There are five international databases with data on European or worldwide road safety and mobility [13]:
- CARE-database, managed by the European Commission. It contains data of registered numbers of road casualties of the (as yet) 27 member states of the European Union and the 4 EFTA countries (Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland). The data in this database have the highest degree of disaggregation.
- IRTAD-database, managed by OESO. It has contained data from 32 OESO countries since 1970. The relevant national authorities supply the data, which are based on common definitions. The IRTAD database contains registered numbers of casualties, even though the reports may also supply the actual numbers adjusted for underregistration.
- UNECE-database, managed by the European commission of the United Nations. It contains data of more than fifty countries (Europe, Canada, US) about road crashes, traffic exposure, number of vehicles, and more general data about geography, demography and economy.
- World Road Statistics, managed by the International Road Federation (IRF). Since 1964, these statistics have concerned data of more than 200 countries about road networks, traffic intensities, numbers of vehicles, road crashes and infrastructural investments.
- WHO-database, managed by the World Health Organisation. It contains data about the number of registered road deaths, population, road deaths per capita, road safety legislation (seatbelt use, vehicle requirements, BAC, speed limits) and traffic enforcement levels.
Comparing different crash databases, Yannis et al. [13] conclude that the CARE data are disaggregated to a maximum extent. The CARE database also includes information about crash types and percentages of the underregistration of injuries, while these are missing in other databases.
Insofar as databases have information about serious road injuries, it is mostly based on the varying definitions countries use themselves and is therefore hard to compare. To gather information for the CARE database, attempts are made to obtain data that are in accord with the common MAIS3+ definition (see the question To what extent are international data comparable and reliable?).
