Tribal Crash Reporting Toolkit
Tribal Crash Data Tools
The Tribal Crash Reporting Toolkit is designed to provide Tribal governments with tools to collect, manage, and analyze crash data. Each of the tools in the toolkit are described below along with links to download each tool. The tools are:
- Crash Facts and Fictions Tool
- Data Analysis Tool
- Crash Reporting Tool
- Training Tools
- Quality Control Tool
- Database Tool
- Tribal Self-Assessment Tool
This toolkit was originally published in 2020 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Through a special project initiated by the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria updates and user-friendly improvements have been made to the tools, with the latest version published in 2025.
If you have comments or questions about the toolkit, please direct them to Adam Larsen, Adam.Larsen@dot.gov
Tribal Self-Assessment Tool
Intended to help Tribal governments identify opportunities to improve crash data collection, sharing, and use, the Tribal Self-Assessment Tool includes 21 questions and a selection of responses that describe how the Tribe’s crash system operates. Each question in the Tribal Self- Assessment Tool provides recommended actions depending on the Tribe’s selected responses. Tribes can use the outputs of the tool to develop a crash data improvement action plan. The self-assessment tool is available in two formats:
- Download Interactive Excel Workbook Self-Assessment Tool for Tribes (XLSX)
- Download static PDF, 0.7MB
A complementary self-assessment tool is also available for state governments and can serve as the basis of a conversation to collaborate on improved crash records.
This tool is based on the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 788: Guide for Effective Tribal Crash Reporting, which can be found at: www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/171540.aspx.
Crash Reporting Facts and Fictions Tool
This tool is designed to help Tribal governments and their law enforcement agency partners (whether part of the Tribal government or not) address some of the most common misconceptions about law enforcement crash reporting. This list is intended to address concerns that Tribal agencies may have regarding incomplete, inaccurate, or inconsistent data. The treatments of topics in this tool are organized around various “fictions” about crash reporting. For each fiction, we present the facts of the situation—how the data are collected or used—and the tool includes suggestions on how a Tribe might counter that particular fiction through training, marketing, communications, outreach, and promotions
Data Analysis Tool
This tool is guide for Tribal governments interested in analyzing crashes from their jurisdiction. This tool is not intended to be exhaustive, but it is intended to give Tribal governments a good understanding of the kinds of safety analyses they can perform and how the results can help define a safety program and its components.
Download the 2020 Data Analysis Tool (PDF)
The 2025 Tribal Crash Reporting Tool is a software with integrated crash data analysis tools. Graphs and statistics for common contributing factors are available at the push of a button. Interactive dashboards and GIS mapping can easily be exported from the updated tool. The latest version can be accessed at https://www.qk4.com/services/native-american-services/tribal-crash-data-reporting-resources/
Crash Reporting Tool
The Crash Reporting Tool is a fillable form designed for law enforcement officers to use in collecting selected, important data about a crash. It is based on a the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) 5th Edition data element definitions. Two versions of the tool are available: one a fillable PDF form and the other a stand-alone software tool with integrated analysis reports. The crash report forms have active content so that officers can select the relevant data attributes from a list and type in text fields. Both tools include a crash scene diagram tool that can be used to sketch what happened.
Both versions of the crash report form have an accompanying database and can be attached to an incident report in the Tribe’s existing law enforcement records management system. Each reporting tool is accompanied by supporting training materials.
Training Tools
The 2020 toolkit includes an Officer’s Instruction Tool presents the data element definitions and validation rules for each of the data elements included in the fillable pdf Crash Reporting Tool. The primary purpose is to serve as an instruction manual for law enforcement officers filling out a crash report.
The 2025 toolkit includes training materials to guide individuals who will be completing the crash report form (typically law enforcement officers). The training also contains a module for Tribal staff who will use the data analysis features of the 2025 software.
Quality Control Tool
The Quality Control Tool has two parts. The first part is the validation rules drawn from the MMUCC 5th Edition. These rules define how the crash data can be checked for completeness, accuracy, and logical agreement. The second part of the Quality Control Tool describes how a Tribal government can assess data quality using a series of analyses. These analyses test for consistency across years and test the data for reasonableness. Similar data quality checks are integrated into the 2025 software.
Database Tool
The 2020 Database Tool is designed to store and manage crash data. It can accept data from the Crash Reporting Tool and other law enforcement sources (e.g., a records management system). It is designed to implement the MMUCC 5th Edition data element subset included in the Crash Reporting Tool. It also incorporates the data validation rules implemented in the Crash Reporting Tool and the Quality Control Tool, and as documented in the Officer’s Instruction Tool.
The 2025 toolkit integrates the database into the same software as the crash report form.
