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New NHTSA database provides motorcycling insights


advrider

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There are a lot of stats out there about motorcycling in general.  Sometimes, they can be hard to decipher due to their sheer volume.  Other times, the data can seem to be conflicting.  But there’s now a new NHTSA database that provides visual representations for what all those statistics mean.

NHTSA home

NHTSA’s home page for motorcycle statistics.

New database uses FARS system

The new site is the product of data NHTSA has been gathering from 2010 to 2019.  It uses data from the US government’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).  It provides a quick and easily understood pictographic representation of statistics on motorcycling.

The FARS data is obtained solely from individual states’ existing data.  The data used includes:

  • Police Accident Reports
  • Vehicle Registration Files
  • Driver Licensing Files
  • Highway Department Data
  • Vital Statistics
  • Death Certificates
  • Coroner/Medical Examiner Reports
  • Emergency Medical Service Reports
  • Other State Records

The database allows you to click on icons for six separate categories of data.  Once there, you’ll find categories covering:

  • Geography
  • Crash statistics
  • Environmental characteristics
  • Motorcycle riders
  • Helmet use
  • Alcohol involvement

Filtering capability

In addition, there is an easy-to-use filtering capability that allows you to adjust the data output using simple drop-down boxes.  For example, you can specify things like the year for the given data, select individual or multiple states, and other elements about the subject you are interested in.

NHTSA geography

Motorcycle fatalities by state and other information.

As you click through the different categories of data, you will find that the depth of the data is very significant.  For example, in the section for “Motorcyclist Fatalities, by State,” you can select portions of data such as Motorcyclist Fatalities by Region, State, County, and City.

You can also select different data points for the selected portion of data, such as:

  • Number of Motorcyclist Fatalities
  • Percentage of Total Fatalities Who Were Motorcyclists
  • Motorcyclist Fatality Rate per 100,000 population
  • Motorcyclist Fatality Rate per 100,000 registered motorcycles

Other road users

There is also data that compares information from other road users.  For example, in the fatality rates section, you can see data corresponding to subjects such as Occupant Fatality Rates, By Vehicle Type.  In this case:

  • Motorcycles
  • Passenger Cars
  • Light Trucks & Vans

And in each of these cases, there are additional data for:

  • Fatality Rate Per 100K Registered Vehicles; and
  • Fatality Rate Per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled
NHTSA fatality rates

NHTSA slide on highway fatalities includes motorcycles and other road users.

There’s even a section giving you non-personal data on the previous driving records of motorcycle riders and other drivers involved in fatal collisions.

Hover info

For many segments of the website’s iconography, there is additional written data about what the icon means.  In addition, by hovering your cursor over selected data, there are often other data summarizing what the icon is displaying or providing additional data.

The point is that there’s more than motorcycle data in the database.  You get that data without the spin that certain media outlets and insurance companies put into the information.  With the NHTSA database, you can draw your own conclusions.

NHTSA crash

NHTSA crash characteristics summary page.

And if you would like to know what’s on each page, there’s a convenient information button (a circle with an “i” at the top right corner of the page.  If you hover over the “i” button, you’ll get background information on the page’s display.

Portable data

Interestingly, the data is pretty portable.  On most pages, you will find buttons that allow you to create your own metrics, share the webpage and data you created, and download it.

NHTSA riders

NHTSA’s demographic data on fatal motorcycle and other vehicle crashes.

All in all, it appears to be a pretty good database.  But, of course, the information provided is only as good as the underlying data.  So there are instances where you might want to know more but find a hole in the data.  But those issues seem to be pretty isolated.

If I have one issue with the website, it’s that it is often slow.  You may have to wait a few seconds for your selected data to appear.  And, navigation on the webpage is not the easiest if you want to return to a previous page.  I often found that I had to re-enter the database from the beginning and re-navigate to the information I was looking for.

NHTSA alcohol

NHTSA’s data on alcohol use in motorcycle fatalities.

But I do have to say that NHTSA’s newest database is the easiest to understand database on motorcycle safety statistics that I have ever seen.  So if you have an interest in motorcycling statistics from a non-insurance database, this new NHTSA website may be what you need.

 

All image credits: NHTSA

 

Vezi sursa

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