This document reflects changes to the uniform crash report form (UCRF) as a result of work by the Traffic Records Coordinating Committee (TRCC) over the 2015/16 years. Final changes were approved by the TRCC and the paper form changes incorporated, with printing of the forms/pads in January of 2017.
This revised form has several changes intended to improve the value of the data as well as the ease in which law enforcement can provide such data. The TRCC continues to strive to provide for a user friendly as well as a comprehensive data format in order to support the needs of the various highway safety initiatives (enforcement, engineering, education, and EMS) in Vermont as well as to satisfy national crash data reporting standards.
The TRCC is comprised of representatives from various State and local agency staff who are involved with the collection, dissemination, or analysis of crash data. The TRCC includes representation from the Department of Health, the Department of Information and Innovation, the Agency of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Public Safety including the Vermont State Police and the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, as well as Federal Highway Administration including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and local law enforcement agencies. Changes to the form were made for clarification, ease of use, crash data collection standards, or to eliminate duplication of data, and were performed under the guidance of the TRCC.
As of January 1, 2008, there are two avenues by which law enforcement in Vermont are able to submit crash reports to the State: Electronically via the Web Crash program (herein referred to Web Crash application or the web/electronic application) or the traditional method via paper reports.
The intent of this document is to provide guidance/instruction on the filling out the paper uniform crash report form. However, with the introduction of a web application for crash report filing, it is important to touch on some of the highlights of that web application. An attempt has been made in this document to address the web application and note important steps relating to the electronic submittal process. Appendix E contains Web Crash Helpful Hints and FAQs.
Whether a law enforcement agency submits crash reports by way of the Web Crash application or by submitting paper reports to DMV, the visual effect of each are similar. In other words, the data fields in the Web Crash tool reflect the paper report fields. The only difference in reporting the crash data is that the Web Crash application requires minimum data reporting depending on the crash type, whereas there is no control over the data uniformity or completeness of the paper reports. The minimum data requirement rules allow for a more complete report and database for which to conduct safety analyses and provide support for safety initiatives. These data minimums are outlined in Appendix A.
Features of Revised Crash Report Form