Most crash reports do not capture critical data, says National Safety Council

A National Safety Council review of motor vehicle crash reports from across the US found no state fully captures critical data needed to address and understand the rise in roadway fatalities. Crash reports from all 50 states lack fields or codes for law enforcement to record the level of driver fatigue at the time of a crash, while many others lack fields to capture texting, hands-free cell phone use and specific types of drug use if drugs are detected, including marijuana. Excluding these fields limits the
April 25, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A 4953 National Safety Council review of motor vehicle crash reports from across the US found no state fully captures critical data needed to address and understand the rise in roadway fatalities. Crash reports from all 50 states lack fields or codes for law enforcement to record the level of driver fatigue at the time of a crash, while many others lack fields to capture texting, hands-free cell phone use and specific types of drug use if drugs are detected, including marijuana. Excluding these fields limits the ability to effectively address these problems, says the report.


States are also failing to capture teen driver restrictions, the use of advanced driver assistance technologies and of infotainment systems. The findings are summarised in the new NSC report, Undercounted is Underinvested: How incomplete crash reports impact efforts to save lives, released during Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
   
Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate as many as 40,000 people died in car crashes in 2016, marking a six per cent increase over 2015 and a 14 per cent increase over 2014 – the most dramatic two-year escalation since 1964. Without a clear understanding of the scope of the problem, regulations, laws and policies cannot be more effective.

The National Safety Council is calling on the traffic safety community to take several actions to ensure better data collection and has compiled a full list of recommendations, which is available on its website.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nearly 59,000 US bridges still structurally deficient, new analysis finds
    February 19, 2016
    According to the US Department of Transportation's recently-released 2015 National Bridge Inventory database, there were 2,574 fewer structurally deficient bridges in 2015 compared to the number in 2014. However, there are still 58,500 on the structurally deficient list and at the current pace of bridge investment it would take at least 21 years before they were all replaced or upgraded. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), which conducts an annual review of state bridge da
    Read More
  • Independent analysis finds speed cameras do not reduce accidents
    June 10, 2014
    An independent analysis carried out by engineer Dave Finney of Thames Valley, UK speed camera data has found an increase in injuries after the devices were installed. The analysis, to evaluate the effect of fixed speed cameras on the number and severity of collisions at the sites where they are installed, was carried out on two groups of sites. One group includes all fixed speed camera sites in the Thames Valley area (covering Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire) that were active at the start of 2
    Read More
  • Changing driving conditions need ongoing driver training
    January 23, 2012
    Trevor Ellis, chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the role of ongoing driver training in increasing compliance. It is over 30 years since I passed my driving test. The world was quite a different place then, in that there were only half the vehicles there are now on the UK's roads, mobile phones did not really exist and (in the UK at least) the vast majority of us drove cars which by today's standards exhibited dreadful dynamic stability and were woefully underpowered.
    Read More
  • New South Wales removes speed cameras
    October 3, 2014
    New South Wales Minister for Roads and Freight, Duncan Gay, has announced that speed cameras in ten locations across NSW are to be removed as soon as any safety works such as additional signage, barriers and markings and that work has been finished. Gay said in a statement that the government is keeping to a statement that it made while in opposition, and removing any speed cameras that did not add a proven safety benefit. The 2014 Speed Camera Review of the state’s cameras indicates that early result
    Read More

Highlighted Content