This paper discusses some of the benefits of using hospital data in conjunction with police data on road accidents using examples from recent and current research at TRL. The examples show how such data can be used for estimating total numbers of casualties with different levels of severity; analysing injury severity distributions and monitoring changes over time; and detailed investigation of accident consequences and costs to society. Finally the paper outlines work on the proposed extension of the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System (known in Europe as EHLASS), to provide a national hospital sample of road accident casualties in the UK.
Abstract