Twenty Years of Traffic Safety Data on CD-ROM Now Available from DOT

Contact DOT 247-96 BTS Product Line 202-366-DATA

Friday, October 25, 1996 -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña today announced that updated information on traffic safety is now available on CD-ROM from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"Safety is President Clinton s top transportation priority," Secretary Peña said. "By providing key information on highway safety on CD-ROM, the department s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has produced a product that is invaluable to the traffic safety community and the general public."

The data for the Traffic Safety CD-ROM, collected by DOT s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), includes the 1988-94 General Estimates System (GES) data files, the 1975- 94 Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) data files, the 1982-94 blood alcohol concentration files, the 1994 Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report, and the 1994 Traffic Safety Fact Sheets.

The data provides a comprehensive overview of fatal and non-fatal accidents in the United States, including information on vehicle, person, and environmental characteristics (road conditions, type of vehicle, weather, restraint usage, estimated speed, and so forth) of each accident. FARS data is based upon every fatal accident in the U.S., while GES is based upon a sample of all U.S. accidents. The BTS Transportation Data Sampler-3 issued in February contains the past 3 years of TIFA (Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents), a complementary product focusing on fatal truck accidents and based upon FARS data.)

NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez said, "The numbers in these files and reports tell a very important story. More than 6.6 million police-reported traffic crashes occurred on our highways in 1995. On average, a person was injured in these crashes every nine seconds, and someone was killed every 13 minutes. Information about these crashes helps us better understand the problem and develop effective solutions."

BTS Director Dr. T. R. Lakshmanan said, "Accessibility to 20 years of key information on highway safety in one place allows for easier access and use of the data by researchers and analysts, and is consistent with the Bureau's commitment to fostering accessibility to transportation data. "

The Traffic Safety CD is produced in ASCII and Statistical Analysis System (SAS) formats, with the information provided by NHTSA. To order a copy of the CD-ROM, contact the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by phone on (202) 366-DATA, by fax on (202) 366-3640, by Internet at www.bts.gov, or by writing the Bureau of Transportation Statistics at BTS/DOT, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.