CRASH-FARS Death Certificate Integration

The primary aim of this project is to link the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Kentucky death certificate databases for 2010 through 2014, and also provide a link between the Kentucky CRASH databases and the linked FARS-Death Certificate records. KIPRC receives annual extracts of the unsecure CRASH database and the Kentucky Death Certificates database. FARS data sets are publically available for download from the NHTSA web site. The justification for this project comes from the 2012 KY Traffic Records Assessment. Specifically, Section 1-C on Data Integration recommends increasing traffic records integration by "Develop additional linked datasets including merged data sets for crash, roadway, injury surveillance, citation/adjudication, vehicle, and driver information." Integration of the CRASH, FARS and Death Certificate systems this project will ehance Kentucky's capacity to conduct surveillance and research on fatal crashes involving Kentucky residents. Some specific enhancements include: (1) Ability to access more detailed injury information (e.g. traumatic brain injury) on crash decedents who did not receive treatment at a hospital (e.g. those who died at the crash scene) Recently, for example, we received a request for information on traumatic brain injuries resulting from ATV crashes on public roads. Answering this type of request requires integrated CRASH/FARS and Death Certificate records. (2) Ability to identify crash decedents whose underlying cause of death was determined to be a health condition (e.g. epilepsy, MI) (3) Ability to analyze fatal crashes by occupant race and ethnicity, as this information is captured on the death certificate record (4) Ability to access information on alcohol and drug use captured on the death certificate record