Occupant Injury in Motor Vehicle Collisions: Using Field Accident Data from Multiple Sources

Review of field accident data is an important tool in understanding injuries in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Multiple databases are available that contain information about traffic-related traumatic injuries, many of which are not commonly used in traffic injury research. This work discusses some databases commonly used to evaluate field accident data and introduces additional databases (primarily hospital, medical, and trauma) that include traffic-related injuries. These data represent a new source of information about MVC traumas and often contain additional health information. The strengths and limitations of each database for evaluating vehicular injuries are compared and discussed.