How Do You Get Your Car Accident Data Sets?

In this video, Alexa and Norma talk about the car accident data sets that are the basis of Auto Grades and where they come from.

 

Alexa: So Norma, walk me through exactly where do you pull the data and how? I know there’s different types of accidents – a fender bender, a rollover collision – what should we take into consideration when you’re pulling all this data to create the grades?

Norma: Excellent question. I’m using just fatal crashes, okay? So, I’m relying on what’s considered the gold standard in car crash statistics. It’s called the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and by the way, your tax dollars have been paying to collect this data since 1975.

Alexa: Oh, wow. That’s my hard earned money. I’m glad to know where it’s going.

Norma: Exactly, and it’s the same data that’s used to measure how well seat belts work or how well airbags work in protecting people. So what I did was I took this database and I looked at, when there’s a fatal crash, who has the unfortunate experience of dying? And who walked away? And so, my index is essentially a survivability index or you can think of it as the ratio of the driver, oh by the way – I always use belted drivers – and how well that vehicle protected that individual.

 

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