An effective road safety program must be supported by accurate and timely data enabling users to identify road safety problems and risks, set targets, formulate strategies, develop interventions, and monitor road safety actions. If the data cannot determine the causes of the problem, a review should be done to assess the lacking variables. Some of the road safety interventions may not be applicable not only because the strategies are ineffective but also because the data are not substantial enough or the decisions made were not based on the data.
This paper identifies existing road crash data elements of the U.P. Diliman Police (UPDP) and its potential use in identifying road safety problems and formulating strategies. For the purpose of data uniformity and combining sub-national datasets, the data elements of the UPDP are compared with the dataset of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as it is where all road crash data in Metro Manila, with the assistance of the traffic enforcement unit (TEU) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are being forwarded and analyzed.
The road crash data from the UPDP were collected, processed, and analyzed. ArcGIS software was used to produce heat maps to visualize concentration of data points. After the analysis, the lacking variables such as road-related data and weather and light conditions were identified, which may be useful to recognize the causes of the problem. The analysis also showed that the accident-prone areas are consistent every year, which may mean that actions for prevention of road crash may not be available or effective. This signifies that data are essential in coming up with road safety interventions to be implemented.