CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT FILE

METHODS EMPLOYED BY THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT IN THE ASSIMILATION AND STORAGE OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT DATA ARE ARE PRESENTED. ON THE AVERAGE, 175 MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS OCCUR IN CONNECTICUT EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. EACH SUCH OCCURRENCE TRIGGERS INTO ACTION THE SERVICES OF A STAFF RANGING FROM FILE CLERKS TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS. WHEN A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT FINALLY BECOMES A PERMANENT PART OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ACCIDENT FILE, IT IS THE RESULT OF THE COOPERATIVE EFFORTS OF THE MOTORING PUBLIC, THREE STATE AGENCIES/MOTOR VEHICLE, HIGHWAY, AND STATE POLICE DEPARTMENTS/ AND THE LOCAL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES OF 169 TOWNS. IN THIS JOINT EFFORT, THE STATE AND TOWN POLICE ACT AS REPORTING AGENCIES, THE MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT ACTS AS THE COLLECTING AGENCY AND THE STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ACTS AS THE ENGINEERING AGENCY. THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT MAINTAINS ACCIDENT RECORDS ALMOST SOLELY FOR ENGINEERING USES. THESE USES ARE ILLUSTRATED UTILIZING THE HIGH-SPEED ELECTRONIC COMPUTER. THE TWO KEY FACTORS UPON WHICH THIS SYSTEM IS BASED ARE' /1/ IN THE ASSIMILATION OF DATA PHASE, ALL EFFORTS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE USE OF THE POLICE REPORT AS A FOUNDATION TO INSURE ACCURACY AND UNIFORMITY AND IS A PART OF THE EVENTUAL STANDARDIZATION OF ACCIDENT RECORDS NATIONALLY, AND /2/ IN THE ACCIDENT DATA STORAGE PHASE, ADAPTING SOPHISTICATED ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT TO FULL CAPABILITY ENLARGES THE POTENTIAL USED OF ACCIDENT RECORDS AND AT THE SAME TIME SIMPLIFIES THEIR UTILIZATION.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/TRCircular/36/36.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 36, 26 PP, 9 FIG. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Williston, R M
• Publication Date: 1966-8

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Highway Research Circular
  • Issue Number: 44
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board (HRB)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programming; Computers; Data storage; Engineering; Highway departments; Information systems; Police; Reports; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents
• Geographic Terms: Connecticut
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00219642
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 18 1994 12:00AM