A new methodology for road crash data collection in Bangladesh using local record keepers

Abstract

The lack of good road crash data is a serious obstacle to analysing road safety problems in Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) and this complicates, for example, the sound assessment of road safety interventions. Police crash reports are the main source of crash data, but often have significant limitations. This paper describes a complementary new methodology for road crash data collection called the Local Record Keeper (LRK) methodology. This methodology deploys trained people from the local community and a new supervisory and quality control process to record road crashes. A comprehensive description of the LRK methodology is provided. The LRKs were able to collect most of the data in the crash forms without difficulty. The LRK methodology recorded significantly more crash data than the Police and provided details on crash location and road user involvement that were important input for the design of a speed management programme on a rural highway that traverses three villages in Bangladesh. A 19.7% reduction of the mean speed caused by the speed management programme was accompanied by a recorded reduction in the LRK data of 66.7% in the number of fatalities, and 59.4% in the number of serious injuries. These recorded reductions as a result of measured speed reductions were consistent with what has been reported in the literature. It is recommended to consider the LRK methodology as a complementary source of crash data in LMICs.