A crash you couldn't have stopped is still counting against you.
Picture a clean-driving owner-operator sitting at a red light. A car coming the other way runs the light and hits the truck. The driver did nothing wrong. The police report says as much. And yet that crash lands on the carrier's federal safety record and starts dragging the score down — the same as if the driver had caused it.
That feels wrong, and the federal government agrees. There is a program built for exactly this situation. It's called the Crash Preventability Determination Program. Most people just say CPDP. This lesson explains what it does, what it does not do, and how a small fleet actually uses it.
What CPDP is — and why a not-at-fault crash matters to your Crash Indicator.
CPDP is an FMCSA program. You use it through DataQs, the same online system you'd use to fix a wrong inspection. Through CPDP, FMCSA reviews certain crashes and decides one thing: could the driver or the carrier have done something to prevent it?
Here's why that question is worth money to a small fleet. Every crash on your record feeds a part of your CSA score called the Crash Indicator. The Crash Indicator does not ask whose fault the crash was. It counts the crash. For a one-truck or five-truck operation, one crash can swing the number hard, because there are so few crashes to average against. A higher Crash Indicator can mean more roadside inspections, harder questions from brokers, and a worse number in front of your insurance agent at renewal.
So a crash you couldn't have prevented is silently costing you — unless you do something about it. CPDP is the something.
And here's the part worth knowing: this is relatively new. For years, FMCSA would not review preventability at all through DataQs. If you filed a crash as "not my fault," the system closed it automatically with no change to your record. Preventability simply wasn't considered. That changed when FMCSA launched the CPDP in May 2020. For the first time, a not-at-fault crash had a real path off the part of your score that actually moves your business.
The three outcomes: Preventable, Not Preventable, Undecided.
When FMCSA reviews a crash under CPDP, the answer is one of three words.
FMCSA found the driver or the carrier could have done something to avoid the crash. That includes breaking a company rule, a federal regulation, or a traffic law. It also covers things like the driver not being properly licensed, or a post-crash inspection turning up out-of-service problems that were there before the crash. Preventable changes nothing — the crash stays in your score.
FMCSA found that the carrier and driver could not have done anything to avoid it. This is the outcome you're filing for. We'll get precise about what it does in a second, because this is where most people misunderstand the program.
FMCSA could not decide. This happens when the evidence conflicts, or when a required document is missing — for example, the drug and alcohol test results that are required after a fatal crash, or a licensing record. Undecided is not a denial of your character. It usually means the paperwork wasn't complete. We'll come back to that, because Undecided is the result you most want to avoid, and it's the most avoidable one.
What "Not Preventable" does — and does NOT do.
This is the single most important part of the lesson, so hear it plainly.
A Not Preventable crash is removed from the calculation of your Crash Indicator — but the crash is not erased.
— The CPDP result that matters
A Not Preventable crash is removed from the calculation of your Crash Indicator — both the underlying measure and your percentile ranking. In other words, for the purpose of the score that affects your inspections, your broker relationships, and your insurance read, that crash stops counting.
But — and this is the part people get wrong — the crash is not erased. A Not Preventable crash is still listed. It still appears in the federal system. It is still noted on a driver's PSP report, the pre-employment screening record a future employer can pull. CPDP changes how the crash is counted, not whether it exists.
So if you're hoping CPDP makes the crash disappear like it never happened, reset that expectation now. It doesn't. What it does is stop a not-at-fault crash from poisoning the one number that actually moves your business.
How long the result follows you (SMS two years vs PSP five years).
Two different clocks run here, and they're easy to confuse.
Rolling 24-month window
The Safety Measurement System behind your CSA score looks at the most recent 24 months of crashes and violations, weighting the recent ones more heavily. What a Not Preventable determination does is pull that crash out of the Crash Indicator math for that whole window. The crash stays listed in the system, but it no longer counts in the measure or your percentile.
