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Acknowledgments US Department of Transportation - BTS

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when data are entered, they are checked automatically for acceptable range values and consistency, enabling quickcorrections when necessary. Several programs continually monitor the data for completeness and accuracy.Periodically, sample cases are analyzed for accuracy and consistency.Note that the FARS data do not include motor vehicle fatalities on nonpublic roads. However, previous NHTSAanalysis found that these fatalities account for 2 percent or fewer <strong>of</strong> the total motor vehicle fatalities per year. (Seeglossary for highway fatality definition.)Injuries and CrashesNHTSA's General Estimates System (GES) data are a nationally representative sample <strong>of</strong> police-reported crashesthat contributed to an injury or fatality or resulted in property damage, and involved at least one motor vehicletraveling on a trafficway. Trained GES data collectors randomly sample PARs and forward copies to a centralcontractor for coding into a standard GES system format. Documents such as police diagrams or supporting textprovided by the <strong>of</strong>ficers may be further reviewed to complete a data entry.NHTSA suggests that about half <strong>of</strong> motor vehicle crashes in the United States are not reported to police and that themajority <strong>of</strong> these unreported crashes involve minor property damage and no significant personal injury. A NHTSAstudy <strong>of</strong> injuries from motor vehicle crashes estimated the total count <strong>of</strong> nonfatal injuries at over 5 million comparedwith the GES's estimate <strong>of</strong> 3.2 million in 1998. (See glossary for highway crash and injury definitions.)(See U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Transportation</strong>, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2008,DOT HS 811 170 (Washington, DC: 2009), appendices B and C for further information on GES, including a table <strong>of</strong>standard errors applicable to GES data.)TABLE 2-30. Safety Belt and Motorcycle Helmet UseThe National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOP<strong>US</strong>), conducted biennially between 1994 and 2010 by the U.S.<strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Transportation</strong>, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the source for these data.In 1994 and 1996, NOP<strong>US</strong> consisted <strong>of</strong> three separate studies: 1) the Moving Traffic Study, which providesinformation on overall shoulder belt use, 2) the Controlled Intersection Study, which provides more detailedinformation about shoulder belt use by type <strong>of</strong> vehicle, characteristics <strong>of</strong> the belt users, and child restraint use, and 3)the Shopping Center Study, which provides information on rear-seat belt use and shoulder belt misuse. In 1998, theShopping Center Study was dropped from the survey. The Controlled Intersection Study includes the collection <strong>of</strong>license plate information to link seat belt use to vehicle type. As the results <strong>of</strong> the Controlled Intersection Study for2000 were not available prior to publication, only the Moving Traffic Study data were used in this table.In 1998, NOP<strong>US</strong> separated pickups from the light truck category, thereby creating three categories <strong>of</strong> passengervehicles: passenger cars, pickup trucks, and other passenger vehicles. Other passenger vehicles include vans,minivans, and sport utility vehicles. In this table, 1998 and 2000 data for pickup trucks and other passenger vehiclesare combined into the light truck category to allow comparison to data from the earlier surveys. Since 2003, however,the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) no longer computes an overall light truck belt useestimate. Instead, belt use is computed separately for motorists in: (1) vans and sport utility vehicles, and (2) pickuptrucks. Additionally, NHTSA no longer reports separate statistics for passengers and drivers, except at the overalllevel.In 1994, operators and riders wearing any type <strong>of</strong> helmet were counted as helmeted. In 1996, 1998, and 2000,motorcycle helmets that meet <strong>US</strong>DOT standards are counted as valid protection, whereas those that do not meet<strong>US</strong>DOT standards were treated as if the operator/rider were not wearing a helmet.Data collection from the Moving Traffic Study was conducted at 1,823 sites across the country in 2009. Shoulder beltuse was obtained for drivers and right-front passengers only. Three observers (two observers in 1994 and 1996)were stationed for 30 minutes at interstate/highway exit ramps, controlled (intersections with stop signs or trafficsignals), and uncontrolled intersections. Every day <strong>of</strong> the week and all daylight hours (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) were coveredin each survey. Commercial and emergency vehicles were excluded.

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