Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Analyzing traffic crash statistics in Massachusetts just got easier.

In the past, researchers had problems culling data about statewide traffic crashes because, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the information was spread throughout several different areas of government.

It required time-consuming manual labor to gather the information and cross-reference reports on crashes, tickets and other traffic-related issue. The inefficient methods meant that traffic safety educators had a difficult time producing relevant statistics about potential dangers on our roads.

That meant that hazardous driving habits and perilous traffic patterns and trends were possibly going unrecognized.

Our Boston car accident attorneys recognize that access to reliable information can make a real difference when advancing traffic safety legislation, making motor safety recommendations and informing the public of threats on the roads.

Now, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Highway Safety Division has come up with a solution. It's in the form of MassTrac, an online database that culls information about factors in a crash - things like the type of vehicle involved, how many people were in it, where it happened and the time of day. It even pulls information from the U.S. Census Bureau, and further allows the user to cross-reference those pieces of information.

So custom-made crash statistics can be pulled by everyone from police officers to public health officials.

For example, a public official could decide to research a certain intersection to find out how many crashes had happened there within an allotted time frame. Let's say they discover that in the last several years, teenagers had been involved in multiple crashes at the site. They could also cross-reference that information to determine that most of those crashes happened when the teens were on their cell phones or after 5 p.m.

Hypothetically, this information could be used to tip off law enforcement to be on the lookout for this type of activity in an effort to reduce crashes. Or it could be used by a local government entity in proposing restrictions on cell phones behind the wheel.

According to Barbara Rizzuti, the program coordinator for the state's highway safety division, the new software can also help officials prioritize road projects to improve driving conditions and ultimately promote safety for drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.

The new system was developed with high-tech help from Cambridge Systematics.

Sheila Burgess, the highway safety division's director, praised the database, saying "This tool allows us and other stakeholders to more effectively identify problem locations and target human and financial resources to the areas of greatest need."

Creating the database was a priority for officials with the division, which cites motor vehicle crashes as the cause of 425 deaths and 4,500 serious injuries in the state each year. Those Boston crashes cost the state an estimated $6.3 billion annually.

MassTrac is expected to give officials a clearer picture the full scope of the top traffic problems throughout our state.

But the hope is the spread of information won't stop there.

On the agenda for future enhancements of the system are more road characteristics, greater detail on traffic volume and more data on crime.