Rolling 5-year window
The Pre-Employment Screening Program shows a driver's crashes for the most recent five years and roadside inspections for the most recent three. PSP lists every reportable crash, with no judgment of fault — so the crash still appears there for five years, but a Not Preventable determination is noted alongside it. A future employer sees both the crash and the fact that FMCSA found it not preventable.
Which crashes qualify (21 types, the Aug 1 2019 floor, the five-year ceiling).
Not every crash is eligible. CPDP reviews a defined set of crash types — broadly, the situations where something happened to the truck rather than something the driver did. And this part matters more than people expect: if you file on a crash that doesn't fit any eligible type, FMCSA won't review it for preventability at all. It just gets closed. So step one is knowing whether your crash fits.
FMCSA says the program accepts twenty-one different crash types. The Eligibility Guide lays them out in seventeen categories — a few categories cover more than one situation, which is how the count gets to twenty-one. The full list, with the eligibility test for each, is in the table below. The shape of it is what to remember: getting rear-ended, getting hit while you're legally stopped or parked, getting struck by someone driving drunk, the wrong way, asleep, or distracted, getting hit by someone having a medical emergency, animal strikes, suicide, debris and infrastructure failures, a pedestrian or cyclist where they shouldn't be, and a catch-all for rare crashes — plus a video-submission path for anything a clear dashcam recording can prove.
The December 1, 2024 expansion did two things worth knowing. It added four brand-new categories: being struck on the side by a vehicle going the same direction, being struck by a vehicle pulling out of a private driveway or parking lot, being hit because another motorist lost control, and crashes involving a pedestrian or other non-motorist. And it added "indirect strikes" to several existing types — that's when the other vehicle doesn't hit you directly but starts a chain that does, like one car striking another that then strikes your truck. One catch on the new categories: they only apply to crashes that happened on or after December 1, 2024. A pedestrian crash from before that date, for example, has to go in under the Rare or Unusual type instead.
The documentation requirement (Police Accident Report + RDR + evidence).
CPDP is not a phone call where you explain your side. It's an evidence submission. FMCSA decides on the documents.
The non-negotiable piece is the Police Accident Report — the official report from the responding officer. You submit it with your Request for Data Review, the RDR. Without the police report, the case doesn't get off the ground.
On top of that, you submit supporting evidence that demonstrates two things: that the crash is one of the eligible types, and that it was not preventable. That supporting evidence is things like dashcam or surveillance video, photographs of the scene and the damage, and insurance documents. Video is the strongest evidence there is. If your truck has a forward-facing camera, the footage of the other driver running the light or crossing the center line is often the whole case.
A thin submission — a police report alone, no video, no photos, a missing required document — is what gets marked Undecided. A complete file is what wins.
— The most avoidable reason for an Undecided
This is exactly where the Undecided result comes from. A thin submission — a police report alone, no video, no photos, a missing required document — is what gets marked Undecided. A complete file is what wins.
See the evidence-that-wins lesson for the full breakdown of proof by crash category, including the specific documents that turn a submission into a Not Preventable instead of an Undecided.
The realistic path: filing the RDR through DataQs.
Here's how it actually works, start to finish.
You file through DataQs, the FMCSA portal. The specific request you file is a Request for Data Review — an RDR — and you flag it as a crash preventability review. You attach the police report. You attach your supporting evidence. You submit.
FMCSA reviews it and returns one of the three words: Preventable, Not Preventable, or Undecided. If it comes back Not Preventable, the crash drops out of your Crash Indicator. If it comes back Undecided because something was missing, that's the painful version of "close." Build the file right the first time.
If your crash involves errors that aren't about fault at all — wrong carrier, a non-recordable event, a duplicate entry — the crash-record errors lesson covers that separate path. CPDP is for preventability. Fixing a wrongly attributed or non-reportable crash is a different RDR type.
Honest expectations.
CPDP is real, it works, and for a small fleet a single Not Preventable determination can meaningfully clean up the one score that follows you to renewal. But set your expectations honestly.
