Completing the Picture of Traffic Injuries: Understanding Data Needs and Opportunities for Road Safety

University Transportation Centers Program2018PDFTech ReportCherry, ChristopherHezaveh, Amin MohamadiNoltenius, MelanieKhattak, AsadMerlin, LouisDumbaugh, EricRagland, DavidSandt, LauraUniversity of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFlorida Atlantic UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) ProgramUnited States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyCollaborative Sciences Center for Road SafetyUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway AdministrationCollaborative Sciences Center for Road SafetyUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillUnited StatesCase studiesCrash dataCrash injuriesData fusionDatabasesMedical recordsOutcome (Medical treatment)Police reportsSystem safetyEmergency medical servicesSeat belt useAccessibilityData LinkageUnderreportingHome-Based ApproachCSCRS-R469A3551747113Final Report (February 2017-April 2018)Police recorded crash data has improved over time, but still fails to report all aspects of crashes that are important to developing a full understanding of crash mechanism, injury burden, and ultimately total health outcomes. Traditionally, safety and injury analysis have occurred in isolated fields, with road safety researchers relying predominately on police-recorded crash reports, and public health researchers relying on health records (e.g., hospital, emergency department, ambulatory care data). Often, these records do not reflect the same findings, even for the same crash victims. By themselves, injury severity and crash reporting rates are often inconsistent between datasets. A \u201ccomplete picture\u201d of traffic crashes must be established to address these limitations. This complete picture needs to consider a multi-perspective approach to road safety instead of one point of view by considering multiple sources of data. This complete crash picture can be used to answer inconsistencies in findings and provide a better understanding of the nature of traffic crashes, injury outcome, and eventually direct cost of traffic crashes. The study objectives are: (1) To briefly review data linkage methodology, (2) Review examples of linking databases, (3) Establish a framework for developing a complete picture of traffic crashes, (4) Identify databases that have potential to complete the picture of traffic crashes, and (5) Illustrate linkage potential through case studies. The five case studies are: (1) Evaluating Research on Data Linkage to Assess Underreporting Pedestrian and Bicyclist Injury in Police Crash Data; (2) Pre-Hospital Response Time and Traumatic Injury\u2014A Review; (3) An Approach to Assess Residential Neighborhood Accessibility and Safety: A Case Study of Charlotte, North Carolina; (4) Home-Based Approach: A Complementary Definition of Road Safety; and (5) Neighborhood-Level Factors Affecting Seat Belt Use.140