Addressing the Limited Data Dilemma Non-Traditional Sources of Safety Data

1. Addressing the Limited Data DilemmaNon-Traditional Sources of Safety Data Presented by: Terecia Wilson Director of Safety

2. Traditional Data Collection • Crash Data • Driver Records • Vehicle Records • Roadway Inventory Data • Citation Data / Adjudication Data • EMS Run Reports

3. Road Safety Audits Opinion Surveys Observational Surveys Program Assessments Interviews SCP Forum (Data Guide) CODES Data Data Cube Complaint Files Program Evaluations Professional Judgment Alternative Data Collection

4. What is a Road Safety Audit? A formal examination of an existing or future road or traffic project, or any project which interacts with road users, in which an independent, qualified examiner reports on the project’s crash potential and safety performance.

5. Why Do RSAs? • Proactive approach to highway safety. • Widely used in other countries - highly effective. • Possible even with limited resources. • Supports Strategic Plan Goal of improving safety.

6. When Can an Audit Be Done? • Future Roads • Stage 1 – Planning • Stage 2 – Preliminary Design • Roads Under Construction • Stage 3 – Final Design • Stage 4 – Pre-opening • Existing Roadways • Stage 5 – Operations Review

7. Types of Audit Data • Information collected for use in audit • Traffic counts • Public hearing information • Detailed designs • Crash Data

8. Types of Audit Data • Information collected from audit report • Prioritized findings and recommendations • Multi-disciplinary report • Comments from special road user groups

9. RSA Team Participants • Geographic Representation from across state. • Representation from various disciplines: Traffic Engineering, Planning, Engineering, Construction, Pre Construction, Special Interest groups. • Special Interest groups (ie, local law enforcement, EMS, Disabilities and Special Needs, AARP, etc.)

10. RSA Follow Up • Conduct follow up study to determine impact on traffic safety 3 years after final audit report. • Examine traffic collision data 3 years before and 3 years after audit. • Include RSA team to assist in evaluation as needed.

12. Opinion Surveys • Telephone Surveys • Random Digit Dialing • Unbiased • Varied Demographics (Age, Race, Education, Income) • Representative sample of licensed drivers

13. Opinion Surveys • Examples of Telephone Surveys • Follow-up evaluation of public information campaigns • Determine public opinion on safety issues • Primary Safety Belt Law • .08 BAC • Motorcycle Helmet Legislation • Determine changes in public opinion on safety issues (Baseline/Ongoing)

14. Opinion Surveys Focus Groups • Used for more qualitative information • Used in a wide range of applications in nearly every field of market research. • Encourages participants to express their feelings freely and without inhibitions • Probes more deeply into issues in a relaxed, uncontrolled atmosphere.

15. Opinion Surveys Focus Groups • Discussion leaves participants feeling, justifiably, that their opinionis important • Gives clients a clearer perspective on how their customers feel and why they feel that way. • Information gained may lead to changes in program and product development and implementation. • Include demographic representation of target population. 

16. Opinion Surveys • Used as part of dispute resolution, or to solicit opinions before making significant changes. • Useful in developing consensus when community opinion is not immediately obvious in normal discussion. • Especially useful during legislative debate on controversial safety issues. • Also, useful in developing funding priorities.

17. Observational Surveys • Sometimes the best way to collect information about people's behavior is to watch them. • Observation allows the researcher to collect information without being a burden on the person providing the information. • Typically evaluators develop guides that structure the observation process.

18. Observational Surveys • Drawbacks: • Measures only what you can see. Other types of data (e.g., opinions, reasons behind behavior) cannot be collected in this fashion. • Time-consuming as multiple observations are often required. • Presence of collectors may influence behavior. • Safety of observers.

19. Program Assessments • Help determine ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency of programs. • Provide tools and documentation by which additional steps can be taken to make programs better and/or safer. • Identify gaps in services. • Provide support for additional financial and human resources.

20. Program Assessments • Peer reviews of programs. NHTSA currently offers program assessments for the following: • emergency medical services • impaired driving • traffic records • motorcycle safety • occupant protection

21. Program Assessments • Examples : • Studies on the effectiveness of program activities • Identifies steps to be taken to enhance existing programs • Evaluates the implementation of new programs • Assists in justifying additional funding and program support • Considers current legislation and the direction for legislative action • Provides documentation to be used as National and State input for policy, training and program development.

22. How Do You Arrange for a Program Assessment? • The State Highway Safety Offices obtain program assessments by writing and requesting an assessment from one of the NHTSA Regional Offices. • If information or assistance is needed regarding the Highway Safety Program Assessments, please contact the NHTSA Regional office for your state.

23. Interviews • Interviews with local agencies personnel (Police, EMS Responders, Local Engineers, Coroners) provide invaluable data. • Insight on perceived needs (more enforcement, engineering improvements, etc.) • Opportunity to speak with someone that may have been first on the scene at a particular incident or fatality • The benefit in some cases of a play by play account of what happened at a particular crash

24. Interviews • Provide insight on local uses for roads (cut through, alternate route to avoid traffic, racing, truck route, etc.) • Offer insight as to how areas surrounding road may change with the various seasons • Is there anything planted that might impede sight distance at an intersection? • Are there any streams that deer gravitate toward which might increase the need for them to cross roads? • Become aware of planned projects that may impact the road

25. Interviews • When do you conduct interviews? • Site visits • Monitoring visits • Roundtable discussions • Development meetings • Public Hearings / Town Hall Meetings • Annual Professional Conferences • Individual Interviews

26. Interviews • Questions asked in interviews • What is the most common type of crashes? • What happens when it rains? Does the road flood in particular area? • Did something change in the landscape recently that might affect why crashes increased (i.e., cutting down trees that block the sun)?

