x3allamerican Crash Indicator Calculation Detail
The Crash Indicator BASIC is one of 7 BASICs in SMS. It's calculated differently than violation-based BASICs.
What crashes count
DOT-recordable crashes per § 390.5:
- Fatality (any party)
- Bodily injury requiring immediate medical treatment away from scene
- Disabling damage requiring tow-away
Severity weighting
- Fatal crash — 3 points
- Injury crash — 2 points
- Tow-away crash — 1 point
Time weighting
- Crashes in past 0-6 months: 3× weight
- Crashes in past 6-12 months: 2× weight
- Crashes in past 12-24 months: 1× weight
Calculation formula (simplified)
Crash Score = Sum of (Severity × Time Weight) for all crashes in past 24 months
Crash Indicator Percentile = Carrier's Crash Score relative to peer group
Crash Preventability Determination Program
Started 2020, allows carriers to challenge crashes for preventability. If FMCSA determines crash was non-preventable:
- Crash still counts in your record
- But preventability flag is published
- May influence external observers (insurance, customers)
What qualifies for preventability review
- Hit while parked
- Driver hit by drunk driver
- Driver hit by impaired/under-the-influence driver
- Driver hit by suicide
- Driver hit by red-light or stop-sign-running other party
- Driver hit while stationary in traffic
- Driver hit by animal
- Driver hit by infrastructure failure (tree falls, bridge collapse)
How to file
- Apply via FMCSA Crash Preventability Determination Program (online)
- Provide documentation (police report, dashcam footage, witness statements)
- FMCSA reviews and issues determination
Compass support
Compass CSA module:
- Imports crash data from carrier reports
- Flags crashes eligible for preventability review
- Tracks the determination outcome
- Adjusts your dashboard to reflect non-preventable status (still in BASIC, but flagged)
CFR citations
- 49 CFR § 385.4
- FMCSA SMS Methodology — Crash Indicator
- FMCSA Crash Preventability Determination Program
How Compass surfaces this
Searchable in Compass Ask. Runs against the carrier's actual fleet data when invoked from the relevant tracker. Read-only; no actions without explicit user approval.
Built by X3 Compass
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X3 Compass turns these skills into a complete operational platform: driver qualification files, drug & alcohol consortium, MVR pulls, hours-of-service tracking, hazmat shipping, IFTA filing, FMCSA audit prep, and DataQ dispute drafting — all CFR-cited, all in one place.
This skill is published under the X3 Compass open skills initiative. Contributions welcome at https://github.com/x3fleetsafety/skills