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Fatality Analysis Reporting System
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<h2 id="how-data-is-collected">How data is collected</h2> <p>In its 2010 Report to Congress, NHTSA claimed that it would cost approximately US$1 billion per year to actually count and classify all crashes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> US$1 billion was deemed to be too expensive so instead of that, "... NHTSA devised a method that "utilizes an efficient combination of census, sample-based, and existing state files to provide nationally representative traffic crash data..." and it's been doing that since 1975. NHTSA claims it only costs US$30 million per year and is just as good. </p> <h2 id="data-completeness">Data completeness</h2> <p>According to NHTSA, an estimated 16 million crashes occur annually<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and of that total, only 6.2 million of those crashes are ever reported to the police. FARS data is collected on a purely voluntary basis through cooperative agreements between NHTSA and each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Road_traffic_safety/rbruv0AE">Road traffic safety</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx">FARS Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://cdan.dot.gov/query/">FIRST Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://cdan.dot.gov/">NCSA safety related Websites</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Koehler, Steven A.; Brown, Peggy A. (2009). Forensic Epidemiology. International Forensic Science and Investigation. Vol. 19. CRC Press. p. 135. ISBN 1-4200-6327-8. Retrieved 2011-04-05. <a href="1-4200-6327-8" target="_blank">1-4200-6327-8</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Report to Congress NHTSA's Crash Data Collection Programs" (PDF). <a href="http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf" target="_blank">http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Report to Congress NHTSA's Crash Data Collection Programs" (PDF). <a href="http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf" target="_blank">http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Report to Congress NHTSA's Crash Data Collection Programs" (PDF). <a href="http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf" target="_blank">http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811337.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>