Objective: Prior research suggested that single-unit trucks are undercounted when using vehicle body codes in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This study explored the extent of the misclassification and undercounting problem for crashes in FARS and state crash databases.
Methods: Truck misclassifications for fatal crashes were explored by comparing the Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA) database with FARS. TIFA used vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and survey information to classify large trucks. This study used VINs to improve the accuracy of large truck classifications in state crash databases from 5 states (Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Utah).
Results: The vehicle body type codes resulted in a 19% undercount of single-unit trucks in FARS and a 23% undercount of single-unit trucks in state databases. Tractor-trailers were misclassified less often. Misclassifications occurred most frequently among single-unit trucks in the weight classes of 10,001–14,000 pounds.
Conclusions: The amount of misclassification of large trucks is large enough to potentially affect federal and state decisions on traffic safety. Using information from VINs results in more complete and accurate counts of large trucks involved in crashes. The National Transportation Safety Board recommended actions to improve federal and state crash data. 相似文献
River basins provide a wide range of ecosystem services important for human well-being. Ecosystem functions and their value to humans have been thoroughly studied. However, the role of governance characteristics for the sustainable management of ecosystem services has been largely ignored up to now. To close this gap, this article introduces the latest modifications to a database building on the Management and Transition Framework (MTF) that serve to study the relationship between water governance and management systems and their performance with regard to impacts on ecosystem services. This comprehensive approach facilitates structured data collection and representation in order to analyze single case studies or compare case studies regarding the governance and management of water resources and associated ecosystem services. It allows the user to investigate whether certain water governance characteristics, such as stakeholder involvement or vertical integration of governance levels, are associated with a change in the management of ecosystem services or a measurable change in their state. A simplified case from South Africa shows how the database modifications allow addressing links between governance and management processes on the one side and ecosystem services and the way they are handled on the other side. Applying the MTF database leads to evidence-based insights into best practices as well as failed management approaches and interventions. This in turn provides knowledge that can be transferred from science to practice supporting sustainable governance of ecosystem services. 相似文献
The Quality–Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Database for Nebraska Ground Water is a unique repository of nitrate and pesticide data collected by federal, state, and local agencies. Each contaminant concentration in the database has been evaluated based upon well–defined criteria that address completeness of the well–attribute data, analytical method and field and laboratory quality control practices and assigned to one of five quality levels. The quality assessment level always accompanies the contaminant concentration so that the end–user knows the quality assurance effort expended in the acquisition of the data, can select comparable data, and choose data whose quality assurance effort is commensurate with project objectives. The database can be viewed and queried on–line; downloaded in its entirety; or imported to a spreadsheet or a geographic information system. Setting criteria for data quality and assessing the level of quality have resulted in significant increases in the percentages of high quality (Levels 3–5) nitrate and pesticide data. These high quality data presently constitute 52% of the nitrate and 55% of the pesticide data. 相似文献