Using Linked Data to Explore the Accuracy of Crash Reported Injuries of Minors

Police crash reports often provide the first record of injury severity for minors involved in motor vehicle crashes, yet these reports may not always match clinical assessments. Differences between the reported level of injury and the medically confirmed level can influence emergency response decisions and limit the usefulness of crash databases for safety analysis. This project will link crash data from the Connecticut Crash Data Repository with hospital discharge and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) datasets to compare police reported injury codes with medically derived measures. The analysis will document where inconsistencies occur and examine how factors such as crash location, agency type, passenger protection, and driver behavior relate to reporting accuracy. The linked dataset will cover crashes involving minors from 2015 through 2024 and will support regression based evaluations of injury classification accuracy across multiple contexts. By identifying sources of error, the study will help improve data quality and support better training and data collection procedures for law enforcement and partner agencies. The resulting insights will strengthen statewide injury surveillance systems and guide the development of safety strategies for children and adolescents.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.umass.edu/neutc/projects/using-linked-data-explore-accuracy-crash-reported-injuries-minors

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $51,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348301

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Massachusetts, Amherst

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  130 Natural Resources Road
  Amherst, MA  United States  01003
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Connecticut, Storrs

  Connecticut Transportation Institute
  270 Middle Turnpike, Unit 5202
  Storrs, CT  United States  06269-5202
• Principal Investigators:

  Auguste, Marisa

• Start Date: 20260101
• Expected Completion Date: 20261231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
• Subprogram: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Children; Crash data; Crash injuries; Crash reports; Data quality; Emergency medical services; Hospitals; Police reports; Young adults
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01973946
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: New England University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348301
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 11 2025 1:50PM