Skip to main content

New Guideline helps states better collect crash data

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) in the US has announced that the 4th Edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline has been posted online at www.mmucc.us. The voluntary guideline helps states determine what data to collect at the scene of a motor vehicle crash. The Guideline will, among other things, help states better capture data for emerging issues such as distracted driving, secondary crashes and incidents on private property as well as determine the level of seri
July 3, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 4948 Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) in the US has announced that the 4th Edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Guideline has been posted online at %$Linker: External 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.MMUCC.us Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria website false http://www.mmucc.us/ false false%>.

The voluntary guideline helps states determine what data to collect at the scene of a motor vehicle crash. The Guideline will, among other things, help states better capture data for emerging issues such as distracted driving, secondary crashes and incidents on private property as well as determine the level of serious injury from motor vehicle crashes. States will be able to use federal funding authorised under the new surface transportation MAP-21 legislation to make improvements in their crash and other related data systems and come into compliance with the new MMUCC Guideline.

"Accurate data is essential for states in planning their highway safety programmes and selecting counter-measures that will have the most impact in reducing crashes, serious injuries and fatalities," said Barbara Harsha, GHSA executive director. "States use their crash data to better assess where to invest their limited resources.“

The new distracted driving data element is more descriptive and includes attributes such as manually operating an electronic communications device; talking on hands-free electronic device; talking on hand-held electronic device; other activity; electronic device; passenger; other inside the vehicle (eating, personal hygiene, etc.) and outside the vehicle.

"The intent is for law enforcement to capture a wider range of information about drivers in crashes who were obviously distracted," said Harsha.

MMUCC also includes a better definition of serious injuries by breaking injuries into five logical categories and providing clear definitions for each category. The five categories include: fatal, suspected serious injury, suspected minor injury, possible injury and no apparent injury.

A MMUCC Expert Panel consisting of state and local law enforcement officials, state traffic records coordinators, state department of transportation representatives, state health officials, members of the research community and officials from five federal agencies helped the GHSA and the 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration oversee the effort to update the 3rd Edition of MMUCC to make this resource the best it can be for safety stakeholders across the United States.

Related Content

  • International Making Cities Livable Conference - call for papers
    November 17, 2016
    The 54th International Making Cities Livable Conference takes place in New Mexico, USA on 2-6 October 2017, with the theme of public places for community, democracy, health and equity. Paper proposals are invited from elected officials, scholars and practitioners concerned with the issues such as active mobility, walkable ten minute commuting/reshaping suburbia, integrating public health and planning, health impact assessment and more. For more details and to submit a proposal, please see the confere
  • Russian Days increase profile at Intertraffic
    March 24, 2014
    Russia plans to increase its profile significantly at this year’s Intertraffic with a series of three ‘Russian days’, bringing together representatives of the country’s central and regional governments, public and private companies, plus technical experts. The three sessions, starting at noon at the booth of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation in the RAI’s Elicium Centre, will last for up to an hour. This will allow time for brief talks by specialist speakers, followed by questions from the
  • Interactive map reveals the UK’s riskiest roads
    November 20, 2018
    The A254 between the junction with A28 in Margate and the junction with the A255 near Ramsgate is the UK’s riskiest road, according to an interactive Dangerous Road Map. There were 26 fatal and serious crashes per billion vehicle kilometres on this road, say motor insurer Ageas and the Road Safety Foundation (RSF). Both organisations are now calling on an immediate investment from the UK government of £75 million, and the same amount annually for five years thereafter to improve the country’s riskiest
  • New global database on Bus Rapid Transit launched
    April 3, 2012
    Three global organisations have teamed up to launch what they claim is the most comprehensive, public database of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems around the world. The new site, http://BRTdata.org, was created by Embarq, the World Resources Institute’s centre for sustainable transport, and the Across Latitudes and Cultures - Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence (ALC-BRT CoE), in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA).