Data systems. A road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners. Chapter 4 Using Data to Improve Road Safety

Reliable and accurate data is needed for a variety of purposes, including for advocating for road safety, identifying specific problems and risks, setting targets, formulating appropriate strategies and monitoring impact. Road safety data, collected every day in most countries, cannot meet these objectives unless they are properly coded, entered in a system, processed, analysed, disseminated and used.

DATA which iscollected and analyzed but not acted upon represent a poor use of resources. The ultimate aim of developing good road safety data systems is to use the information generated to improve the road safety situation. This fourth of four modules provides users with an introduction to how the outputs of road safety data systems may be used for evidence-based road traffic injury prevention, and monitoring and

evaluation of road safety performance.

 

The sections in this module are structured as follows:

 

Dissemination: People can only use road safety data if they have

 access to it. The module begins with a discussion of dissemination mechanisms.

Using road safety data: This section looks at the role of data in the decision making

cycle presented in Module 1, and summarizes how crash data are used by

traffic engineers to identify problems and make improvements to the road network.

 

 Monitoring road safety performance: This section describes indicators

that may be used to monitor the road safety situation, and their strengths and

limitations. The selection of qualitative and quantitative policy objectives, or

targets, is briefly discussed.

 

International cooperation on road safety data: This section describes the

activities of several international agencies to strengthen road safety data capacity

worldwide.

  Assessing interventions: This section describes how outputs of a road safety data system may be used to evaluate the impact of interventions.