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that will be required in the national system, but also many needs for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, court
additional standardized elements that the state and local agen- clerks, and judges.
cies can choose to collect for their own use. DUI tracking systems incorporate some features of a cita-
To facilitate the development of this database, the NEMSIS tion tracking system (however, only for drunk- or drugged-
project is also funding a Technical Assistance Center (TAC) driving offenses) and add several other functions beyond
that will not only build the National EMS Repository, but will those. In particular, a DUI tracking system is likely to contain
also provide assistance to state and local agencies in their data data that could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of court-
collection efforts. The TAC will conduct site visits of states to ordered and administrative actions required of offenders.
assess current and planned systems, certify EMS software The system can be used to track recidivism rates for people
products developed by vendors to ensure that they are com- assigned to various treatment programs, or those subject to
pliant with the new NHTSA 2.2.1 data dictionary, and provide various license restrictions. In this way, the state can learn
other assistance to the states such as example legislation and which measures are most effective in ensuring that offenders
data collection policy and procedures (including privacy do not reviolate.
policies). The collection of data from seven states that meet all
the necessary criteria began in 2006, with additional states
Local Data Files
expected to join the effort in 2007.
Local engineering and law enforcement agencies, especially,
are likely to maintain data on roadways and incidents (e.g.,
Population Census Files
crashes, citations) in their jurisdiction. The roadway data may
The U.S. Census Bureau and the state demographer main- closely mirror that in a statewide system, but could also
tain data on population characteristics that can be useful in contain additional traffic counts, more precise or up-to-date
safety analyses. Typically, these data will give estimates of total information on changes to the roadway network and, perhaps,
population and gender, age, and ethnicity subpopulations inventories of signs, markings, traffic control devices, and
broken out within political subdivisions. These data can be other roadside appurtenances. Where such data exists, the
used to develop measures of crash risk, injury risk, and fatality state DOT and other users can potentially access it to develop
risk for specific groups based upon their residence location and a more complete description of safety experience in the state
any demographic characteristics that are recorded in the crash by including details for the local roadway system that may not
and population databases. While these types of analyses are already exist in state files. Many local engineering agencies use
most often used for epidemiological research, they are gaining a GIS and have sophisticated mapping capabilities that users
acceptance among highway safety practitioners because of the can tap into.
additional insight they can provide into a jurisdiction's crash Local law enforcement agencies often have a record of every
experience, especially when countermeasures may involve crash in their jurisdiction, and may have complete citation
education or driver behavior-related programs. records as well. Law enforcement agencies use these records
for manpower allocation and crime mapping, among other
purposes. Other users may find the data useful in developing
Citation Tracking and DUI Tracking Files
a more comprehensive view of traffic safety in a local area.
A special case of multi-agency data sharing is the creation Crashes that fall below the state's reporting threshold may still
of citation tracking and DUI tracking databases. The cita- be of interest to engineers looking for high-crash locations.
tion tracking system is viewed as a "cradle to grave" database Even crashes on private property may have some use for
of every citation issued in the state. From the point of initial special analyses. One example would be an analysis of crashes
printing, through assignment to an agency, an individual in which one or more vehicles is backing up the vast major-
officer, issuance by that officer, processing by the Court or ity of such crashes occur in parking lots and are usually not
administrative processes, and final disposition, the citation recorded in the statewide crash database. The crash database
is trackable. This supports a variety of safety-related analy- at a local law enforcement agency is a potential source for
ses that are not possible if each agency controls their own valuable information not already captured in the statewide
citations and does not track what happens after the officer crash database.
issues them. In particular, states have found that citation Other types of local databases may exist. For example, in the
tracking systems are useful in detecting recidivism for seri- absence of a statewide EMS-run database, or a statewide
ous traffic offenses earlier in the process (i.e., prior to con- trauma registry, it may still be possible to obtain this informa-
viction) and for tracking the behavior of law enforcement tion from local sources (the EMS providers or trauma registries
agencies and the courts with respect to dismissals and plea at designated trauma centers). A metropolitan planning
downs. Such analyses can be useful in identifying training organization (MPO) or regional planning council/commission
