Appraisal of the existing traffic accident data collection and recording system - South Australia

Traffic accident data collection in South Australia has been appraised with the intention of answering two questions: what can reasonably be expected of the mass accident data system, and what improvements could be achieved by alterations to the system or to the demands made of it? dummy accident reports, compiled by a survey team attending accidents in metropolitan Adelaide, were compared with computer accident records prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics using police accident reports edited and coded by the South Australian Highways Department. Also, data from multiple reports for a sample of accidents not attended by police were checked for consistency. Results show that the mass data system has a very high error rate, with at least 60% of items analysed in both comparisons having error rates exceeding 5%. Analysis of police activities at the scene shows that considerable time is spent on site; on average 2 police man hours at personal injury or property damage accidents and 9.5 Police man hours at fatal accidents. However, provided an accident data item is not required to be collected during the first 10 minutes, there appears to be sufficient time for police to accurately collect information. Recommendations for changes to the system are included (a).

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/642510660
• Authors:
  • Howard, B V
  • Young, M F
  • Ellis, J P
• Publication Date: 1979

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: VII + 113P
• Serial:
  • Issue Number: CR6

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Crashes; Data collection; Evaluation; Police; Statistical analysis; Time
• Geographic Terms: Australia; South Australia
• ATRI Terms: Crash; Crash investigation; Data collection; Evaluation; Police; Statistics; Time
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01439784
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• ISBN: 642510660
• Files: ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 24 2012 10:32PM