Crash Data Reporting and Analysis - an Oregon Case Study

Abstract. Motor vehicle crash underreporting is a serious problem as it masks the total impact of highway crashes and may skew our understanding of high crash frequency locations and the need for appropriate countermeasures. It is generally understood that highway crashes are underreported, but the extent of the underreporting is often not clear. Using a case study along one Oregon highway, this paper estimates the magnitude of crash underreporting during 2000. The crashes reported by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for a state highway (OR-18) were compared with the record of crashes as reported by an incident management program. Several parameters such as location, time of day and crash description were used to determine whether the same crash had been recorded by the two independent data sources. Crash data are compiled by ODOT from individual drivers and police crash reports. The roving incident responders attend to incidents/crashes on the highway and dispatch the information to the traffic management center through a computer aided dispatch system. Presently there is no mechanism that combines the two data sources. Given that many states now have incident response programs in place, suggestions are provided regarding how useful information can be extracted and archived in order to improve the compliance rate for statewide crash reporting