Indiana Crash Facts 2008

NHTSA · 2008 · ROSA P / Indiana. Governor's Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This report, titled *Indiana Crash Facts 2008*, provides a comprehensive statistical analysis of traffic collisions in Indiana to inform policy-making and safety program design. Produced by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s Center for Criminal Justice Research in collaboration with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the document aims to reduce death, injury, and economic costs associated with traffic crashes. The analysis focuses on priority areas identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including alcohol involvement, speed, restraint usage, young drivers, and motorcycle safety. The study utilizes data from the Automated Reporting Information Exchange System (ARIES), maintained by the Indiana State Police, which records over 200 data items per collision, including location, vehicle types, driver conditions, and injury status. The dataset covers 2008 collisions, with alcohol-related data extracted as of May 2009. The report compares 2008 figures against previous years (1999–2007) and establishes benchmarks aligned with the Indiana Strategic Highway Safety Plan for fiscal year 2010. In 2008, Indiana recorded 205,451 traffic collisions resulting in injury or property damage, a 0.2 percent increase from 2007. There were 815 fatalities in 722 fatal collisions, representing a 9.2 percent decrease from the previous year. Speed-related collisions accounted for 11 percent of all incidents but 26 percent of fatalities, with a 23 percent increase in speed-related collisions from 2007. Alcohol was involved in 4.6 percent of all collisions and 30.2 percent of fatal collisions; 246 people died in alcohol-related crashes. Rural areas saw 63.3 percent of fatal collisions, despite accounting for only 35.4 percent of total collisions. The 16-to-17-year-old age group had the highest driver fatality rate (7.8 per 10,000 licensed drivers). Only 44 percent of persons killed in motor vehicle collisions were known to be restrained. The economic cost of these crashes exceeded $4.6 billion. The findings highlight persistent challenges in traffic safety, particularly regarding speeding and alcohol impairment, which disproportionately contribute to fatalities. While overall fatality rates reached a ten-year low, the report identifies specific targets for reduction, such as lowering alcohol-related fatalities and increasing seat belt usage, particularly among pickup truck occupants. The data serves as an analytical foundation for state and national policymakers to design targeted interventions, emphasizing the need for continued enforcement and education to address dangerous driving behaviors and improve occupant protection.

Key finding

Alcohol-related factors were present in 30.2 percent of fatal traffic collisions in Indiana in 2008, resulting in 246 deaths, while speed-related factors contributed to 11 percent of all collisions.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• incidence prevalence
• demographic disparities
• comparative international
• fatality injury trends

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes