United States Department of Transportation
i
Improving Motor Vehicle Crash Reporting on Nine South Dakota Indian Reservations
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2007-05-21
[PDF-2.86 MB]
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Edition:Final Report February 2006 to May 2007
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Abstract:Crash report rates from tribal lands in South Dakota are generally low relative to the number of crashes estimated for those areas. This study sought to quantify the number of actual crashes on tribal lands in South Dakota for 2005, describe the barriers to better crash reporting from tribal lands, and suggest remedies. The research team visited all nine reservations and worked with law enforcement agencies to retrieve crash data for 2005 as available. A total of 737 crashes were documented in some fashion by tribal and BIA law enforcement agencies, though only 52 were reported with enough detail to be included in the South Dakota Accident Reporting System. After visiting the law enforcement offices for each reservation, the research team held a meeting with tribal and BIA law enforcement officials to discuss possible solutions. Three major ideas emerged from these discussions. The first was training for law enforcement officers on the crash forms and crash reporting process for South Dakota. The second concerned software solutions for internal tribal data processing and making the crash report form easier to complete. Thirdly, the political issues involved in crash reporting represent a serious barrier to improvement, and are tied primarily to the overall relationship between tribes and the State of South Dakota. Based on the information gathered as part of the study, the research team made five recommendations to the State of South Dakota that would improve crash reporting from tribal lands. Recommendations center on working with tribal councils to agree on how crash reporting will be done from tribal lands, and providing support and incentives for crash reporting improvements at tribal and BIA law enforcement agencies.
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