Police recording of road accident in-patients: Investigation into the completeness, representativity and reliability of police records of hospitalized traffic victims

doi:10.1016/0001-4575(84)90011-3

Accident Analysis & Prevention

Volume 16, Issue 3, June 1984, Pages 167-184

https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-4575(84)90011-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Many road safety research projects make use of the official police road accident data. Their use is often restricted to the data of fatal accidents and fatalities because it is the only complete registration, and the extent of underreporting of injury accidents is unknown. The need to extend the use of data beyond fatalities is great for two reasons: (1) in a small country like the Netherlands the absolute numbers (less than 2000 fatalities per annum in recent years) are often too small for detailed analyses. (2) Fatal accidents are not typical road accidents but an extreme type. Data on surviving in-patients however, is not so extreme and there are more than 20,000 per annum. The incomplete police data on road accident in-patients was compared with the hospital discharge data to establish how representative it was. Hospital data was collected through the Medical Record Foundation, a national institution, which registers approx. 95% of all road accident in-patients. During the years 1977–1979 it was found that the extent of underreporting was constant and for the year 1979 the police data had a coverage of 83% of all road accident in-patients. According to the results of an Eckart-Young analysis, the general structures of the police and hospital data were similar but there were differences. The underreporting of users of motorized vehicles in the age group 15–34 yr was significantly smaller than for others; and of cyclists and pedestrians, particularly in the age group 0–14 yr, significantly greater. The police data is therefore reliable for time series and for period studies of most mode of transport/age group combinations.

References (5)

M.W. Maas
Niet-geregistreerde verkeersdoden (Unrecorded traffic fatalities; estimation of the number of traffic victims, dying more than 30 days after the accident, as the result of the sustained injuries.)
(1979)
SMR
Jaarverslag 1979
(1980)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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Citation Excerpt :
Although pedestrian and cyclist crashes account for a disproportionate number of crashes relative to mode share, these crashes are even more rare. In addition, crash data is inconsistently reported, and pedestrian and cyclist crashes tend to be underreported at higher rates than vehicle crashes (Cryer et al., 2001; Maas and Harris, 1984; Elvik and Mysen, 1999; Sciortino et al, 2005). In order to assess risk in a timely fashion, numerous techniques have been developed as a proxy for crashes (Laureshyn et al., 2017; Johnsson, Laureshyn and De Ceunynck, 2018).
Cyclists and pedestrians account for a disproportionate amount of the world’s 1.3 million road deaths every year. This is a growing problem in the United Sates where bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities have increased steadily since 2009. A large body of research suggests vehicle speeds are a key contributing factor for crashes. However, few studies of bicycle or pedestrian crash probability incorporate detailed vehicle speed data.
This study uses probe vehicle speed data to examine the impact of vehicle speeds on bicycle and pedestrian crashes on the state of Georgia’s network of major arterial roadways. The analysis examines 7000 road segments throughout the state in 2017. A Negative Binomial model relates annual crash and speed data on each segment. Models using speed percentiles (85th, 50th and 15th) are contrasted with models using speed differences (85th–50th and 50th–15th percentile). A small set of covariates are included: segment length, number of lanes, Average Annual Daily Traffic, and urbanicity.
Results indicate that larger differences in high-end speed percentiles are positively associated with bicycle and pedestrian crash frequency on Georgia arterials. Furthermore, the coefficients on the high end of the speed distribution, measured by the difference in 85th and 50th percentile speeds, have greater magnitude and statistical significance than the low end of the distribution. This research shows a negative relationship between speed and crashes may be flawed, as it does not account for the distributions of speed.
The findings in this study suggest that planners and engineers should identify areas with large speed distributions, especially at the high vehicle speeds, and work to reduce the fastest speeds on these roadways. To do so, differences in speed percentiles measured using probe vehicle speeds can be used to determine where high risk areas are located.
Errors in accident data, its types, causes and methods of rectification-analysis of the literature
2019, Accident Analysis and Prevention
Citation Excerpt :
Irrespective of the socioeconomic and geographic conditions, it is responsible for most errors occurring in the accident data of several countries around the world, as presented in Fig. 7. The system is based on passive recording, that is, the accidents had to be generally reported to the police, and hence by their nature the police statistics are incomplete (Maas and Harris, 1984). The error initiates from the advent of an individual accident.
Most of the decisions taken to improve road safety are based on accident data, which makes it the back bone of any country’s road safety system. Errors in this data will lead to misidentification of black spots and hazardous road segments, projection of false estimates pertinent to accidents and fatality rates, and detection of wrong parameters responsible for accident occurrence, thereby making the entire road safety exercise ineffective. Its extent varies from country to country depending upon various factors. Knowing the type of error in the accident data and the factors causing it enables the application of the correct method for its rectification. Therefore there is a need for a systematic literature review that addresses the topic at a global level. This paper fulfils the above research gap by providing a synthesis of literature for the different types of errors found in the accident data of 46 countries across the six regions of the world. The errors are classified and discussed with respect to each type and analysed with respect to income level; assessment with regard to the magnitude for each type is provided; followed by the different causes that result in their occurrence, and the various methods used to address each type of error. Among high-income countries the extent of error in reporting slight, severe, non-fatal and fatal injury accidents varied between 39–82%, 16–52%, 12–84%, and 0–31% respectively. For middle-income countries the error for the same categories varied between 93–98%, 32.5–96%, 34–99% and 0.5–89.5% respectively. The only four studies available for low-income countries showed that the error in reporting non-fatal and fatal accidents varied between 69–80% and 0–61% respectively. The logistic relation of error in accident data reporting, dichotomised at 50%, indicated that as the income level of a country increases the probability of having less error in accident data also increases. Average error in recording information related to the variables in the categories of location, victim’s information, vehicle’s information, and environment was 27%, 37%, 16% and 19% respectively. Among the causes identified for errors in accident data reporting, Policing System was found to be the most important. Overall 26 causes of errors in accident data were discussed out of which 12 were related to reporting and 14 were related to recording. “Capture-Recapture” was the most widely used method among the 11 different
methods: that can be used for the rectification of under-reporting. There were 12 studies pertinent to the rectification of accident location and almost all of them utilised a Geographical Information System (GIS) platform coupled with a matching algorithm to estimate the correct location. It is recommended that the policing system should be reformed and public awareness should be created to help reduce errors in accident data.
Road characteristics and environment factors associated with motorcycle fatal crashes in Malaysia
2018, IATSS Research
This study aims to determine risk factors contributing to traffic crashes in 9,176 fatal cases involving motorcycle in Malaysia between 2010 and 2012. For this purpose, both multinomial and mixed models of motorcycle fatal crash outcome based on the number of vehicle involved are estimated. The corresponding model predicts the probability of three fatal crash outcomes: motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crash, motorcycle fatal crash involving another vehicle and motorcycle fatal crash involving two or more vehicles. Several road characteristic and environmental factors are considered including type of road in the hierarchy, location, road geometry, posted speed limit, road marking type, lighting, time of day and weather conditions during the fatal crash. The estimation results suggest that curve road sections, no road marking, smooth, rut and corrugation of road surface and wee hours, i.e. between 00.00 am to 6 am, increase the probability of motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crashes. As for the motorcycle fatal crashes involving multiple vehicles, factors such as expressway, primary and secondary roads, speed limit more than 70 km/h, roads with non-permissible marking, i.e. double lane line and daylight condition are found to cause an increase the probability of their occurrence. The estimation results also suggest that time of day (between 7 pm to 12 pm) has an increasing impact on the probability of motorcycle single-vehicle fatal crashes and motorcycle fatal crashes involving two or more vehicles. Whilst the multinomial logit model was found as more parsimonious, the mixed logit model is likely to capture the unobserved heterogeneity in fatal motorcycle crashes based on the number of vehicles involved due to the underreporting data with two random effect parameters including 70 km/h speed limit and double lane line road marking.
Safety impacts of bicycle infrastructure: A critical review
2017, Journal of Safety Research
Citation Excerpt :
One significant issue in the understanding of the safety attributed to bicycling and walking is the substantial underreporting of bicycle and pedestrian crashes in official crash records. Bicyclists and pedestrians in particular are less likely than other users to report crashes (Cryer et al., 2001; Maas & Harris, 1984). Elvik and Mysen (1999) found the average rate at which fatal crashes are reported to be about 95%, compared to 70% for serious injuries, 25% for slight injuries, and 10% for very slight injuries.
This paper takes a critical look at the present state of bicycle infrastructure treatment safety research, highlighting data needs. Safety literature relating to 22 bicycle treatments is examined, including findings, study methodologies, and data sources used in the studies. Some preliminary conclusions related to research efficacy are drawn from the available data and findings in the research.
While the current body of bicycle safety literature points toward some defensible conclusions regarding the safety and effectiveness of certain bicycle treatments, such as bike lanes and removal of on-street parking, the vast majority treatments are still in need of rigorous research. Fundamental questions arise regarding appropriate exposure measures, crash measures, and crash data sources.
This research will aid transportation departments with regard to decisions about bicycle infrastructure and guide future research efforts toward understanding safety impacts of bicycle infrastructure.
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2016, Traffic Injury Prevention
Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association between dangerous student car drop-off behaviors and historical child pedestrian–motor vehicle collisions (PMVCs) near elementary schools in Toronto, Canada.
Methods: Police-reported child PMVCs during school travel times from 2000 to 2011 were mapped within 200 m of 118 elementary schools. Observers measured dangerous student morning car drop-off behaviors and number of children walking to school during one day in 2011. A composite score of school social disadvantage was obtained from the Toronto District School Board. Built environment and traffic features were mapped and included as covariates. A multivariate Poisson regression was used to model the rates of PMVC/number of children walking and dangerous student car drop-off behaviors, adjusting for the built environment and social disadvantage.
Results: There were 45 child PMVCs, with 29 (64%) sustaining minor injuries resulting in emergency department visits. The mean collision rate was 2.9/10,000 children walking/year (SD = 6.7). Dangerous drop-off behaviors were observed in 104 schools (88%). In the multivariate analysis, each additional dangerous drop-off behavior was associated with a 45% increase in collision rates (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02, 2.07). Higher speed roads (IRR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.13, 1.44) and social disadvantage (IRR = 2.99, 95% CI, 1.03, 8.68) were associated with higher collision rates.
Conclusions: Dangerous student car drop-off behaviors were associated with historical nonfatal child PMVC rates during school travel times near schools. Some caution must be taken in interpreting these results due small number of events and limitations in the data collection, because collision data were collected historically over a 12-year period, whereas driving behavior was only observed on a single day in 2011. Targeted multifaceted intervention approaches related to the built environment, enforcement, and education could address dangerous drop-off behaviors near schools to reduce child PMVCs and promote safe walking to school.
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2013, Accident Analysis and Prevention
Citation Excerpt :
The most common data sources used for setting up statistical accident databases, e.g., police reports, insurance claims, hospital data, and mail surveys, are often limited when describing why accidents occur. Police reported data are also known for underreporting of accidents, especially for less severe accidents (Amoros et al., 2006; Aptel et al., 1999; Maas and Harris, 1984). Furthermore, the information provided in police reports usually contains limited information on the driver's pre-crash behaviour (Shinar et al., 1983).
Accident data play an important role in vehicle safety development. Accident data sources are generally limited in terms of how much information is provided on driver states and behaviour prior to an accident. However, the precise limitations vary between databases, due to differences in analysis focus and data collection procedures between organisations. If information about a specific accident can be retrieved from more than one data source it should be possible to combine the available information sets to facilitate data from one source to compensate for limitations in the other(s). To investigate the viability of such compensation, this study identified a set of accidents recorded in two different data sources. The first data source investigated was an accident mail survey and the second data source insurance claims documents consisting predominantly of insurance claims completed by the involved road users. An analysis of survey variables was compared to a case analysis including word data derived from the same survey and filed insurance claims documents. For each accident, the added value of having access to more than one source of information was assessed. To limit the scope of this study, three particular topics were investigated: available information on low vigilance (e.g., being drowsy, ill); secondary task distraction (e.g., talking with passengers, mobile phone use); and distraction related to the driving task (e.g., looking for approaching vehicles). Results suggest that for low vigilance and secondary task distraction, a combination of the mail survey and insurance claims documents provide more reliable and detailed pre-crash information than survey variables alone. However, driving related distraction appears to be more difficult to capture. In order to gain a better understanding of the above issues and how frequently they occur in accidents, the data sources and analysis methods suggested here may be combined with other investigation methods such as in-depth accident investigations and pre-crash data recordings.

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Police recording of road accident in-patients: Investigation into the completeness, representativity and reliability of police records of hospitalized traffic victims

Abstract

Niet-geregistreerde verkeersdoden (Unrecorded traffic fatalities; estimation of the number of traffic victims, dying more than 30 days after the accident, as the result of the sustained injuries.)

Jaarverslag 1979