No

Tip for Success: Police crash reports used by law enforcement do not need to list the full serious injury reporting definition, but at a minimum, must indicate "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" on the crash report.

Figure 2

4. Do the crash report user manuals employ the terminology and definitions for the MMUCC 4th Edition injury status attribute for "Suspected Serious Injury (A)"? (Refer to Figure 1)

○ Yes
○ No

5. If a State has not adopted the full injury status data element, has the State verified that the seven serious injury descriptors specified in the "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" attribute are not included in any of the other attributes listed in the injury status data elements? (Refer to Figure 1)

○ Yes
○ No

State Success Story

The Connecticut DOT committed to updating its 20-year-old crash report to be MMUCC compliant. Much of its success is attributed to their inclusive and collaborative outreach approach to a cross-section of safety partners and stakeholders, especially law enforcement agencies and record management system (RMS) vendors who provide RMS services to cities. Enlisting their participation early in the process was critical to gaining their support for an updated MMUCC compliant form and implementing a statewide fully electronic crash reporting system. This system went into operation on January 1, 2015.

Law Enforcement Training Materials

Ensuring that State law enforcement personnel are trained on the seven types of injuries included in the definition, and their qualifying characteristics, is essential. The FHWA and NHTSA have several resources available for training law enforcement. Resources include a short-training video, PowerPoint presentation, and a Serious Injury Reporting Visor Card.

Law Enforcement training materials are available at:

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/spm/data_resources.cfm
https://www.transportation.gov/government/traffic-records/serious-injury-reporting

Potential Funding Sources

Eligible federal funding sources States may use to comply with this requirement may include:

• NHTSA: 23 U.S.C. 402 State and Community Highway Safety Grant Program
  These grants offer States funding to reduce deaths, injuries, and property damage from motor vehicle-related crashes.
• NHTSA: 23 U.S.C. 405(c) State Traffic Safety Information System Improvement Grants
  These grants offer States funding to improve the timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniformity, accessibility, and integration of the data in the six core traffic records information systems: crash, driver, vehicle, roadway, citation and adjudication, and injury surveillance. To review eligibility determination, qualification criteria, and use of grant funds, reference 23 CFR part 1200.22.
• FHWA: Highway Safety Improvement Program
  A core Federal-aid program with the purpose to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned roads and roads on tribal lands. To review eligibility determination, qualification criteria, and use of HSIP funds, reference 23 U.S.C. 148
• FHWA: State Planning and Research Funds
  Establishes a cooperative, continuous, and comprehensive framework for making transportation investment decisions throughout the State. To review eligible uses of State planning and research funds, reference 23 U.S.C. 505.

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ⁱ The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Safety Performance Management Measures Final Rule (23 CFR 490) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Uniform Procedures for State Highway Safety Grants Program Interim Final Rule (23 CFR 1300) establish a single, national definition for States to report serious injuries per the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) 4th Edition "Suspected Serious Injury (A)" attribute found in the "P5. Injury Status" person data element.