Every crash on your DOT record feeds into your Safety Measurement System (SMS) score under the Crash Indicator BASIC. That score shows up when shippers, brokers, and insurers run your numbers  and once it’s there, most operators assume it’s there for good. What a lot of fleet managers don’t realize is that FMCSA has a formal program that lets carriers challenge crashes they didn’t cause, and getting one reclassified can meaningfully improve your safety profile.

It’s called the Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP). FMCSA launched it as a pilot in 2017, made it permanent in 2020, and has expanded the eligible crash types since. If your crash falls into one of the qualifying categories, being rear‑ended, struck by a wrong‑way driver, hit by a legally parked vehicle, an animal strike, or a collision with a driver who was impaired, asleep, or having a medical emergency, your carrier can submit a Request for Data Review (RDR) through DataQs.

If FMCSA agrees the crash was not preventable, it remains on your record but is excluded from your Crash Indicator BASIC measure. Translation: it stops dragging your score down.

The catch is that FMCSA decides based on the evidence you submit, and the police report by itself often isn’t enough. The single biggest factor in winning these determinations is video evidence. Dashcam footage that clearly shows the other driver’s actions turns a contested call into a clean reclassification.

If your fleet doesn’t already have a process to (1) identify eligible crashes, (2) preserve video evidence, and (3) file the RDR within the deadline, you’re leaving safety‑score improvements on the table — and paying for them in higher insurance premiums, lost loads, and rejected bids.

VideoProtects published a detailed brief on the program — the eligible crash types, the RDR process, what evidence FMCSA wants, and the role video plays in winning these reviews. If you operate a fleet of any size, it’s worth a read.

Read the full FMCSA Crash Preventability brief → https://www.videoprotects.com/resources/safety-insights/fmcsa-crash-preventability-determination-program

At Fleet‑Connection.com we focus on the operational data behind compliance — violation rates, state benchmarks, and the patterns that separate well‑run fleets from the rest. CPDP is a textbook example of a program that pays off when you treat compliance as a system, not paperwork.