Police use of accident and violation records in Queensland for accident reduction and driver improvement purposes

The accident analytical section was set up by the Queensland Police Department in 1958. The section collects all traffic accident and traffic breach reports and data are stored on punch cards. Accident records are filed by location and many different analyses can be made rapidly. An accident spot map shows sites with high accident rates. These are studied for permanent control (stop signs, etc) or engineering improvement as well as selective enforcement. Police divisions are regularly advised of accident frequencies by hour of day and day of week. A monthly summary shows fatal, injury and damage accidents, breaches, police personnel and enforcement index by police divisions. This shows the geographic effectiveness or deficiencies in enforcement. One of many analyses of which the system is capable is driver improvement. State records are centralized. A driver's record of convictions and accidents are studied for various levels of corrective treatment (A).