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34 Hazardous Materials Transportation Incident Data for Root Cause Analysis
The CRASH_MASTER Table contains information on the date and location of the crash, road-
way type, road surface condition, weather conditions, and vehicle configuration. It also contains
information indicating if a hazmat release occurred, the number of fatalities, and serious injuries
(those requiring transport to a medical facility for treatment). Since the state is required to pro-
vide a report for trucks and buses involved in either intrastate or interstate commerce, this table
has two yes and no fields to flag FEDERAL_REPORTABLE and STATE_REPORTABLE crashes.
The CRASH_MASTER Table has five fields that are used when hazardous materials are being
carried by the vehicle involved in the crash.
The CRASH_CARRIER Table lists the carrier name and address information. The CRASH_
DRIVER Table provides the name, address, sex, and birth date of the driver. The table also con-
tains licensure information. The CRASH_EVENT Table contains information on the accident
sequence, beginning with the first dangerous event (e.g., crossing the median). These events do
not consider pre-crash conditions such as speeding, slippery road conditions, poor visibility, etc.,
which are captured in other fields. There is a one-to-one relationship between the records in the
CRASH_CARRIER, CRASH_DRIVER, and CRASH_MASTER tables. Although any number of
events can be entered under a single vehicle incident listed in the CRASH_MASTER Table, for
the majority of records, only one event is listed. In 2005, the maximum number of events asso-
ciated with a single vehicle crash was four. (In the original structure of the data, up to four events
could be coded.)
4.1.4 Threshold for Exclusion or Inclusion
The MCMIS Crash file was developed to capture vehicle data on all serious crashes of trucks
and buses involved in commerce. A crash is considered serious if there is a fatality, an injury
requiring prompt medical attention at a facility away from the accident location, or if one of the
vehicles involved in the crash had to be towed from the scene due to disabling damage. Since the
database reports vehicle involvements, if two qualifying vehicles are involved in an accident,
there will be two records, one for each qualifying vehicle.
4.1.5 Years of Coverage
DOT started to provide funding to states to report serious heavy truck and bus accidents in
1992. In the early years, the underreporting of accidents was high. Although it has improved in
recent years, the non-reporting rate is currently estimated to be about 20%. Some states have a
much higher reporting rate than others.
4.1.6 Types of Fields Covered
The CRASH_MASTER Table contains information about the location of the crash, the vehicle
configuration, the type of roadway, and the weather at the time of the crash. It also contains the
DOT number of the carrier and crash consequences (number of fatalities, injuries, and if it was a
tow-away accident). Most importantly to this project, this table contains the following fields:
· VEHICLE_HAZMAT_PLACARD,
· VEHICLE_HAZMAT_NUMBER,
· VEHICLE_HAZMAT_MATERIAL,
· VEHICLE_HAZMAT_CLASS_ID, and
· HAZMAT_RELEASED.
The first and last fields are yes/no flags. The intent of the middle three is to provide the
UN number, the name of the hazardous material, and the one-digit hazard class number,
respectively. The intent of these three fields is to provide information consistent with the
