The data sources include NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES). FARS annually collects fatal crash data from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and is a census of all fatal crashes that occur on the Nation’s roadways. NASS GES contains data from a nationally representative sample of policereported crashes of all severities, including those that result in death, injury, or property damage. Data presented from NASS GES are estimates and are used to describe police-reported crashes that occur on the Nation’s roadways. The national estimates produced from GES data are based on a probability sample of crashes — not a census of all crashes — and hence are subject to sampling errors. As defined in the Overview of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Driver Distraction Program (DOT HS 811 299), “distraction” is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity instead. It is worth noting that distraction is a subset of inattention (which also includes fatigue, physical conditions of the driver, and emotional conditions of the driver). There has been a revision in NHTSA’s classification of distracted driving since the September 2009 Research Note, An Examination of Driver Distraction as Recorded in NHTSA Databases (DOT HS 811 216). With this change, there will be fewer crashes, fatalities and injuries that reportedly involve driver distraction than would have been reported with the previous definition. For a full explanation of the change and the corresponding coding changes within NHTSA databases, please see Appendix A. There are inherent limitations in the data for distracted-driving-related crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities. These limitations are being addressed through efforts in and out of NHTSA as detailed in the Overview of NHTSA’s Driver Distraction Program. Appendix B describes limitations in the distracted-driving data. Appendix C discusses the specific coding for distracted driving data from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS).
Samenvatting