State fatal crash records from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS), rather than the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), are used as an input value to this measure. The MCMIS records are updated monthly, making them more current than FARS records, which are updated annually.
The modified measure uses 12 months of MCMIS fatal records, rather than a 3-year average of FARS records. The 12-month time period captures a more current picture of fatal crash activity.