Data Quality Review of Crash Reports Accepted With Warning

UMassSafe developed and implemented a process for reviewing crash reports that had been ‘accepted with warning’ by the RMV. Specifically, fields that were problematic for all crash reports accepted with warnings were studied, as well as those for individual police departments/barracks, police officers, and Record Management Systems (RMS). The RMV Law Enforcement Liaison (LEL) then used these findings to work with individual police departments to expand their understanding of data quality issues specific to their department in order to make improvements accordingly. Additionally the LEL identified that many issues occurring at the department level were a result of a RMS issue, and therefore technical assistance was additionally provided to their associated RMS vendors.

This research was conducted for the MassDOT Registry of Motor Vehicles ‘Accepted With Warning’ Project, funded by Section 405-c from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, provided through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Massachusetts Traffic Record Coordinating Committee.

Audit Results

In order to improve the quality of Massachusetts crash data, which is used by transportation safety stakeholders to identify problems, develop and implement countermeasures, and evaluate outcomes, UMassSafe conducted a crash data audit (CDA) investigating police crash reports for current challenges. Based on the quantitative and qualitative findings of the CDA, a list of recommendations were created and used to develop a comprehensive Police Crash Report Data Quality Improvement Plan that will be used to guide future data quality efforts.

A summary of the findings can be accessed here: Executive Summary

Full report can be found here: Massachusetts 2014 Crash Data Audit Findings Report