DATA COLLECTION
Vision Zero is a data driven approach making data collection vital to this process. In nearly all cases where change is reactive, data is used to support the changes based on this information and patterns identified by using that data. The same should be done for communities looking to be proactive in their approaches to prevent collisions. For this to be accomplished to the best of a community’s ability, data must be recorded frequently and accurately through the help of the local government, police, and the public. This is an effort that should be completed through the communities elected officials, community departments, and community partnerships. Creating ways that make it easier to collect this information and analyze it will make defending those proactive choices easier. Each of these groups has a role to play when it comes to recording information accurately: /
Some cities across the nation have set up an online portal with an interactive map to report near-misses and crashes. This helps to report information in real time without the fear of making an unwarranted 911 call.
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DOT’s, MPO’s, and local health partners are working with law enforcement to enhance police accident reports for crashes. Currently, misinformation comes from reports with missing information that either has been omitted or is not accurate based on the actual situation. Currently, the IMPO has been working to clean up central data from 2015-2018. The have produced maps and a dashboard called the Central Indiana Incapacitated & Fatality Crash Dashboard which can be found here.1
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The public knows the community the best. It is next to impossible for elected officials and police officers to know where the worst intersections or stretches of road are unless there are continual crashes happening. Near-miss incidents are almost never reported to authorities and there is a huge misrepresentation of what happens in the streets of lowincome or minority areas. It is critical that elected officials, department staff, public health officials, and law enforcement build trust within neighborhoods and communities to talk with the public about the transportation system and the streets, intersections, and crossings that might not be the main roads used for primary travel that are unsafe. This allows for site specific changes to be identified and additional funding to be allocated towards infrastructure improvements and increase the quality of life for that area.
1 Indianapolis Metropolitian Development Organiziation (October 9, 2019). Dashboard & Reports. https:// www.indympo.org/maps-resources/dashboards-reports
Data Collection and Setting Benchmarks / 3