Recent updates from the Database Library
Vehicle accidents (updated)
How many people died in accidents on U.S. roadways last year? What are some of the more dangerous highways? Questions like these can be answered with the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) database from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Records are available from 1975, when the DOT started tracking fatal accidents, through 2001. The database has three main tables to track by person, vehicle or accident. With this database, it's possible to find out many details, such as how fast a vehicle was traveling, weather and road conditions, and whether the driver had prior convictions for DUI or speeding.
Another database deals specifically with truck crashes, whether or not anyone died. The DOT Truck Accidents database has commercial carrier accidents as reported to state and local police from 1988 through 2001. The main table has details on the crash, such as number of injuries and vehicles involved, plus the name and location of the carrier. The database also has the truck's DOT census number, which makes it possible to link the crash database to truck inspection or truck census databases, also available from the Database library.
Aviation data (updated)
The Aircraft Registration Database has information on more than 320,000 planes, including those owned by businesses, individuals and government. Current through May 2002, the database allows journalists to find the owner of an aircraft by looking up the registration number (commonly called the "N number"). This comes in handy for covering plane crashes, especially if someone can identify the N number on the plane's tail. The data also provides the plane's serial number, which is useful when searching the FAA Service Difficulty Reports database, also available from NICAR, for reported mechanical problems.
Find out about accidents and other incidents involving airplanes in the United States with the FAA Accidents and incidents database, from 1990 through August 2002. The database contains reports of crashes, collisions, deaths, injuries, major mechanical problems and other events, from small private planes to large commercial carriers. Another database available from NICAR has accidents and incidents from 1973 to 1989.
The Database Library offers other transportation databases, including vehicle recalls and complaints; accidents involving hazardous materials and the NASA Air Safety Reporting System.
To order or find out more about these databases, visit www.ire.org/datalibrary or call 573-884-7711.