National Highway Traffic Safety Administration August 26, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) took a big step toward the goal of unifying the FARS and NASS GES data definitions and changes, simplifying crash data entry and analysis while also reducing costs and errors. The Data Standardization Work Group, consisting of representatives from NHTSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), was chartered in 2006. The mission of the work group was to improve the compatibility of FARS and NASS GES and to bring both systems into alignment with the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), the guideline used now by nearly all States in the development and revision of their crash report forms and databases. After a thorough review of the data elements and attributes (variable values) in FARS and NASS GES and comparison to the recommended MMUCC data elements and attributes, the first of two phases of identified standardization changes were implemented in 2009, involving 45 common data elements. The second and much larger phase involving all the remaining variables was implemented in 2010. This webinar will highlight the 2009 changes. Also, NCSA will be presenting ``how to use'' the auxiliary files created from the FARS and NASS GES data bases.