Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Indigenous Health

First Advisor

Melanie Nadeau

Abstract

The Crow Indian reservation is located in south-central Montana. The reservation is one of the largest land-based tribes in Montana, encompassing an area of over three thousand square miles. The reservation borders the state of Wyoming to the south and the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation to the east. The reservation features a comprehensive transportation system that encompasses tribal, county, state, and federal roadways. Drivers and passengers who travel on these roadways are at higher risk for fatal and severe injury-related motor vehicle crashes than those in other reservations. This situation largely stems from the critical absence of targeted traffic safety laws on the Crow Reservation. This regulatory void not only compromises the safety of residents and travelers alike but also underscores the urgent need for effective measures to protect drivers and passengers on the roads. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that tribes in the United States implement the following traffic safety laws to help reduce the occurrence of fatal and severe injury-related motor vehicle crashes: seat belt usage, child restraint regulations, roadblocks or checkpoints, driver’s licensing, enforcement of speed limits, measures against driving under the influence, prohibitions on careless or reckless driving, insurance mandates, and requirements for accident reporting. The Crow Tribe has not enacted traffic safety laws regarding seatbelts, child restraints, roadblocks or checkpoints, driver’s licenses, and insurance requirements. This two-pronged mixed methods study analyzed motor vehicle crash data for the years 2010-2022 for the Crow Reservation. Several quantitative analyses were conducted on the crash data, focusing on descriptive epidemiology, crash rates, spatial analysis, and categorical and regression tree models. This study also conducted a qualitative examination of the comprehension of traffic safety among members of the Crow tribal community through focus group interviews. There were three focus groups: 13- to 17-year-olds, 18 and older, and current or former tribal law enforcement personnel, tribal court members, and tribal legislators. Each focus group was asked 15 questions about traffic safety laws and their behaviors as drivers or passengers in vehicles on the reservation. The final section of the study presents a proposal for policy development to Crow tribal officials, community members, and federal government staff. The analysis of crash data revealed that the American Indian and Alaska Native population of drivers and passengers traveling within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation experienced a higher incidence of fatal and severe injury-related motor vehicle crashes compared to other tribes in Montana. This trend was evident across several categories, including alcohol test results, driver actions at the time of the crash, driver’s license status, and the use of restraint systems. The focus group results indicated that a majority of participants recognized the need for additional traffic safety laws aimed at protecting both drivers and passengers on the Crow Reservation. Nearly half of the participants reported engaging in high-risk behaviors associated with not wearing a seatbelt. Furthermore, all participants unanimously agreed that the tribe should enact a driver's license law and mandate insurance requirements. The policy development proposal outlines the case for why and how a coalition can be formed to review and propose key traffic safety laws to the Crow Tribal Legislature. The proposal also provides numerous examples of traffic safety laws that are already enacted at other tribes located in the Billings Area Indian Health Service and the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service. These examples will help the coalition discern the diverse legal terminologies used by other tribes. By gathering and analyzing these details, the coalition aims to craft a robust and comprehensive traffic law that it can present to the Crow tribal legislature, ensuring that the proposal is both effective and culturally relevant.

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