Crash Fatality Reporting

Overview

FLHSMV must be notified within 24 hours of any traffic fatality (F) or any serious bodily injury (SBI) crash where a blood sample was drawn from any driver.

FSBI crashes should be reported via DAVID.   The DAVID reporting system will ask for basic information.   Information such as weather conditions, use of safety equipment, etc., is not needed.   HSMV will obtain this information from the final crash report.

Federal Criteria for a Traffic Fatality

Per federal guidelines, a reportable motor vehicle traffic fatality must meet the following criteria for Injury Severity (5) - Fatal (within 30 days):

1. The death must occur within 30 days (720 hours) of the motor vehicle crash.

2. The death must be a direct cause of the crash and not the result of natural causes, heart attack, suicide, homicide, or overdose.

3. The death must occur on a public roadway.

If there is a death and this criteria is not met, Injury Severity (6) - Non-traffic fatality should be used.

Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)

The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is a national data collection system that contains information on all known police-reported motor vehicle crashes in which there was at least one fatality.

FARS federal reporting provides statistical data that is used to support federal funding requests (engineering/education/outreach), improve EMS response, identify or improve safety features installed on vehicles, and identify traffic control device needs.

The FLHSMV FARS team reviews and analyzes crash data.   They gather information from various data sources to ensure that all traffic fatalities are reported accurately and completely.

FLHSMV Annual Crash Close Out

FLHSMV produces a report of crash statistics annually.   As part of this procedure, they conduct a Crash Close Out where they reconcile the total number of crash fatalities in their crash database to the count that FL FARS has identified during their data collection process.

Data Alignment Requirements

The following data elements must be aligned in the FLHSMV and FARS databases.   FLHSMV will contact the LEA Point of Contact (POC) regarding any discrepancies.

Crash Report Number

Crash Date

Crash County

Person Number

Decedent's Name

Injury Severity Code

Common Fatality Report Discrepancies

Common discrepancies found during Crash Close Out include the following:

The wrong person is listed as Injury Severity - Fatal (5)

Conflicting injury severity between the reporting officer and the medical examiner (ME)

Missing crash report, location, person, or name

Missing toxicology results and ME cause of death

Incorrect crash dates

Multiple crash reports for the same occurrence, for example on county lines

A person is listed multiple times

If there are discrepancies, FLHSMV will contact the LEA Point of Contact (POC) to request that the erroneous crash report be corrected via crash update.   They will include a justification or reason within the request.

Reasons for Discrepancies

Reasons for the discrepancies found during Crash Close Out include the following:

Software issues

Missing crash report updates

The crash does not meet the criteria for a fatality.

Occurred after 30 days

Occurred on a private roadway

Death was a result of natural causes

Officer Involvement

When FLHSMV contacts the LEA POC regarding a discrepancy, officers should do the following:

Submit missing reports and/or reports with errors in a timely manner.

Verify that the person information is filled out correctly.

Update the crash with information such as toxicology results and cause of death.

Tips for Completing Crash Updates

Per FLHSMV, when updating a crash report, ensure that:

1. The vehicles are in the same order as the initial crash report

2. All persons involved in the crash are included

3. The crash date and time are unchanged

4. Previously marked traffic fatalities (Injury Severity - Fatal) are confirmed by the Medical Examiner's report

5. The type of median is reported accurately and not left Unknown

6. Crash reports exclude animals as decedents

For instructions on how to update a crash in TraCS, see this page.