Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data
Background: Police underreporting of traffic crashes is a substantial challenge in Denmark, as in many other countries. Alternative data sources are highly warranted for site-specific road traffic safety work. This study aimed to test the potential benefits and drawbacks of a merger of ambulance da...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Technology and Society, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Traffic Safety Research |
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| Online Access: | https://tsr.international/TSR/article/view/26286 |
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| author | Anne Vingaard Olesen Tim Alex Lindskou Rasmus Øhlenschlæger Torben Anders Kløjgaard Anders Brogaard Tallaksen Jens Lauritsen Erika Frischknecht Christensen Harry Lahrmann |
| author_facet | Anne Vingaard Olesen Tim Alex Lindskou Rasmus Øhlenschlæger Torben Anders Kløjgaard Anders Brogaard Tallaksen Jens Lauritsen Erika Frischknecht Christensen Harry Lahrmann |
| author_sort | Anne Vingaard Olesen |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Background: Police underreporting of traffic crashes is a substantial challenge in Denmark, as in many other countries. Alternative data sources are highly warranted for site-specific road traffic safety work. This study aimed to test the potential benefits and drawbacks of a merger of ambulance data, including crash coordinates, and hospital patient data.
Methods: We tested a definition of a traffic crash based on a merger of hospital patient data and ambulance data, including prehospital medical records information and ambulance coordinates in Aalborg Municipality in the North Denmark Region of Denmark from 2016 to 2019 and presented a method of identification of hazardous intersections, road sections and local traffic areas. We compared selected police data characteristics for the same area and period.
Results: Compared to police data in the same study period, we found 3.2 times as many unique crash sites through the use of combined hospital patient and ambulance data. We showed that as many as 47% of the crash sites found in the ambulance records were located outside the network of major roads, whereas 16% were located at intersections of major roads and 38% on sections of major roads. We found a certain imprecision in the identification of crash locations because some crash coordinates were physical addresses of buildings only close to the crash sites. Furthermore, we noted that the data privacy of patient data is an issue.
Conclusions: Ambulance data have clear-cut potential in site-specific road traffic safety work. However, data quality assurance is necessary prior to the application of the data for black spot identification. As such, more precise coordinates are needed, as well as further methodological development and an anonymisation procedure legally approved by the authorities to make data available for traffic safety work operations.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5cd444ebbde04b96a2fa9fb56a02995a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2004-3082 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Technology and Society, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Traffic Safety Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-5cd444ebbde04b96a2fa9fb56a02995a2025-08-20T02:40:39ZengTechnology and Society, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund UniversityTraffic Safety Research2004-30822025-03-01910.55329/mmey4122Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance dataAnne Vingaard Olesen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1503-8269Tim Alex Lindskou1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9607-7859Rasmus Øhlenschlæger2https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4565-4265Torben Anders Kløjgaard3Anders Brogaard Tallaksen4Jens Lauritsen5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9281-8990Erika Frischknecht Christensen6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3673-9694Harry Lahrmann7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6339-4586Aalborg University, DenmarkAalborg University, Denmark | Aalborg University Hospital, DenmarkAalborg University, Denmark Aalborg University, Denmark | Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark Aalborg University, Denmark | Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark Odense University Hospital, Denmark | University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Aalborg University, Denmark | Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark | North Denmark Region, Denmark Aalborg University, Denmark Background: Police underreporting of traffic crashes is a substantial challenge in Denmark, as in many other countries. Alternative data sources are highly warranted for site-specific road traffic safety work. This study aimed to test the potential benefits and drawbacks of a merger of ambulance data, including crash coordinates, and hospital patient data. Methods: We tested a definition of a traffic crash based on a merger of hospital patient data and ambulance data, including prehospital medical records information and ambulance coordinates in Aalborg Municipality in the North Denmark Region of Denmark from 2016 to 2019 and presented a method of identification of hazardous intersections, road sections and local traffic areas. We compared selected police data characteristics for the same area and period. Results: Compared to police data in the same study period, we found 3.2 times as many unique crash sites through the use of combined hospital patient and ambulance data. We showed that as many as 47% of the crash sites found in the ambulance records were located outside the network of major roads, whereas 16% were located at intersections of major roads and 38% on sections of major roads. We found a certain imprecision in the identification of crash locations because some crash coordinates were physical addresses of buildings only close to the crash sites. Furthermore, we noted that the data privacy of patient data is an issue. Conclusions: Ambulance data have clear-cut potential in site-specific road traffic safety work. However, data quality assurance is necessary prior to the application of the data for black spot identification. As such, more precise coordinates are needed, as well as further methodological development and an anonymisation procedure legally approved by the authorities to make data available for traffic safety work operations. https://tsr.international/TSR/article/view/26286ambulancesblack spotemergency medical serviceshazardous road locationunderreporting |
| spellingShingle | Anne Vingaard Olesen Tim Alex Lindskou Rasmus Øhlenschlæger Torben Anders Kløjgaard Anders Brogaard Tallaksen Jens Lauritsen Erika Frischknecht Christensen Harry Lahrmann Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data Traffic Safety Research ambulances black spot emergency medical services hazardous road location underreporting |
| title | Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| title_full | Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| title_fullStr | Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| title_short | Identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| title_sort | identification of hazardous road locations using ambulance data |
| topic | ambulances black spot emergency medical services hazardous road location underreporting |
| url | https://tsr.international/TSR/article/view/26286 |
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