| Research and Data |
| About TRDC & FARS |
| Research Studies |
| Information: 621 8th Avenue SE Suite 409 Olympia, WA 98501 PO Box 40944 Olympia, WA 98504 Phone: (360) 753-6197 Fax: (360) 586-6489 sysop@wtsc.wa.gov |
RESEARCH and DATA
About TRDC & FARS
Traffic Research and Data Center (TRDC)
The Traffic Research & Data Center (TRDC) is an information-resource unit within the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The TRDC produces data analyses and traffic safety research studies to create the foundation for effective traffic safety programs.
Successful programs depend upon credible and consistent data, appropriate analysis of that data, and well-designed scientific research studies. The studies identify new problem areas and evaluate the effectiveness of both established and experimental safety programs.
The TRDC provides data, research findings, and careful analysis to WTSC staff and other traffic safety-involved agencies for the purpose of supporting programs and activities intended to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. In addition, upon request the TRDC provides information to private firms, media representatives, and members of the public.
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
In 1975, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) created the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
NHTSA contracts with agencies in each state to analyze fatal traffic crash events. Analysts are responsible for analyzing each fatal crash from official documents; these include:
- Police Traffic Crash Reports
- State Driver Licensing & Vehicle Registration Files
- Death Certificates
- Toxicology Reports
- Emergency Medical Services Reports
To be included in FARS, a crash must involve a motor vehicle traveling on a traffic way customarily open to the public and result in the death of a person (either an occupant of a vehicle or a non-motorist) within 30 days of the crash.
| Agency Distinctions in Traffic Fatalities | ||
|---|---|---|
Topic |
WSDOT Data |
FARS Data |
"Catastrophic" Events |
Includes any naturally-occurring event, e.g., rockslide or falling trees, that results in a fatality within the trafficway. |
Excludes any crashes occurring as a direct result of or during a "cataclysmic" event. |
Driveway |
Considered to be 'private' and therefore excluded. |
Considered to be 'private' and therefore excluded. |
Driveway - Related |
WSDOT includes these because of 'intent to enter/exit' |
FARS includes these because of 'intent to enter/exit' |
Private Way - Related |
Does not include cases where crash occurred more than 20 feet from trafficway. |
Includes these cases when no barrier to public access exists. |
Non-Motorized Vehicle in Transport |
Includes non-motorist fatal crashes NOT involving a motor vehicle but occurring within the trafficway, e.g., a skateboarder colliding with a utility pole or a bicyclist hitting a curb. |
Does NOT include these non-motorist fatalities because they do not involve a motor vehicle in transport. |
Fetus-Involved |
If a pregnant woman is involved in a collision and her infant is born during or as a result of that collision and subsequently dies, WSDOT WILL include that infant as a fatality. |
If a pregnant woman is involved in a collision and her infant is born during or as a result of that collision and subsequently dies, FARS does NOT include that infant as a fatality. |
Parking Lots |
Check w/ WSDOT/ WSP |
Parking lot stalls or aisles are not trafficways and FARS does not count fatal crashes that occur in them. Parking lot ways, used for vehicular circulation within parking lots and vehicular access to parking lot aisles, are traffic ways; FARS counts traffic fatalities occurring in them. |
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