Pedestrian Injuries: Understanding the Actual Magnitude and Trends

Introduction

Transportation safety research and policy making in the United States rely heavily on police-reported crash databases at the state level as well as federal datasets such as Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS). These datasets form the foundation for national injury estimates, trend analyses, and countermeasure evaluation. However, extensive evidence indicates that police-reported crash data underestimates the actual incidence of traffic injuries, particularly nonfatal crashes and those involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists. While the underreporting of crashes is a known issue in general, this research will investigate whether the magnitude of underreporting has increased in recent years, with a focus on crashes resulting in injuries to pedestrians. 

Project Goal and Plan

This proposed study will seek to understand the extent of underreporting of pedestrian injuries in police-reported crash data, assess whether it has changed over time, and examine whether and how underreporting differs in relation to various characteristics of the crashes or crash victims. The project will employ a review and synthesis of existing research and analysis of data from a variety of sources including automobile insurers, emergency medical services, and emergency departments. Results will be documented to provide a more holistic understanding of pedestrian injuries and recent trends.