1. Safety Device Coding and Enacted Laws in Police Accident Report Forms
Authors: Karen Brock, MPH; Garry Lapidus, PA-C, MPH
Injury Prevention Center, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT; University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Background:
Traffic safety advocates use data from police accident report forms to promote public awareness and enforcement campaigns to increase motor vehicle safety device use.
Results:
Objective:
Describe safety device coding on state police accident report forms and compare them to provisions in the state’s traffic safety laws.
Methods:
State police accident report forms were obtained directly from states or from NHTSA. Laws were obtained from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Forms were examined for the presence and coding scheme of occupant safety features.
Example of Police Accident Report Form
Discussion:
A majority of state police accident report forms include a seat belt use variable but many do not contain a variable to code for booster seats and bicycle helmet use.
The Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria Guidelines (MMUCC) provides recommendations for police accident report form variables and coding schemes.
MMUCC guidelines are voluntary; the 2nd edition of MMUCC from 2003 is not scheduled for review until 2008.
The procedures and process of revising the police accident report forms vary from state to state.
NHTSA recommends that each state undergo an assessment of their traffic records program at least every five years.
Conclusion:
Police accident report forms do not reflect current traffic safety laws in the majority of states coding and hampers our ability to evaluate the impact of these laws.  Updating the police accident report forms to adequately reflect the laws of the state should be a top priority and occur when the law changes.
Abstract #157742