It is not instant, and it is not automatic — FMCSA is judging your evidence, not taking your word. It does not erase the crash; it stops it from counting. And it only covers eligible types within the five-year window. If your crash genuinely involved something the driver could have done differently, CPDP is not the tool, and forcing it just earns a Preventable on the record.
But if you were the truck sitting at the red light when someone else ran it — pull the police report, pull the video, and file. That's exactly the crash this program exists for.
Eligible crash types — all 17 categories.
FMCSA states the CPDP accepts 21 crash types; the December 2024 Eligibility Guide presents them in the 17 categories below (a few categories cover more than one scenario, and the guide counts Video Submission as one of the 21). Each category has its own eligibility test — paraphrased from the guide's "For a crash to be eligible under…" rules. Categories marked NEW Dec 1 2024 apply only to crashes on or after December 1, 2024; "indirect-strike" multi-vehicle variants were also added across existing types on that date.
01
Struck in the Rear
Another vehicle was traveling behind the CMV before it struck the CMV.
02
Struck on the Side at the Rear
Another vehicle was operating behind the CMV and struck it between the rear wheels and the back corner (about the 5:00 or 7:00 position).
03
Struck on the Side (Same Direction)
NEW Dec 1 2024A vehicle going the same direction struck the CMV on the side (about the 2:00–4:00 or 8:00–10:00 positions).
04
Wrong Direction
The other vehicle was driving the wrong way and was completely in the wrong lane — not just partly across the center line.
05
U-Turns and Illegal Turns
The CMV was struck by a vehicle making a U-turn, or making a turn documented (in the police report or other evidence) as not legally allowed.
06
Parked or Legally Stopped
The CMV was parked (including unattended), or stopped at a traffic control device — stop sign, red light, yield, railroad crossing, or school bus.
07
Failure of the Other Vehicle to Stop
The other vehicle failed to stop at a traffic control device, or failed to stop/slow in documented heavy traffic (normal highway volume doesn't count).
08
Under the Influence
Evidence shows a driver in the crash was arrested or charged with DUI/DWI after a failed or refused sobriety/other test. Open containers or officer opinion alone don't qualify.
09
Medical Issues, Falling Asleep, or Distracted Driving
Another driver in the crash had a documented medical issue, fell asleep, or was distracted (cellphone, GPS, eating, etc.).
10
Cargo / Equipment / Debris or Infrastructure Failure
The CMV was struck by cargo, equipment, or debris from another vehicle (fallen rock, trees, road debris), or crashed because of an infrastructure failure.
11
Animal Strike
The CMV struck an animal.
12
Suicide or Suicide Attempt
Documentation shows the CMV struck an individual who died by, or attempted, suicide.
13
Struck by Vehicle Entering Roadway from Private Drive/Parking Lot
NEW Dec 1 2024Another vehicle was entering a public roadway from an uncontrolled private driveway or parking lot.
14
Another Motorist Lost Control of Vehicle
NEW Dec 1 2024The police report documents that another driver lost control of their vehicle.
15
Non-Motorist (Pedestrian / Non-Motorist)
NEW Dec 1 2024A non-motorist — pedestrian, cyclist, scooter, etc. — was where they shouldn't be (not in a crosswalk, or e.g. on an interstate). Crashes before Dec 1, 2024 go under Rare or Unusual.
16
Rare or Unusual
A crash type that seldom occurs and meets no other eligible type (e.g., a plane landing on the road, a vehicle falling off an overpass).
17
Video Submission
A crash a clear video proves — pre-crash, crash, and post-crash, timestamped, matching the police report — used only when it fits no other category.
The eligibility tests above are paraphrased for readability. Confirm the exact wording against the "For a crash to be eligible under…" box for that category in the December 2024 Eligibility Guide before quoting them. A crash that fits none of these 21 types is closed without a preventability review.
Bad data on your record costs real money.
If you've got a crash on your record that you know wasn't your fault — rear-ended, hit while parked, struck by someone who ran the light — it may be eligible to come out of your Crash Indicator, and the difference shows up at insurance-renewal time. We pull the police report, assemble the video and photo evidence, and file the RDR for you.