The IRE and NICAR Database Library maintains several recently updated U.S. Department of Transportation da- tabases relevant to the safety of U.S. roadways and the trucking industry. To order these and other databases, con- tact the Database Library at 573-884- 7711 or 573-884-7332. Journalists have used these databases to identify dangerous roads and uncover prob- lems with semitrailers on the highways.
The Department of Transportation's truck census contains records for each com- pany that has commercial interstate ve- hicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. This group includes buses, semitrailers and shippers of hazardous materials. Useful information includes the company's census number, name, address, number of vehicles owned or leased and the type of cargo it carries. Although the DOT, citing national secu- rity concerns, has recently redacted much of the hazardous-material informa- tion, the IRE and NICAR Database Li- brary offers an earlier version of the data that provided detailed hazardous-mate- rial information for carriers.
See www.nicar.org/data/trkcensus for details. The truck accidents database consists of records of accidents that involve commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The vehicles in- cluded in this database are buses, semitrailers, moving trucks and rental trucks, among others. The data can be used as a starting point to see how many vehicles have been in accidents for different carriers. You can also link this data to the truck census database to find out details about the motor carrier.
See www.nicar.org/data/truck for details. The Hazmat database contains the incident reports of unintentional re- leases of hazardous materials for all modes of transportation (air, highway, rail and water). Journalists can ana- lyze the data to learn more about chemical spills on highways, including which hazardous-material carriers have the most accidents and in which states. The chemicals most often re- leased and accident details are also re- corded.
See www.ire.org/datalibrary/ databases/haz for details. The Fatality Analysis Reporting Sys- tem database contains details about all fatal accidents, since 1975, on public U.S. roads. This data contains information about the location and conditions of each accident, the ve- hicles' make and model, the state that issued the driver's license and the status of any commercial license, prior speeding and DUI convictions, involvement in prior accidents, and more.
See www.nicar.org/data/fars for more details. Contact Jeff Porter by e-mail at jeff@ire.org.