Analyzing Indiana Crash Data to Inform Traffic Safety Policy and Program Development
September 29, 2016
About the Seminar
Designing and implementing effective data‐driven traffic safety policies and programs requires complex approaches to analyzing Indiana crash data and other related data sets. This presentation discussed applied research methods and highlighted research findings that, in partnership with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI), informed changes in policy and/or legislation in an effort to reduce fatalities and injuries in motor vehicle crashes. Each year, the traffic safety research team at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute collaborates with ICJI to analyze vehicle crash data from the Automated Reporting Information Exchange System, maintained by the Indiana State Police. This ongoing partnership began in 2006.
Research findings are summarized in an annual series of fact sheets on various aspects of traffic collisions, a publication that provides detailed analyses of crash variables and the geography of Indiana traffic collisions, and traffic safety dashboards for Indiana counties and Indiana State Police post regions. These applied research products serve as the analytical foundation of traffic safety program planning and design in Indiana. These analyses highlight traffic safety problems that assist stakeholders in making recommendations for effective policies and provide necessary information for the state to apply for federal funding to support traffic safety program improvements.
Webcast
About the Speaker
Dona Rae Sapp is a senior policy analyst at the IU Public Policy Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She currently serves as principal investigator and project manager on the annual traffic safety research project conducted in partnership with the ICJI and manages other transportation and public safety applied research efforts. In this role, she oversees the Institute's traffic safety research teams' analyses of Indiana motor vehicle crash data and the production of a series of annual publications on various aspects of traffic collisions. She also serves as a member of the Indiana Traffic Records Coordinating Committee.