The European Union database (CARE) of injury road accidents is an important tool for the development of traffic and road safety policies. The CARE database is composed of national road accident data, which is collected according to different definitions and recording practices, and is supplied by Member States. The objective of the CARE PLUS project was to develop a methodology for deriving data variables from national accident data which would be more readily comparable between Member States. The purpose is to optimise the use of available road accident data for monitoring and developing both European and national road safety policies. The CARE PLUS expert group was formed at the request of the High Level Group of Road Safety to carry out this task. National data experts from most Member States participated in this group. The approach adopted in the first phase (CARE PLUS 1) was carried forward into the second phase (CARE PLUS 2), in which an additional set of 20 common variables were derived from national data. Examples are: “driving licence age”, “road surface condition” and “hit and run”. For more complex variables like “alcohol” or “accident type”, where it is much more difficult to establish a more uniform definition between Member States, special investigations were made and reports produced to clarify data interpretation for users. As in phase 1, the project was completed with the production of a glossary of the definitions of the common variables and their constituent values established in phase 2. (Author/publisher)
Abstract