CRASH, Injury and Roadway Integration

Kentucky annually integrates roadway and crash data so that roadway geometric information can be linked with crash details. This helps the state determine what engineering solutions might be warranted. Moreover, the roadway information can help inform regression models that help predict crashes. Most of Kentucky’s roadway data is contained in the Highway Information System (HIS). This includes lane widths, crosswalks, curvature, and many other roadway features. Many of these features have been analyzed for their relationship to crash occurrence – but only using the KABCO scale. Similarly, crashes are annually linked to hospital and emergency department records to understand more about the injuries experienced in a crash. The Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) has been very successful in this linkage for many years across the nation. The CODES system allows for much more detailed injury information, including actual physician diagnoses, medical procedures performed, and charges billed for treatment. Moreover, Kentucky has recently started maintaining other roadway information databases such as the intersection database and the location of safety improvements. By integrating CRASH, roadway and injury databases, for example, the intersection database could be used to analyze detailed injury outcomes compared to intersection configurations (3-legs vs. 4-leg; signalized vs. non-signalized). Similarly, roadway safety features such as cable barriers, rumble strips, and high friction surface could be analyzed for their effectiveness in reducing nonfatal injury severity and for preventing specific types of injury. We propose to link Kentucky's roadway databases to already-linked CRASH and injury files (emergency department visit and hospital discharges) for 2008-2014. We propose to use this linked database to assess the impact of cable median barriers on reduction of injury severity and prevention of specific types of injury. In particular we will look for reductions in potenially long-term disabling injuries such as traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.