LOCAL ACCIDENT REFERENCE SYSTEM—A METHOD TO THE MADNESS OF ACCIDENT RECORD KEEPING By WILLIAM T. SUNLEY, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets

As traffic on the local highway system increases, the importance of identifying and correcting hazardous conditions becomes more apparent. One method of identifying problem locations is by analyzing traffic accident data. It is not uncommon for traffic accident information to exist yet still be unavailable for analysis. Retrieving the information for a particular location often requires spending an exorbitant amount of time searching through accident report files.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, through its Division of Traffic Safety, can provide local agencies assistance in maintaining an accessible and useful source of traffic accident data. This is accomplished by offering local governmental agencies access to a computerized accident record keeping system known as the Local Accident Reference System and commonly referred to as LARS. The information entered into LARS is obtained from the accident report forms completed by local and state law enforcement agencies. The accident reports are provided for data purposes only and are not made available as public information by the Department. Accident reports should be submitted weekly to the Department in order to provide a smooth and manageable flow of data to be entered into the system.

The Division of Traffic Safety can assist governmental agencies in setting up a reference system for its road and street network. This system will enable accident locations to be identified on the accident report form in a manner that will allow the location to be entered into and retrieved from the computerized data bank.

Once the accident information is placed in the data bank a local agency has access to a very useful planning aid. LARS provides participants with a monthly report which lists accidents that have occurred within their jurisdiction during a given calendar year and provides information regarding the accident locations, distinguishing roadway feature at the accident location, date, day of the week, time of day, lighting conditions, number of injuries and fatalities, number of vehicles involved, reporting law enforcement agency and more. Also, information can be requested on specific locations to provide the number of injuries, number of fatalities and hourly by day of week data. Collision diagrams for intersections are available upon request.

LARS is only offered to local agencies on a city-wide or county-wide basis. Townships wishing to participate in the system should contact their county highway department to suggest that the county consider using LARS. At last count, 105 cities and 9 counties are participating in LARS in order to increase their ability to improve traffic safety. With the information received from LARS they are in a better position to prioritize their traffic safety needs and to effectively utilize limited resources. A local governmental agency can take advantage of the benefits offered by LARS by contacting: Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety, Accident Information & Utilization Section, 2300 South Dirksen Parkway, Room 319, Springfield, Illinois 62764, telephone (217)782-2575.

Credits to: John A. Morris, Project Development Engineer

October 1989 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 25