Evaluation of 2008 Kansas crash data reported to the MCMIS Crash File

Abstract

This report is part of a series evaluating the data reported to the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Crash File undertaken by the Center for National Truck and Bus Statistics at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The earlier studies showed that reporting to the MCMIS Crash File was incomplete. This report examines the factors that are associated with reporting rates for the State of Kansas. MCMIS Crash File records were matched to the Kansas crash file to determine the nature and extent of underreporting. It was necessary to focus just on crashes involving a fatality, A-injury or B-injury, or in which a vehicle was towed due to disabling damage, because of problems identifying MCMIS reportable crashes in the Kansas crash file. It is estimated that Kansas reported 65.9 percent to 75.3 of reportable crash involvements in 2008. Reporting rates were found to be related to crash severity, the configuration of the vehicle, and the type of enforcement agency that covered the crash. Over 82.5 percent of fatal crash involvements were reported, 70.9 percent of A- or B-injury involvements, and 63.1 percent of towed/disabled involvements. Trucks and buses as a whole were reported at about the same rates, but transit buses were largely overlooked. Missing data rates are low for most variables. Corresponding data elements in the MCMIS and Kansas crash files were reasonably consistent, though specific problems were noted with hazmat variables and the truck and trailer configuration.