We don’t often post Federal action alerts here, but this very boring-sounding Federal policy change could have big implications for understanding our nation’s traffic safety crisis. So it’s worth taking a moment to submit a comment.
Salud America sounded the alarm and created an action alert you can use to quickly submit a comment to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Comments are due today (May 3), so don’t wait.
The change is part of an update to the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria, and if you’ve never heard of such a thing you can join the club. But it is essentially a set of guidelines the Feds create to establish consistent data collection between states and local agencies. The MMUCC is not mandatory, but it establishes the standard. So if we want widespread improvements in the kinds of traffic crash data various agencies collect, this is the best way to do it. But at the very least, we need to make sure the data collection elements are not weakened.
You can read more about the issue in StreetsBlog USA. Below is the sample text from the Salud America comment form:
Dear National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
It is devastating to me that Americans are dying unnatural and violent deaths on our streets at such high rates, particularly compared to peer countries. I am worried the problem will continue to worsen because America lacks crash data to inform traffic safety improvements.
I am concerned that the changes to the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) have weakened rather than strengthened the guidance and will result in even more inconsistent and insufficient crash data.
Because the primary cause of serious injuries and deaths on roads is the transfer of kinetic energy in a crash and because efforts to increase free-flowing vehicles and the growing height and weight of vehicles are risk factors for injury and death (https://salud.to/megacars), we need better data collection on factors related to kinetic energy, vehicle height and weight, as well as factors related to free-flowing traffic, such as roadway elements and travel speed (https://salud.to/trafficsafety).
After all, “large vehicles are 2 to 3 times more likely to kill a pedestrian than smaller models due to their weight, height, and aggressive front-end vehicle design,” according to Families for Safe Streets (https://salud.to/ncapfactsheet).
Because there are differences in the frequency and severity of crashes among SUVs and pickup trucks, crash data reporting guidance must consider new classifications for motor vehicle body type categories that considers the height of the vehicle beyond merely the body type.
However, the current MMUCC draft neither includes vehicle height and weight nor 85th percentile speed. Also problematic is that the roadway data elements chapter and most roadway data elements were removed from this MMUCC revision.
To strengthen the MMUCC, it should align with a Safe System Approach, which is a public health approach to prevent crashes from happening and minimize the harm caused when crashes do occur, AND include the follow four groups of data elements to better understand key risk factors and protective factors.
First, MMUCC should include the height and weight of those involved in the crash. This data element is important to evaluate crash outcomes, vehicle design (including occupant protection, non-occupant protection, and other safety systems), and safety equipment design and effectiveness, and to assess infrastructure design.
Second, MMUCC should include vehicle height and weight. This could be achieved through additional data elements related to the height and weight of the vehicle beyond the existing motor vehicle body type categories and beyond the vehicle weight rating. This could also be achieved through the reconsideration of attribute values subfields/groups in V13. Motor Vehicle Body Type Category and through the addition of attribute values in V14. Power Unit Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). This data element is important to be used in evaluation, research, and crash comparison purposes, such as to evaluate crash outcomes and vehicle design (including occupant protection, non-occupant protection, and other safety systems).
Third, MMUCC should include 85th percentile speed. This data element is important to evaluate the effectiveness of countermeasures that prevent or reduce the frequency and severity of crashes.
Fourth, MMUCC should add back the chapter on roadway data elements and recommend the chapter for data collection by law enforcement officers. These data elements are important to evaluate infrastructure and the effectiveness of countermeasures that prevent or reduce the frequency and severity of crashes.
Inconsistent and insufficient crash data has hindered efforts to identify risk factors and protective factors, which thwarts the development and adoption of strategies to prevent gruesome deaths and injuries.
We need an MMUCC that strengthens crash data.
