NASS is composed of two systems, the Crashworthiness Data System (CDS) and the General Estimates System (GES). These are based on cases selected from a sample of police crash reports. CDS data focus on passenger vehicle crashes, and are used to investigate injury mechanisms to identify potential improvement in vehicle design. GES data focus on the bigger overall crash picture, and are used for problem size assessment and tracking trends.
The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) contains data derived from a census of fatal traffic crashes within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To be included in FARS, a crash must involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and result in the death of a person (occupant of a vehicle or a non-motorist) within 30 days of the crash. FARS data has been available every year since FARS was established in 1975.
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors priority health-risk behaviors the prevalence of obesity and asthma among youth and young adults. The YRBSS includes a national school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state, territorial, tribal, and district surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments. Specifically YRBSS includes data related to risky driving behaviors including the use of a seat belt, driving while intoxicated, or riding with someone who is intoxicated.
Not in Traffic Surveillance incidents can fall into a variety of categories, some are crashes (which occur in private driveways) and some are incidents (occupant getting caught in a power window, hyper/hypothermia, etc.).
Injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes remain a major public health problem. These injuries cause unnecessary burden of increased taxes and insurance premiums. They can be prevented or reduced, but only if we understand their type, severity and cost in relation to the characteristics of the crash, vehicles, and persons involved. Crash data alone do not indicate the injury problem in terms of the medical and financial consequences. By linking crash, vehicle, and behavior characteristics to their specific medical and financial outcomes, we can identify prevention factors.
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest, ongoing telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly since 1984. Currently, data are collected monthly in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.
WISQARSTM (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is an interactive database system that provides customized reports of injury-related data.
