How will the Safety Measurement System (SMS) handle crashes when motor carriers are not at fault?
The structure of the new SMS is such that crash accountability is not automatically determined or considered. In fact, recordable crash reports submitted to the FMCSA by the States do not include an accountability determination. Consequently, motor carriers are identified for possible intervention based on recordable crashes without consideration of accountability. This approach is taken because data analysis has historically shown that motor carriers that are involved in crashes are likely to be involved in more future crashes than the carriers that are not. Put simply, past crashes are a good predictor of future crashes. However, FMCSA recognizes this as a concern and is considering several short- and long-term approaches to address it. Initially, because FMCSA understands that many crashes are not preventable on the part of the motor carrier, the short-term plans are to exclude the Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) percentile ranking from publ
