A comparison of reported and unreported noncrash events

Two sources of data for the investigation of noncrash-related injuries are compared: police accident reports and a hospital emergency room monitoring system. Two main issues are considered: the extent to which these sources provide similar descriptions of the noncrash event, and an assessment of these data sources for investigation of noncrash events. Several critical features between the two types of data collection systems can be summarized from the analysis. First, reliance solely on police reports would indicate that there are very few cases of injuries as a result of noncrash events. Second, a narrow view of causes of injuries in noncrash events are found in the police report cases: most were ejections, while interior impacts were more common in the hospital cases. Third, noncrash events appear to be similar to other "household" accidents, with the injured child transported by the parent/guardian to the hospital. In summary, the police report investigations provide a limited view of the extent of noncrash events. Data sources such as hospital monitoring systems are more productive than police reports in studies directed at nonstandard traffic accident events, such as the noncrash.