Welcome to ATSB's Fatal Road Crash Database query facility.

Users should note the following points:

• Users must select an option from each of the drop down lists for the fields called 'Create a', 'that shows the number of' and the date range respectively. Beyond that, all other selections are optional.

• Further selections have the effect of LIMITING the database records retrieved to those that contain the values selected from the drop down lists. For example, if in the State field you select 'Queensland', the query will return fatalities or fatal crashes for Queensland only. (If you wanted data for all States, the default value of 'all' in this field should be left unchanged.) As another example, if you choose 'yes' in the field 'a bus was involved', the query will return only those fatalities or fatal crashes where a bus was one of the vehicles involved.

• The database provides data on fatal crashes in Australia from 1989 to the present. Details provided fall into two groups: the circumstances of the crash, for example, date, location, crash type; and secondly, some details regarding the persons killed, for example, age, gender, whether they were a driver, passenger and so on. The database is updated on a monthly basis and contains data for whole months only. Data for any of the months covered by the database may be revised retrospectively with each update.

Glossary of terms

CREATING A TABLE

Select fields to use as column headings and row headings. When creating your table, you can drop up to 2 fields in the column heading area and 2 in the row heading area. The hierarchy you create will be determined by the order in which you select fields.

Columns or rows called 'Unknown' indicate the number of records in the database with missing data for the field(s) you have chosen.

Occasionally you will find that a column or row appears missing from a table, eg, you might choose 'State' but not all States appear. If displayed, a missing column or row would display a value(s) of 0. As leaving out columns or rows with 0 values is a standard feature of both SPSS and SAS statistical software, we have made it one of the working rules of this system.

Speed limit for the ACT is not available. Consequently, if speed limit is chosen for a table, the ACT speed limits will be unknown. Also, if a speed limit range is selected, and State is chosen for a table, the ACT might not appear in the table.

If 'age' is chosen for a column or row, users might note an age of 0. This refers to children less than one year old and unborn babies.

Caution is required when using the fields 'day range' and 'hour range'. For example, to find the fatalities from 5 to 6:59pm on weekdays, choose a day range of Mon to Fri and an hour range from '17:00 to 17:59' to '18:00 to 18:59'. However, to find the fatalities from 5pm on Friday to say midday Saturday, two steps are required. First, choose a day range of Fri to Fri and an hour range from '17:00 to 17:59' to '23:00 to 23:59'. Then choose a day range of Sat to Sat and an hour range from '00:00 to 00:59' to '11:00 to 11:59'. Adding the two together gives the correct answer. Future enhancements of the system might offer both alternatives in a more easily understood fashion.

Save As CSV if you wish to save the table as a spreadsheet that you can work on using your spreadsheet software.

Save As HTML if you wish to paste the table into a word processing document or you wish to save the table and email it to someone. Once you've done this, you can open your email software and add the file you've created to your message as an attachment.

If you wish to print the table, choose File – Print from your internet browser. Your internet browser might also allow you to copy and paste the table into another document.

CREATING A CHART

Only one field can be placed in the chart area and one on the horizontal axis. Choose 'month, year' only if you have selected a time period of 24 months or less. If you choose 'month, year' and the time period you have selected is longer than 24 months, the chart is likely to be compressed so much that it is unreadable.

Sometimes the footnote to a chart will mention the possibility that unknowns have been included in the data. To check the number of unknowns, choose 'create a table' in the database query screen.

If you wish to print the chart, choose File – Print from your internet browser. Your internet browser might also allow you to copy and paste the table into another document.