Quality traffic safety records are critical to the planning, management, and evaluation of any successful State traffic safety program. This need has become even more pronounced in light of grant requirements in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Public Law 109-59; SAFETEA-LU) and rising Congressional expectations for data-driven performance management with outcome-oriented measures. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is releasing this new collection of 61 performance measures to help States meet this need. These performance measures were crafted with substantial input from a group of 35 experts with experience in at least one of the six core State traffic records systems. The measures are designed to provide traffic records professionals with the information necessary to develop and deploy quantifiable performance measures appropriate for their traffic record systems. The measures are intended for use by Federal, State, and local governments to monitor the development and implementation of traffic record data systems, strategic plans, and data-improvement grant processes. They have been grouped by performance attribute - timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniformity, integration, and accessibility - across the six core State traffic record data systems: crash, vehicle, driver, roadway, citation/adjudication, and emergency medical services (EMS)/injury surveillance. These common performance measures and the attendant guidance on their application are expected to help stakeholders quantify systemic improvements to their traffic records systems. (Author/publisher)
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