Traffic Accidents
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Current Status | Not Open |
| Potential Implementing Agencies | State and Local Departments of Transportation, traffic safety advocacy organizations, Regional Planning Organizations |
| Potential Founding/Sponsoring Organizations | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
Analysis -- Future Potential and Adoption
While there are national standards for reporting crash records and information, the data is generally only required to be submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Therefore, the data is usually available only by request from the steward -- such as a state or local department of transportation. In 2016, the White House released 2015 traffic fatality information along with a call-to-action to analyze the data. However, no open data standard was adopted as part of this data release.
Providing this data in a standardized, machine-readable format would enable civic developers and planners to better communicate this data to citizens.In addition, the public could be more responsive and aware of high crash areas and advocate for safer streets and better planning.
Additional Resources
- Fatality Analysis Reporting System - [https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars)
- NHTSA Traffic Records Division - [https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/traffic-records)
- Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria reporting standards - http://www.mmucc.us/
- 2015 Traffic Fatalities Data Released: A Call to Action to Download and Analyze - https://www.transportation.gov/fastlane/2015-traffic-fatalities-data-has-just-been-released-call-action-download-and-analyze