Main stumbling blocks for a good traffic accident database system - evidences from Brazil

Research on road safety requires, as one of its main assets, a good accident database system (ADS). This work proposes to identify the requirements for such a system, as well as the main stumbling blocks in the path of its creation in Brazil. Results show that each municipality makes its own partnership with the police, database maintenance is irregular and dependent upon political change, and no municipality has information from hospitals. The information varies from municipality to municipality; the level of reported accidents also varies. Therefore, we propose that developing countries could design accident recording systems from a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) perspective. Accident data can then comprise a uniform dataset, potentially hosted by several different institutions, to be made readily and freely available through the country's spatial data infrastructure.