LIE FACTOR IN TRAFFIC SAFETY: COMPARISON OF POLICE AND HOSPITAL REPORTING OF SEAT BELT AND ALCOHOL USE IN HAWAII

A linked database composed of police crash reports and hospital records was used to compare seat belt and alcohol use. For these linked cases, the police reported a belt use rate of 88.1%; hospital records, however, indicated a use rate of 59.9%. Although police overreported the seat belt use rate, they underreported the alcohol involvement rate. Hospital records indicated alcohol involvement in 25.5% of the cases; police reporting captured only a fraction of the alcohol cases (8.4% of total cases). In addition to reporting the general patterns of inconsistency between police and hospital reporting across driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics, it was shown that there are significant problems associated with reporting of seat belt and alcohol use. The analysis is based on comprehensive information from Hawaii of about 369 drivers with linked crash and hospital records in 1990. Some recommendations for improving the quality and accuracy of reporting are provided.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.3141/1665-19
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=LIE+FACTOR+IN+TRAFFIC+SAFETY%3a+COMPARISON+OF+POLICE+AND+HOSPITAL+REPORTING+OF+SEAT+BELT+AND+ALCOHOL+USE+IN+HAWAII&author=K.+Kim&publication_year=1999
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309070651
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1665, Statistical Methods in Transportation and Safety Data Analysis for Highway Geometry, Design, and Operations.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Kim, Karl
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 141-146
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1665
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Crash reports; Drunk driving; Hospitals; Medical records; Police; Quality control; Recommendations; Seat belts; Utilization
• Geographic Terms: Hawaii
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00771223
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309070651
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Oct 25 1999 12:00AM