27. Safety Conscious Planning “...a proactive approach for the prevention of motor vehicle crashes and unsafe transportation conditions.” Improving Safety on Our Highways

28. Safety Conscious Planning ... a comprehensive, system wide, multi-modal, proactive process that better integrates safety into surface transportation decision making.

29. Safety Conscious Planning • Considers all aspects of highway safety – engineering, education, awareness, enforcement & emergency response • Uses a system-wide approach including sites, corridors & entire state, regional & local transportation systems

30. Safety Conscious Planning • Multi-modal including transit, pedestrian & bicycle safety needs • Proactive - addresses current safety problems & looks for opportunities to prevent them in the future

31. Forum Participants • Broad cross section of planning and safety communities • Statewide representation • Multidisciplinary group (including MPO’s, COG’s) • Federal partners (FHWA, NHTSA, FMCSA)

32. Plans Provided to Participants • AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan • Emergency Medical Services State Plan • Federal Railroad Administration Action Plan • 402 Highway Safety Plan • Injury Control Plan • SCDOT Strategic Plan • SC Long Range Transportation Plan • Others

33. Data Guide • SCDOT (Road Inventory, Traffic Counts, Mileage Reports) • SCDPS (Collision File) • SCDMV (Driver & Vehicle Files) • EMS (Run Reports, Trauma Registry) • DAODAS (School Age & Adult Surveys) • Office of Research & Statistics (CODES, Census, Hospital Discharge)

34. Forum Accomplishments • Brought over 200 partners together, many 1st time • Adopted several goals & strategies to improve safety – all willing to support in their plan • Improved communications among partners (E-mail group) • Enlightened participants on available data sources

35. CODES Project • Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System • Multi-agency effort which includes: • SC Department of Public Safety • SC Department of Transportation • SC Department of Health and Environmental Control • SC Emergency Medical Services • SC Budget and Control Board Office of Research and Statistics

36. Provide a comprehensive view of motor vehicle crashes and their resultant impact on morbidity, mortality, health care services and associated costs. CODES: Goal

37. CODES Project • Collaborative approach to obtain medical and financial outcome information related to motor vehicle crashes for highway safety and injury control decision making. • Evolved as the result of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 • Report to Congress about the benefits of safety belts and motorcycle helmets for persons involved in motor vehicle crashes.

38. CODES Project • Measure benefits in terms of reducing death, disability, and medical costs • Includes statewide data for all persons involved in police-reported crashes • Includes those who were injured or who died as well as those who were not injured. • Allows comparisons between those using and not using safety belts or motorcycle helmets • Identifies and contrasts characteristics of injured and uninjured persons within each of the restraint use groups.

39. CODES: Linked Data Sets • Crash (DPS) • Emergency Medical Services (DHEC EMS)* • Hospital (ORS) *Prior to 2001 only

40. Data Collected: Crash • Demographic Data • Driver / Pedestrian / Pedalcyclist • Passengers • Restraint Usage • Crash Location / Type of Crash • Contributing Factors • Injuries / Fatalities / Transported • Alcohol or Drug Involvement

41. Health Care Utilization Databases • Hospital Inpatient Discharges • Ambulatory Surgery Episodes • Emergency Room Visits

42. Data Collected: Health Care Utilization Databases • ABOUT THE PATIENT: age, race, gender, geographic location codes • ABOUT THE EPISODE: Hospital & Physician Characteristics • primary diagnosis and nine related diagnoses • primary and nine secondary procedures with dates, admission and discharge dates, length of episode • destination at discharge (home, home health referral, death, etc.)

43. Data Collected: Health Care Utilization Databases • COST OF CARE: • Detailed charges by revenue center (e.g., pharmacy, lab, respiratory therapy, etc.) • Primary and secondary payer class (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, Private Insurance, Self-pay/Indigent) *Hospital charges used as proxy

44. CODES Project • Links databases containing information about individual persons collected from police crash reports, emergency medical transports, emergency room visits and inpatient hospitalization records. • Uses probabilistic linkage methods • SC has been a CODES state for 7 years.

45. CODES Project • System helps in analyzing crash patterns. • Includes a mapping system to locate crashes based on such characteristics as crash severity, volume of crashes, age of driver and involvement of alcohol and/or drugs. • Developed CODES Internet site to facilitate the dissemination of information from the project.

46. CODES Project • Statewide data collected on all persons: • Involved in police-reported crashes • Transported by emergency medical services due to crashes • Visits to emergency room due to injuries • Hospitalized due to injuries. • Analyses of data used to measure impact of crashes by communities in terms of reducing injuries, deaths, and medical costs. • Comparisons can be made between the characteristics of those using and not using safety belts, helmets, and other restraints. • PDO crashes were not included in the linkage or analysis.

47. Uses of CODES Data • Provides economic argument for safety legislation • Primary Belt Law • .08 • .10 Per Se • Automated Enforcement at Red Lights • Develops profiles for Safe Communities Programs • Provides demographic data to develop educational / enforcement programs.

48. Impact of ED Data on CODES • Policy decisions can be made based on better estimates of medical cost data • Population of crash victims injured and treated in a hospital setting more accurate • Surrogate SC Trauma Registry • Complete look at crash and injury patterns for Community Needs Assessments (high volume vs. high injury)

49. Data Request / Fact Sheet • Restraint use by pay source and treatment type (ED and inpatient) • Number and rate of injuries • Total and average charges • Length of stay (inpatient only) • Also included the total numbers of injured, number and percent linked from crash to hospital data.

50. What is a Data Cube? • While ORS answers requests now using information from the Data Warehouse, our dream was to create a • “WEB-Accessible User-Driven Query Based System that agencies can access and explore their own questions” • Cubes would be for statistical / aggregate analyses