Traffic Safety Digest - Winter 2002
RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island Electronic Accident Reporting System (EARS)

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS
Strategic Planning
Uses Existing Technology
Easy to Replicate
Outstanding Collaborative Effort Among Data Stakeholders
PROGRAM AREA(S)
Traffic Records
TYPE OF JURISDICTION
State
 
TARGETED POPULATION
State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies
Users of Traffic Crash Data
JURISDICTION SIZE
1,000,000


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), which includes the State Highway Safety Office (SHSO) had been dependent on manual preparation of the crash report from State and local police agencies for years. Reporting was incomplete and inaccurate. Data typically took up to two years to be available to the Traffic Engineering staff and the SHSO for planning purposes. Police reporting covered only Federal-aid roads in the system. Operator reports were used to obtain what limited information existed for crashes on local roads. About 50 percent of the crash data was not being reported into the system. The crash form was long and difficult to complete and included outdated data elements. The law enforcement community did not perceive that crash investigations benefited traffic safety. Data was manually validated, keypunched, and entered into an antiquated mainframe system with limited access capabilities. The only basis of conducting problem identification of injury data was brief statistical summaries.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal was to develop and implement a fully operational electronic accident reporting system (EARS) to meet the needs of the RIDOT Traffic Engineering staff, SHSO, and State and local law enforcement agencies in traffic safety planning. Objectives for fulfilling this goal included: developing an automated crash data collection system for Rhode Island (RI) law enforcement agencies for use in laptop and desktop applications; developing communications software enabling crash report data to be transmitted electronically using the RI Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (RILETS); validating and storing data in a central repository at RIDOT’s Management Information Center; and providing analytical reports to RIDOT, State and local police agencies, and the SHSO.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In 1999, the project contractor, Beta Systems Group, performed a crash data needs analysis and defined the system and network/communication requirements for all local police agencies. The results of this analysis, determined that the crash reporting form needed to be upgraded to add state-of-the art features, such as the capability to: collect diagrams and record digital photographs; better locate crashes using a menu driven system; communicate with existing police records management systems; print the new form; access the form on a laptop and upload the data onto a computer at the station; and conduct validation checks and transmit data easily and efficiently to a central State repository.

The contractor developed an electronic version of the form RI Motor Vehicle Accident Records System (RIMARS) with all of the above capabilities, which was field-tested with interested police agencies. A key element of the project was that the contractor had to negotiate with existing crash software vendors to ensure compatibility with the new system. By the end of 1999, the contractor had completed a pilot version of the form for both laptop and desktop applications, experimented with extracting data from the form, and developed a central repository for receiving the data. By the end of 2001, 70 percent of the State’s communities representing over 90 percent of the crash data collected were transmitting data electronically to a central State repository.

RESULTS

Rhode Island has made significant improvements in developing and implementing the statewide, integrated crash reporting system. This project, which is the first in the country to deploy crash report electronic transmission software on a statewide scale, boasts the following achievements.

  • The number of crash reports being transmitted into the system increased each year (from an average of 20,000 per year to over 33,000).

  • The program can be replicated in other States at relatively little additional cost. All software is considered “public domain” and is available to other States at no cost. RIDOT will have the capability to electronically integrate its crash file with intersection location and Geographic Information Services (GIS) applications to improve the ability to locate and analyze data for engineering purposes.

  • The project has the full capability to be operational using State funds. Grant funds will be used to fine tune software products, improve data accessibility, and expand availability of data analysis products and reports.

  • Plans can now move forward to develop other data collection tools and linkage with other files including driver license, vehicle registration, traffic citations, and emergency medical service records.

 

FUNDING
Section 411: $552,860
CONTACT
Paul Annarummo
Chief Traffic Engineer
RI Dept. of Transportation
2 Capitol Hill, #370
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2694
pannarummo@dot.state.ri.us 



National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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