Agency Name: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Description:      State Electronic Crash Data Collection Program Grant

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis intends to award discretionary grants for the modernization of States’ crash data collection systems. These grants are for States to establish or upgrade and standardize their crash data systems to enable electronic data collection, intra-State sharing, and electronic transfer of their crash data to NHTSA in a standardized format using the Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) data transfer protocol.

NHTSA has a history of working with States to make crash data available to the public to support highway safety. These grants will increase the number of States providing timely, standardized electronic crash data to NHTSA to support NHTSA data systems, including the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the Crash Reporting Sampling System (CRSS), and the Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS). The crash data received will enable NHTSA to analyze motor vehicle crash data, identify developing trends, and develop strategies and interventions to prevent and mitigate crash injury severity. NHTSA will make this State crash data accessible to the public. 

Grant recipients will be required to contribute at least twenty (20) percent of State funds for eligible activity costs. States can use the funds for equipment to upgrade a centralized statewide crash data repository; adopt electronic crash reporting by law enforcement agencies; and increase alignment of State crash data with the forthcoming Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) Sixth Edition. Recipients will also certify that they will electronically transfer crash data to NHTSA beginning no later than five years from the effective date of award.

This Notice is being published to allow potential applicants enough time to develop a plan to implement full electronic data transfer to NHTSA by no later than five years after the grant is awarded. The plan should describe the project, tasks, and steps that will enable electronic transfer of State crash data to NHTSA. This notification of funding opportunity (NOFO) is currently under development. We encourage prospective applicants to use the Grants.gov subscription option to register for future updates provided for this opportunity.

Link to Additional Information:

States are encouraged to review the guidance, tools, and technical assistance provided by NHTSA for modernizing their crash data collection systems. The Guide to Updating State Crash Data Systems (DOT HS 813 217) was published to provide guidance and promote noteworthy practices to States. The Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory, 2018 Edition (DOT HS 821 601) provides a description of the ideal crash system.