Abstract

KENTUCKY’S TRAFFIC COLLISION FACTS report for 2013 is based on collision reports submitted to the Kentucky State Police Records Branch. As required by Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.635, “every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident of which a report must be made…shall file a report of the accident…within ten days after investigation of the accident upon forms supplied by the bureau.” The stated purpose of this requirement is to utilize data on traffic collisions for such purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the Commonwealth. Data contained in this report are based solely on the observations and judgements of the state and local police officers who investigated each collision. The collision data is contained in an automatic system (Collision Report Analysis for Safer Highways) (CRASH). This system has edit checks for accuracy. Computer tabulations and summaries are again checked for accuracy before information is released or disseminated. It is hoped that the detailed information presented in the 2013 Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts report will, in fact, “improve the traffic safety program within the Commonwealth.”

Report Date

10-2014

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/KTC.RR.2014.N01

Notes

KRS 189.635 requires “any person operating a vehicle...who is involved in an accident resulting in any property damage exceeding $500 in which an investigation is not conducted by a law enforcement officer shall file a written report of the accident with the state police within ten (10) days of occurrence of the accident...” Such reports are not included in the overall data presented in this report.

Summary data on fatal collisions are included throughout this report. Additional data on fatal collisions can be found in the section titled “Kentucky’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)”, pages 57-62.

Prior to 1985, Kentucky utilized a ninety day cut-off for deaths resulting from fatal collisions. As of 1986, persons who died as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision are counted as fatalities only if death occurred within thirty days from the date of the collision. This change from ninety to thirty days was made to be consistent with guidelines of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Beginning with the 2000 Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts report, these statistics were tabulated under modified formats. Data from parking lots and private property are reported but summarized separately from collisions on public roads. Civilian report data are not included. UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, THE DATA ARE FOR PUBLIC ROADS ONLY. Therefore, some data are not directly comparable to previous years.

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