Data are critical to a wide range of highway transportation activities, both within and outside the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), aimed at enhancing traffic safety. Most important among the various types of traffic safety data are accident, or crash data. Crash data are an essential component in identifying and defining roadway safety problems, developing countermeasures to alleviate those problems, guiding the implementation of those measures, and evaluating their effectiveness. When properly understood, analyzed and used, crash data are a powerful asset to any highway safety program.
All crashes resulting in a vehicle being towed away, personal injury, or fatality are reported. The state, county, or local law enforcement officer who first arrives at the scene of a reportable accident records the crash data. The accident report is submitted to the Maryland State Police Central Records Division and the data are entered into the Maryland State Police database and then added to the State Highway Administration Office of Traffic and Safety database, the Safety Information Database (SID), which also includes more detailed information about the roadway, critical elements for the engineers responsible for roadway improvements.
MHSO DATA
The Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) generates and distributes general (non-location-specific) summary crash data.
The MHSO also produces the annual Highway Safety Plan to serve as the guide for the implementation of the highway safety projects throughout Maryland and as the application for funding through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Projects are funded to meet specific highway safety goals and performance measures as enumerated in these documents, and are based on state and national traffic safety data, including data on crashes, fatalities, injuries and citations to ensure that projects are focused on areas of greatest need in the state.
Benchmark Reports
The MHSO annually produces 5-year County, Statewide, and Program Area tabulations of fatalities and injuries by route type, month, day of week, time of day, driver age, driver gender, driver safety equipment use, passenger age, passenger gender, passenger safety equipment use, pedestrian age, pedestrian gender, pedestrian location (e.g., shoulder, curb, sidewalk), and pedestrian movement (e.g., crossing at intersection, walking against traffic).
Click Here to Access the Benchmark Reports
MARYLAND CENTER FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY ANALYSIS
The Maryland Center for Traffic Safety Analysis (MCTSA) is a university-based research center offering a variety of services to support local organizations as well as local, state, and federal entities seeking to reduce motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Established from federal MAP-21 funds in support of highway safety efforts, the MCTSA provides services in support of evaluation studies, performance based planning and assessment, strategic planning, legislative concerns or public policy, and a wide range of other technical and analytical services.
MCTSA is a part of the National Study Center for Trauma and Emergency Medical Systems (NSC) Shock, Trauma and Anesthesiology Research (STAR) organized research center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, which has managed the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) Project since 1996. CODES is an innovative means to access a set of State-based data systems created and maintained for outcome-based decision making related to improving traffic safety. Crash data can be evaluated in terms of outcomes such as death, injury, injury severity, inpatient charges, MAIS, payer, and costs. Other ancillary data sets such as trauma registry, death certificate, and driver records are also included in the CODES data set.
To make a Data Request to MCTSA for CODES or other traffic safety-related data, please use the Online Form: https://somvweb.som.umaryland.edu/NSCTrauma/NSCData.aspx
NHTSA DATA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides data related to highway fatalities across the U.S. and for each State: State Traffic Safety Info (STSI).
These data are based on fatal reports submitted through the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Please note that in some instances FARS data and data reported from the State database may differ. NHTSA also provides other data resources through the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA).
LOCATION-SPECIFIC DATA
For location-specific crash information, please contact your local District Engineer, or you can submit a request for more information through the State Highway Administration Customer Care Management System.
