U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Center for Statistics & Analysis (text version)
What's New

Welcome! This page will let you know the latest in website updates from NCSA and try to assist those who may be visiting for the first time.

Just Arrived!

A listing of the most recent additions to the NCSA webpages. Links to these new sources will remain here for 90 days, then they will be available through regular NCSA web page features.

10/19/2004 - Safety Belt Use in 2003 -- Demographic Characteristis (HTML) (Technical Report DOT-HS-809-729) May 2004

10/15/2004 - Traffic Safety Fact Sheet "Young Drivers" 2003

10/15/2004 - Fatalities in Crashes Involving a Young Driver (15-20) by State, 2003

10/08/2004 - SCI Quarterly Reports / 3rd Quarter 2004

09/29/2004 - 2003 NASS CDS SAS Data Files.

09/17/2004 - Research Note - Safety Belt Use in 2004 - Overall Results (PDF) (HTML).

09/17/2004 - New 2003 Traffic Safety Fact Sheets - Overview (PDF), Alcohol (PDF), Large Trucks (PDF), Motorcycles (PDF), Occupant Protection (PDF), Older Population (PDF), Pedalcyclists (PDF), Pedestrians (PDF), School Transportation Related Crashes (PDF), Speeding (PDF), State Alcohol Estimates (PDF), Young Drivers (PDF)

08/11/2004 - Data Files - 2003 General Estimates Data Files (SAS) (Available Information/Data Files & High Interest Cases). 2003 GES Coding and Editing Manual (PDF). 2003 Analytical Users Manual (PDF).

08/06/2004 - HTML Releases - Motorcycle Riders in Fatal Crashes (809-734) and Motorcycle Helmet Effectiveness Revisited (809-715) (Available Information)

Traveling Our Website

We've added a Contact Information that provides a single source for addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and Email addresses that enable you to communicate with NCSA or one of its component systems. This page also contains the printable order form for ordering NCSA datasets.

An Available Information page has been added to provide a central site for accessing compiled NCSA statistical reports, research notes, data files and documentation. Most of the information contained on this page is accessible in Adobe PDF format. If you do not have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system use the link below to take you to the Adobe site and download a free copy.  

Navigating Web Pages

Remember the BACK button on Netscape and Microsoft Explorer will take you back to the page you were on just prior to the page you are currently viewing. On some browsers such as AOL the BACK button may be an arrow or arrowhead pointing to the left. A quick way to get back to the top of any page is to press the keyboard keys Ctrl (Control) and Home at the same time.

This website is best viewed using a minimum 800x600 screen resolution and was designed for use with either Microsoft Interenet Explorer or Netscape version 4.0 (minimum). If your web browser version is earlier than 4.0 you can download free browser upgrades from the Microsoft or Netscape websites.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Information and data found throughout the NCSA website is presented in Adobe PDF format and requires this free piece of software from www.adobe.com in order to open and view.

WARNING: Some PDF files that are available for download are very large files. Connection rates of 56K or less may require extended periods of time to complete the file transfer. The Acrobat software will start up and begin loading the PDF file and it may appear that once it finishes downloading that the software has stopped and the PDF file has failed to open. This is the time where Acrobat is now opening the file for display so you must be patient to give the software the time to open the file.....and remember, the larger the file the longer it will take to download, open and display. Time spent downloading, opening and displaying of the PDF is reduced with a greater capacity Internet connection.

Most of the information offered through this website is also available by mail and/or fax. If you experience trouble downloading large files see NCSA Publication List and Order Form for alternative methods of acquiring NCSA data.

ADA Compliance

NCSA webpages have been tested with a software utility named BOBBY which analyzes web page content for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines. These pages do not contain any Priority 1 accessibility errors and are "Bobby Approved".

PDF Accessibility

NCSA has adopted the Adobe PDF format as its standard for documents released through this website. With the release of Adobe Acrobat 5.0, we will begin producing PDF files for public consumption using the Acrobat 5.0 tools that create PDF files with accessibility in mind. Adobe also provides other accessibility products at access.adobe.com .

ZIP Files

A zipped file is a file that has been compressed and most often has a file extension of ".ZIP". We zip some files because in doing so we reduce the file size significantly which greatly reduces the amount of time that it takes to download the file. Zipping and unzipping these types of files requires you to have a utility program on your computer. If you do not have such a program they are usually available free via many Internet sites (use your preferred search engine). For those of you on a network, ask your administrator if there is a zip file utility available on your network.

Glossary of Terms
  • Case Number - A unique identifier to identify a case within a particular PSU and data collection year.
  • CASEID - A unique identifier used to identify a case throughout all PSUs and data collection years.
  • CDS - Crashworthiness Data System - Database input/output system used by NCSA. Stored data is a statistical survey of crashes in which a passenger vehicle - a passenger car or light truck - is damaged severly enough to require towing. Our investigators visit the crash site and collect detailed information.
  • CID - Crash Investigation Division - One of three divisions that comprise NCSA. CID has the overall responsibility for collection of crash data nationwide. CID activities also include detailed crash research as well as investigations involving high public interest or special circumstance cases.
  • CODES - Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System - Linked data collected through crash, hospital and either EMS or emergency department data so that persons involved and injured in a motor vehicle crash can be tracked from the scene through the health care system. Linkage also makes it possible to evaluate the medical and financial outcome for specific event, vehicle and person characteristics.
  • Crash - The use of the term crash used throughout NHTSA is the result of a change in policy in 1997 when the agency took an official stand that the term accident is closely related to the term "unavoidable". The agency policy is that accidents are avoidable, therefore, the term crash which is associated with the word "collision" is the more appropriate term.
  • Current-Data-Year - Refers to the most recent year that data is available. The current-data-year is now 2000.
  • CVARS - Commercial Vehicle Analysis Reporting System
  • FARS - Fatality Analysis Reporting System - A complete census of all fatal traffic crashes.
  • GES - General Estimates System - Component of NASS that is responsible for data collection concerning police reported crashes. Unlike CDS, GES uses information from the Police Accident Report (PAR) only.
  • MAD - Mathematical Analysis Division - One of three divisions that comprise NCSA. MAD is responsible for compiling, verifying and presenting statistics and analysis regarding data collected through NCSA.
  • MMUCC - Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria
  • NASS - National Automotive Sampling System - Cumulative data collection process operating under CID. NASS data is a combination of GES data and CDS data.
  • PAR - Police Accident Report
  • RFCSS - Rear Facing Child Safety Seat.
  • SCI - Special Crash Investigation - Component of CID that focuses on crashes that involve high public interest and/or emerging technology.
  • SDS - State Data System - One of three divisions that comprise NCSA.
  • Sampling - Process or technique of selecting a representative part of a population for the purpose of determining characteristics and parameters of the overall population.
  • SAS - Database software used in several of NCSA's programs (GES, CDS, FARS) to perform statistical analysis.
  • Univariate - Statistical term describing a population with respect to only one variable or characteristic. For example, a frequency table of a population by weight would be a univariate.

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