Perspectives of a web-based software to improve crash data quality and reliability in Italy

Abstract

Real-world crash data play a vital part in the development of safer transport since information on crash data is essential as a means of understanding where and why crashes occurred in the past and how the occurrence of similar events may be prevented in the future. Crash databases provide the basic information for effective highway safety management but several existing databases show significant drawbacks which hinder their effective use for safety analysis and improvement. In Italy, the national crash database is maintained by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and presents major issues related to the crash report form, the crash classification, the crash location, and the crash severity. Moreover, almost all police departments use an out-of-date paper form, not in line with the national and international needs. Modern technologies offer potential for significant improvements of existing methods and procedures for crash data collection, processing and analysis. To address these issues, in this paper we present the development and evaluation of a web-based platform-independent software for crash data collection, processing and analysis named ReGIS (Crash Data Collection, Processing and Analysis). The software is designed for mobile and desktop electronic devices and enables a guided and automated drafting of the crash report, assisting police officers both on-site and in the office. The software development was based both on the detailed critical review of existing Australasian, EU, and U.S. crash databases and software as well as on the continuous consultation with the stakeholders. The evaluation was carried out comparing the completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of crash data before and after the use of the software in the city of Vico Equense, in south of Italy showing significant advantages. The amount of collected information increased from 82 variables to 268 variables, i.e., a 227% increase. The time saving was more than one hour per crash, i.e., a 36% reduction. The on-site data collection did not produce time saving, however this is a temporary weakness that will be annihilated very soon in the future after officers are more acquainted with the software. The phase of evaluation, processing and analysis carried out in the office was dramatically shortened, i.e., a 69% reduction. Another benefit was the standardization which allowed fast and consistent data analysis and evaluation. Even if all these benefits are remarkable, the most valuable benefit of the new procedure was the reduction of the police officers mistakes during the manual operations of survey and data evaluation. Because of these benefits, the satisfaction questionnaires administrated to the police officers after the testing phase showed very good acceptance of the procedure.