CrashMap, the website which allows members of the public to search for details of recorded injury collisions, has undergone a series of upgrades including the addition of collision data for Northern Ireland.
The map, which can be searched for free, has also been updated to include collision data presented in the DfT’s annual report into road casualties which will be published at the end of this month.
Created in 2011, CrashMap uses data collected by the police about road traffic crashes occurring on British roads where someone is injured. This data is approved by the UK Statistics Authority and published by the DfT each year.
The map includes all the data since 1999, which represents 3.15m recorded injury collisions. It allows users to see the date, time, location, speed limit and road type together with information about vehicle types, driver gender, age band and vehicle manoeuvre.
Described as the ‘most significant change’, the inclusion of data for Northern Ireland is the ‘first time this data has been released in such detail’.
Other CrashMap upgrade include a new twin-filter option for casualty and vehicle types, while combinations of collision types can now be reviewed (for example, collisions involving an injured cyclist and a goods vehicle).
Richard Owen, CrashMap development team leader, said: “The concept of the site has changed little over the last five years but recently there has been increasing traffic with hundreds of searches per hour and a demand for more data and more features.
“This first set of improvements, together with plans to source more data from authorities and enhanced reports will benefit both paying and non-paying users.”
Perhaps it should be emphasised more, that the map does not show every collision – only the recorded ones. The general public may not be aware that non-injury collisions are not recorded by the authorities and be puzzled why an accident they were aware of, is not shown. Also, I notice one has to pay for the most crucial bit of information i.e. what actually happened, rather than just the consequences.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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