[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 195 (Friday, October 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69900-69901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24288]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0089]


Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments .

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 
coordination with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the 
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration (FMCSA), is in the process of reviewing the 
Guidelines for the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Fourth 
Edition, December 2012, and requests comments to determine appropriate 
improvements to address stakeholder concerns. The MMUCC provides States 
with a dataset for describing crashes of motor vehicles in transport 
that generates the information necessary to improve highway safety 
within each State and nationally. NHTSA and GHSA established an expert 
panel to review the proposed changes and comments received from Federal 
Register Notice FR Doc. 2016-09231. On July 27-28, 2016, the MMUCC 
expert panel met and decided on initial changes to MMUCC based on input 
from the subject matter experts in attendance and written comments 
submitted in response to a April 21, 2016 request for comments. The 
MMUCC panel will meet again on October 27-28, 2016, to continue 
deliberating changes to MMUCC and is seeking public input on additional 
changes. Crash data users may comment on the utility of the current 
MMUCC guidelines, the draft changes to MMUCC, and suggest additional 
changes for the next update to MMUCC. Based on the input received in 
response to this notice, NHTSA and GHSA anticipate issuing changes to 
the Guidelines in 2017.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID number 
NHTSA-2016-0089 or by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30 U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Docket Management Facility, M-30 
U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Governors Highway Safety Association Web site: Go to 
www.ghsa.org. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you should identify the 
Docket number of this notice. Note that all comments received in 
response to this notice at www.regulations.gov or www.ghsa.org will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please read the ``Privacy Act'' heading 
below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association,

[[Page 69901]]

business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy 
Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 
19477-78) or you may visit http://docketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Confidential Information: If you wish to submit any information 
under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three copies of 
your complete submission, including the information you claim to be 
confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. In addition, you 
should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the claimed 
confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address 
given above under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing 
information claimed to be confidential business information, you should 
include a cover letter setting forth the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation. (49 CFR part 512).
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read the proposed changes to 
MMUCC, background documents, or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For programmatic issues: John Siegler, 
Office of Traffic Records and Analysis, NSA-221, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Telephone (202) 366-1268.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria 
(MMUCC) provides data elements for describing crashes of motor vehicles 
in transport that generates the information necessary to improve 
highway safety within each State and nationally. Statewide motor 
vehicle traffic crash data systems provide the basic information 
necessary for effective highway and traffic safety efforts at any level 
of government--local, State, or Federal. State crash data are used to 
perform problem identification, establish goals and performance 
measures, allocate resources, determine the progress of specific 
programs, and support the development and evaluation of highway and 
vehicle safety countermeasures. The use of State crash data can be 
hindered by the lack of uniformity between and within States.
    MMUCC represents a voluntary and collaborative effort to generate 
uniform crash data that are accurate, reliable, and credible for data-
driven highway safety decisions within a State, between States, and at 
the national level. MMUCC was originally developed in response to 
requests by States interested in improving and standardizing their 
State crash data. Lack of uniform reporting made the sharing and 
comparison of State crash data difficult. Different elements and 
definitions resulted in incomplete data and misleading results. MMUCC 
recommends voluntary implementation of a ``minimum set'' of 
standardized data elements to promote comparability of data within the 
highway safety community. It serves as a foundation for State crash 
data systems. The next planned update of the MMUCC Guideline is 
scheduled for 2017.
    Implementation of MMUCC is an ongoing and collaborative effort. 
Changes to MMUCC approved during the first panel meeting on July 27-28, 
2016, included creating new subsections for crashes involving (a) 
fatalities, (b) large vehicles/hazardous materials, and (c) non 
motorists; and modifications to existing crash, vehicle and person data 
elements. This second request for information will provide additional 
input to the MMUCC expert panel on a number of stakeholders' proposals 
including the addition of a new data element for ``Motor Vehicle 
Automation Equipped and Use.'' These topics will be discussed during 
the second meeting on October 27-28, 2016, after which, NHTSA, in 
collaboration with GHSA, FHWA, and FMCSA, will review and finalize the 
MMUCC 5th edition for publication in 2017. Additional information about 
the MMUCC update can be found on the Governor's Highway Safety 
Association Web site www.ghsa.org. Full text of the draft revised 
version of MMUCC can be viewed in the docket. The MMUCC 4th edition can 
be viewed on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web 
site at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811631.pdf.

Steven K. Smith,
Acting Associate Administrator for NHTSA's National Center for 
Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2016-24288 Filed 10-6-16; 8:45 am]
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